Jay Leach hired by Seattle Kraken (original) (raw)

The expansion Seattle Kraken made official on Tuesday its hiring of now former Providence Bruins coach Jay Leach as an assistant on head coach Dave Hakstol’s inaugural staff.

Leach was hired along with Paul McFarland, who worked with Hakstol on Mike Babcock’s Toronto Maple Leaf staff.

Now, not only are the Bruins looking at retooling their roster after a second-round ouster, they must replace not one but two highly regarded coaches from the organization. Last week, Jay Pandolfo, an assistant on Bruce Cassidy’s staff in Boston, left to return to his alma mater Boston University as associate head coach with head coach Albie O’Connell. Leach was believed to be a strong candidate to replace Pandolfo on Cassidy’s staff, but the call of the Kraken and to be a part of an organization from the ground up was apparently too strong.

Leach can certainly give Seattle GM Ron Francis some intelligence on which Boston players might become available from the Bruins’ roster in the expansion, having coached Jeremy Lauzon and Connor Clifton, just a couple of players who might be exposed in the July 21 expansion draft. Teams need their list of protected players in to the NHL by July 17.

Leach has been coaching with the Providence Bruins for the last five years, the last four of which were as head coach. He enjoyed a lot of team success, posting a 136-77-26 record and winning the Atlantic Division title the last two seasons, though the pandemic did not allow the P-Bruins to play for the Calder Cup.

The coach who replaces Leach will play a pivotal role in the organization as the core in Boston ages and the roster will need to be replenished with some young legs. And while there have been some success stories over the past couple of years in the Providence-to-Boston pipeline, some high-end prospects like center Jack Studnicka (second round, 2017) and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen (first round, 2017) could not seize opportunities in Boston last season and wound up back in Providence.

Leach’s assistants Trent Whitfield and Ryan Mougenel are both possible candidates to fill Leach’s shoes.