The Toronto Maple Leafs are hiring the former captain of one of their biggest rivals.Daniel Alfredsson is joining Jim Hiller’s coaching staff as an associate coach, the Leafs announced Tuesday.“Daniel’s experience, leadership and understanding of the game speak for themselves,” said Hiller in a statement.John Gruden and Brad Werenka were also named assistant coaches. The team announced that Mike Van Ryn and Derek Lalonde, both members of Craig Berube’s coaching staff, would not return.Alfredsson, who spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Senators, will be an option to oversee the Leafs’ power play next season.Alfredsson’s decision to join a rival in his post-playing career is sure to rankle a Senators fan base already processing the loss of team captain Brady Tkachuk.The 53-year-old has a connection to the Leafs as a frequent former teammate of Mats Sundin, the Leafs’ new senior executive adviser, with the Swedish national team, including on the gold medal-winning squad at the 2006 Olympics.The two were more famously rivals in the NHL as captains of the Senators and Leafs, battling in the playoffs year after year.It remains to be seen how his hiring will be received by Leafs fans, who cheered against Alfredsson during the peak years of the Battle of Ontario. Alfredsson drew the ire of Leafs Nation on multiple occasions — including for a hit on Darcy Tucker in the 2002 playoffs that preceded the Senators captain’s game-winning goal, and for mocking Sundin after the Leafs captain was suspended for accidentally throwing a broken stick into the crowd.