Confirmed with Link: Wolf Pack Hire Jay Leach as Head Coach

[nyr2k2]

@Mac n Gs had it first in the Hartford thread. He's a good hire. He had a long career in the AHL and saw some NHL action. He coached the P-Bruins in the AHL and has been an assistant with the NHL Bruins as well as the Kraken.

Hopefully this helps developmentally with our young guys that will be heading there. Gotta get him some good D prospects to work with. Potulny was clueless so this is basically an automatic upgrade.

 

[haohmaru]

@Mac n Gs had it first in the Hartford thread. He's a good hire. He had a long career in the AHL and saw some NHL action. He coached the P-Bruins in the AHL and has been an assistant with the NHL Bruins as well as the Kraken.

Hopefully this helps developmentally with our young guys that will be heading there. Gotta get him some good D prospects to work with. Potulny was clueless so this is basically an automatic upgrade.

Good hire. Now we just need to get him some prospects.

 

[NYR Viper]

I'm happy to see Drury and his team make a change after a single season. For whatever reason, it just didn't work with Potulny.

 

[n8]

I posted this in the Hartford thread but that's a great hire.
IIRC he was interviewed for the NYR HC position back when we hired Lavy.
Could this be a stealth Sullivan replacement if things don't go in the right direction?

EDIT: I'm seeing that Jay Leach was an assistant under Mike Sullivan back in 2015-2016 for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He was promoted to HC that season when Sullivan got promoted to Pittsburgh.

 

[17futurecap]

Can a new Hartford coach actually get the AHL vets they sign this summer to buy in? That’s half the losing battle in all these losing seasons too.

 

[nyr2k2]

I posted this in the Hartford thread but that's a great hire.
IIRC he was interviewed for the NYR HC position back when we hired Lavy.
Could this be a stealth Sullivan replacement if things don't go in the right direction?

EDIT: I'm seeing that Jay Leach was an assistant under Mike Sullivan back in 2015-2016 for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He was promoted to HC that season when Sullivan got promoted to Pittsburgh.

He also worked with Sacco in Boston.

 

[nyr2k2]

Can a new Hartford coach actually get the AHL vets they sign this summer to buy in? That’s half the losing battle in all these losing seasons too.

Hopefully. Leach is one of the few guys to spend any real amount of time in the ECHL and then make it to the NHL, even if it was only 70 games. He did like 200 ECHL games, 500 AHL games, and 70 NHL games mostly towards the end of his career. If there's a guy who can relate to the AHL vets who are looking for that next opportunity it could well be him.

Only downside is apparently he was once married to but eventually divorced Kathryn Tappen, so that makes me question his judgment a bit.

 

[will1066]

I remember this guy best as a Bruins defenseman.

 

[Levitate]

"No relation to Brian, Joe!"

 

[noncents]

another massachusetts guy

 

[RangersFan1994]

@Mac n Gs had it first in the Hartford thread. He's a good hire. He had a long career in the AHL and saw some NHL action. He coached the P-Bruins in the AHL and has been an assistant with the NHL Bruins as well as the Kraken.

Hopefully this helps developmentally with our young guys that will be heading there. Gotta get him some good D prospects to work with. Potulny was clueless so this is basically an automatic upgrade.

I know he is a solid coach but is he good with player development in the AHL, and putting youth in a position to succeed?

 

[The Crypto Guy]

Very happy with this.

 

[Kocur26]

He was married to Katherine Tappen so he’s got that going for him.

 

[Lindberg Cheese]

Hopefully. Leach is one of the few guys to spend any real amount of time in the ECHL and then make it to the NHL, even if it was only 70 games. He did like 200 ECHL games, 500 AHL games, and 70 NHL games mostly towards the end of his career. If there's a guy who can relate to the AHL vets who are looking for that next opportunity it could well be him.

Only downside is apparently he was once married to but eventually divorced Kathryn Tappen, so that makes me question his judgment a bit.

No more tappin da tappen?

 

[Gordon Bombay]

Only downside is apparently he was once married to but eventually divorced Kathryn Tappen, so that makes me question his judgment a bit.

Maybe Roenick wasn't bs'ing...

 

[bhamill]

Can a new Hartford coach actually get the AHL vets they sign this summer to buy in? That’s half the losing battle in all these losing seasons too.

If not, send them to the ECHL.

 

[cwede]

I'm happy to see Drury and his team make a change after a single season. For whatever reason, it just didn't work with Potulny.

it was actually 2 full seasons
it just felt like one never-ending no-identity slog

 

[eco's bones]

it was actually 2 full seasons
it just felt like one never-ending no-identity slog

View attachment 1250565

It was pretty much the same script since pretty much the Gernander years. Prospects and vets pretty much underachieving hopes and/or expectations. Right now I'm not sure that Leach is going to have a hell of a lot to work with. If Garand's the Rangers backup. If Dorrington, Morrow and Iorio are his best D. There is not really a top forward prospect either other than maybe Greentree who will be a first year pro. The returning vet forwards are Dowling (who is like 37), Blidh and Parssinen.

 

[bhamill]

It was pretty much the same script since pretty much the Gernander years. Prospects and vets pretty much underachieving hopes and/or expectations. Right now I'm not sure that Leach is going to have a hell of a lot to work with. If Garand's the Rangers backup. If Dorrington, Morrow and Iorio are his best D. There is not really a top forward prospect either other than maybe Greentree who will be a first year pro. The returning vet forwards are Dowling (who is like 37), Blidh and Parssinen.

I’m not concerned too much with Hartford being a winning team, beyond not being something that drags the young guys down mentally. I’m more concerned with him maximizing the vets he gets and developing the kids. Dorrington, Fortescue, Iorio, Morrow may all be there. I’m thinking Greentree makes the cut, but at the least we’re adding Aspinall and Battaglia. All I want is someone to help these guys reach their potential. Is Leach that guy? IDK. I’m not that familiar with him but the reaction seems mostly positive.

 

[eco's bones]

I’m not concerned too much with Hartford being a winning team, beyond not being something that drags the young guys down mentally. I’m more concerned with him maximizing the vets he gets and developing the kids. Dorrington, Fortescue, Iorio, Morrow may all be there. I’m thinking Greentree makes the cut, but at the least we’re adding Aspinall and Battaglia. All I want is someone to help these guys reach their potential. Is Leach that guy? IDK. I’m not that familiar with him but the reaction seems mostly positive.

It's going to be a work in progress but I think it helps the big team when the AHL team is a successful team. I think we are too New York Rangers centric at times and too not giving a shit about what's going on with the AHL club. It might help us become a contender again if we build up organizational strength everywhere. I'd also say that being in environment is just good for everyone and Hartford hasn't been a winning environment since Dubinsky, Anisimov, Callahan, Girardi, Hagelin. All those guys were there around the same time and our being able to pull them up and them turning into solid players fairly quickly started a rebound for us.

Some of what we saw of our callups last year was encouraging but Sykora and Chmelar---even Rempe, Edstrom are bottom line players---Dubinsky was a 2nd, Anisimov was a 2nd, Callahan was a 4th or a 5th, Girardi was undrafted free agent and Hagelin was like a 5th/6th or something which means we were drafting and developing players at least for that short period of time a lot better than we are now.