Brutal behind the scenes comments about Jim Hiller come to light.

Fans, pundits and experts were all left flabbergasted this week when the Toronto Maple Leafs announced that former Los Angeles Kings head coach Jim Hiller would be taking over behind the Maple Leafs bench.

It was a move that was criticized by many and one of the steadfast critics of the moves has been ESPN's own Greg Wyshynski. Wyshynski was critical of the move when it was first announced, pointing out that Hiller's winning percentage with the Kings had actually decreased when compared to the previous head coach Todd McLellan. He took that a step further this week however when he revealed some truly brutal comments he heard regarding Hiller behind the scenes.

"I had somebody tell me earlier this year, and the quote stuck with me, this is from an NHL source 'The players don't respect him it's hard because he's not a guy you hate, he's not a hard ass, but he's the kind of guy you never win with. He panics, he doesn't read the game well, he doesn't react to what is going on in the game,'" revealed Wyshynski on The Sheet. "Pretty Damning."

Wyshynski points to the fact that the underlying numbers also improved for the Kings after Hiller was fired, with another former Maple Leafs assistant coach in DJ Smith taking over behind the bench of the Kings for Hiller.

"I just think that team is what produced the analytic results that had some tongues wagging about Jim Hiller," said Wyshynski of the Kings.

It certainly doesn't paint Hiller in a favorable light, and you can hear it in Wyshynski's own words in the short clip below: