A familiar face is working with the Bruins this week
Day 1 of the first development camp in two years came with a surprise, with former Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid sporting a sweatsuit and hat on the Warrior Ice Arena sheet as one of the team’s on-ice instructors for the group’s 28 participants.
5️⃣4️⃣ & 2️⃣3️⃣ in the 🏠#NHLBruins | #BruinsDevCamp pic.twitter.com/A8tkQDYqDg
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) August 2, 2021
Formally retired from professional hockey since January, and out of the game since 2019, the 34-year-old McQuaid is working with the Black and Gold without any sort of official title to his name, according to director of player development and player personnel advisor Jamie Langenbrunner.
“As of now, [McQuaid] doesn’t have a formal role,” Langenbrunner, who effectively runs as the director of these yearly development camps in Brighton, said. “I think Adam’s been around a little bit last year and is continuing to try to figure out what makes sense for Adam and we were lucky enough to have him available for this week and come down and get a chance to be around some of our guys. We’ll see where it goes, both for for Adam and for us.”
McQuaid would not be the first recently-retired Bruin to jump into the organization’s development or coaching ranks. In fact, he’d effectively be following in the footsteps of Chris Kelly, who was also on the ice Monday and could be considered a contender for the Bruins’ vacant assistant coaching job with Jay Pandolfo off to Boston University. Kelly currently serves as the team’s player development coordinator, and has assistant coaching experience from his tenure with the Senators.
And similar to Kelly, the Bruins look at McQuaid as a possible fit if this is something he wants to continue to explore in his post-playing days.
“I think he’d be a welcomed addition to any role,” Langenbrunner said. “He has a lot of experience in a lot of different areas. And he’s a great human being to boot. So that’s something I’m sure [Don] Sweeney and the rest of the group is looking at and where everything shuffles as the coaching positions get filled and and whatnot.”
The Bruins also have a coaching vacancy in their minor-league ranks, with now-former P-Bruins head coach Jay Leach moving to Seattle to be part of Dave Hakstol’s coaching staff on the Kraken.
McQuaid, who spent all but 50 of his 512 career NHL games with the Bruins, won a Stanley Cup with the Black and Gold in 2011, and Adam McQuaid makes his Alumni debut. pic.twitter.com/3hgtUUGUeb
Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.
