The Rangers hired Jay Leach to lead their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Named the ninth head coach in Wolf Pack history on Friday, Leach joins the Blueshirts organization after serving as an assistant coach in the NHL over the previous five seasons with the Kraken (three) and the Bruins (two).
The 46-year-old Leach is an experienced addition and has been a candidate for multiple head coaching vacancies in the NHL in recent years.
The Rangers actually asked Seattle for permission to interview him for their opening in 2023.
“Players gravitate toward him,” Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan told The Post of Leach at the time, when he was still head coach of the Penguins. “He’s a good leader. He’s been in leadership roles when he was playing in the American League, and so he brought all of that to the coaching aspect of what he’s doing now. When I got a chance to work right next to him in Wilkes-Barre, I was really impressed, but not surprised, with his work ethic. He rolls his sleeves up, he works hard at being a good coach, and he brings a certain humility to the job every day that I think is so important for all of us.
“He has strong convictions of how the game should be played, but he also understands there’s more than one way to play the game and that you have to work with people, both players and coaches alike, in order to try to build the necessary collaboration to have success in today’s NHL.”
President and general manager Chris Drury bringing on Leach makes a lot of sense for an organization that is looking to refresh its prospect pool.
Plus, Leach has ties to Sullivan, who brought him onto his staff with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins during the 2015-16 season.
When Sullivan was promoted to the Bruins, Leach succeeded him and took over the team.
The last time Leach served as head coach was from 2017-21 with the AHL’s Providence Bruins.
Over those four seasons, the Syracuse native led the team to back-to-back Atlantic Division titles.
Providence compiled a 136-77-26 record under Leach, who also helped the team reach the AHL’s Eastern Conference Finals as an assistant in 2016-17.
The Bruins eventually brought Leach back as an assistant at the NHL level over the last two campaigns.
A defenseman drafted 115th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes, Leach appeared in 70 NHL games across five seasons for the Bruins, Lightning, Devils, Canadiens and Sharks.
He ultimately played 12 seasons of professional hockey before making the jump into coaching.
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