A Bruins coaching staff already dealing with one major vacancy following Jay Pandolfo’s return to his alma mater at Boston University will now have to address another major hole further down the organization’s pipeline.
According to Mark Allred of Black and Gold Hockey, Providence Bruins bench boss Jay Leach is set to join the Seattle Kraken — serving as an assistant coach on Dave Hakstol’s staff for the inaugural season of the NHL’s 32nd franchise. Providence reporter Mark Divver confirmed the news of Leach’s departure — which suddenly has Boston in the unenviable spot of filling crucial spots within the organization.
While Leach’s big break up into the NHL ranks is certainly well-deserved, it is understandably a major loss for the Bruins — with Leach’s stock soaring as one of the top up-and-coming coaches within the pro game.
Leach, 41, has built quite the resume for himself since taking over as head coach of the P-Bruins back in 2017-18 — posting a record of 136-77-16-10 over the last four seasons.
In 2020, Providence seemed primed to go on a Calder Cup run — leading the Atlantic Division with a 38-18-3-3 record before COVID-19 suspended the remainder of the AHL season in March. The following year, Leach and the P-Bruins made the most of a shortened season with no playoffs — winning the Atlantic Division once again with a 15-6-2 record.
Following Pandolfo’s exit from the B’s coaching staff last week, Leach’s appointment up to the NHL ranks seemed like a given — especially given that the Providence coach reportedly interviewed for the Arizona Coyotes head-coaching gig earlier this offseason.
Making the jump from Providence bench boss to assistant coach up in Boston has been a familiar trend within the Original Six franchise over the last few seasons — whether it be Bruce Cassidy ahead of the 2016-17 season or Kevin Dean the following summer.
But despite Leach’s standing as the next man up in Boston, the promising coach is now headed over to the Pacific Northwest, with Boston’s chain of development now splintered between Providence and Boston.
Former Bruin Trent Whitfield, who has served as assistant coach of Providence for the last five seasons, could be the next man up to take the reins down in the AHL, but finding a replacement now for Pandolfo’s spot with Leach out of the picture is a bit tougher to chart out.
As far as internal candidates go, former B’s pivot and current B’s player development coordinator Chris Kelly stands as a very appealing option if Boston wants to try and focus on another up-and-comer to develop within the organization. But there are also a number of other coaching candidates with ties to the area that could very well vie for that vacancy as well — be it former Rangers head coach David Quinn or former Coyotes coach Rick Tocchet.
It remains to be seen which route Boston will take moving forward, but regardless of who takes over both up in the NHL ranks and down in Providence, Leach’s departure still stands as a major hit to an organization that had boasted one of the rising stars within the coaching circuit.
