Bruins update coaching staff, add Adam McQuaid to organization

Author Ty Anderson

August 13th, 2021 4:51 PM

The Boston Bruins updated their coaching staff and formally added a familiar face back to the mix Friday.

Beginning in the NHL, the Bruins confirmed that Chris Kelly will move out of his current player development coordinator role and step behind the bench as the B’s newest assistant coach.

The 40-year-old Kelly has some coaching experience, as he served as an assistant on Marc Crawford’s staff during Crawford’s 18-game run as the Senators’ interim head coach in 2019. Kelly, who spent six years with the Bruins and won a Stanley Cup with the team in 2011, has been with the B’s organization since July 2019.

Kelly will replace Jay Pandolfo, who left the Bruins earlier this offseason to take an associate head coaching gig with Boston University. Pandolfo worked primarily with the team’s forwards, and added more power-play duties to his plate in 2021.

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  And with Kelly's previous role with the organization vacated by his move behind the bench, the Bruins decided to give Adam McQuaid an official title and named the veteran defenseman the team's new player development coordinator.
  
  This comes on the heels of the 34-year-old McQuaid working with the B's during the team's 2021 development camp at Warrior Ice Arena, and less than seven months after McQuaid officially retired from the NHL.
  
  “I think he’d be a welcomed addition to any role,” Jamie Langenbrunner said of McQuaid earlier this month. “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.”
  
  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 had been involved with the Bruins alumni association since retiring.

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  Down in the minors, the Bruins didn't look far to replace Jay Leach, as the team promoted assistant coach Ryan Mougenel, who has been with the club for the last three seasons, to head coach.
  
  “The Bruins organization has had great success promoting from within and maintaining continuity behind our bench,” P-Bruins general manager John Ferguson Jr. said. “We are all looking forward to watching Ryan continue that positive run. Maintaining the standard of consistent player development, on-ice success, and pace of practice are just three of many boxes we believe Ryan checks off as our new head coach in Providence.”
  
  Mougenel's move to the big chair comes in the wake of Leach's decision to leave his head coaching post with the P-Bruins for an assistant coaching gig with Dave Hakstol's Seattle Kraken, and will give Mougenel his first head coaching gig since his four-year as the head coach of the Las Vegas Wranglers (ECHL) from 2009 through 2013.
  
  In Vegas, Mougenel totaled a 151-111-26 record and made a run to the ECHL finals in 2012, and then spent five years as an AHL assistant between the Hershey Bears, Worcester Sharks, and San Jose Barracuda before joining the Bruins.
  
  “This is an incredible opportunity to continue working with an amazingly talented coaching staff and dedicated management group that produce players who represent the rich tradition of Bruins excellence," Mougenel said in a statement. "I am extremely appreciative for the many relationships that have supported me on this journey. We have first-rate fans here in Providence and I am looking forward to another successful season.”

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.

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Author Ty Anderson

Category:

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• Ty Anderson

Tags:

2021 bruins offseason,Adam McQuaid,boston bruins,Chris Kelly,don sweeney,Ryan Mougenel