Halfway through the season, after another lights-out performance from Michael DiPietro, Providence Bruins head coach Ryan Mougenel was asked about the elite goaltender, “What more does he need to do?” He was the goaltender of the year in the American Hockey League [https://thehockeynews.com/ahl] in 2024-25 and was putting together another remarkable season, and had proved he could dominate at the AHL level. So, what did he need to do to get a call to the NHL? “He just needs an opportunity,” Mougenel noted in a conversation with The Hockey News [https://thehockeynews.com/]. The irony of that line is that it also applies to the Providence head coach, who has proven he is a great coach in the AHL and just needs an NHL team to give him an opportunity. Mougenel was voted the Louis A.R. Pieri award winner, an award given to the AHL’s most outstanding coach. It’s something people around the league have known for a while, and a remarkable season from the Boston Bruins AHL team had everyone on notice. Mougenel is a great coach, and in a league filled with many up-and-coming bench bosses, he stands out. WHAT MAKES MOUGENEL A GREAT COACH Mougenel, at first glance, doesn’t look like an X’s and O’s coach. He’s not the coach who will blow teams away with systems and style of play until the Bruins take the ice and play their unique style. The Bruins don’t have puck movers on their blue line, so they allow their forwards to push the puck up the ice and drive the play. Usually, this keeps the defensemen out of the play but Mougenel asks his blueliners to trail the play and linger around to compensate for turnovers in the defensive or neutral zone while being in a good spot to generate offense in the offensive zone. You May Also Like: Don Stevens Talks Career, How The AHL Has Changed, The Future & More [https://thehockeynews.com/ahl/latest-news/don-stevens-talks-career-how-the-ahl-has-changed-the-future-more] This is a small detail that goes a long way but the Bruins are detailed in multiple ways. They forecheck with a purpose. The prospects are creative in the offensive zone while they backcheck if they make a mistake. In the defensive zone, they defend the interior to protect their smaller goaltenders, notably DiPietro. The Bruins execute, and it’s a reflection of a well-coached team. So are the minimal mistakes and the ability to play a structured game. It speaks to the buy-in that players have into Mougenel’s system. He gets the players to buy in and has done so for a while. It’s why the Bruins have been a top team in the Atlantic Division since he was hired in 2021 and finished this season as the best team in the AHL. There are “Arts and Sciences” to coaching, something multiple coaches have noted in the past. The arts are getting the players to play above their weight and buy in. The sciences are the technical parts of the game. Mougenel is great in both areas. HIS OUTLOOK FOR AN NHL JOB The difficulty with the AHL is that some coaches can be victims of their own success. Specifically, by the time they are ready to interview for NHL jobs when the season ends, NHL teams have already hired their coaches. It was a problem with Todd Nelson, who led the Hershey Bears to the Calder Cup title in 2023 and 2024, making his mark as the league’s best coach. The problem is that by the time the Calder Cup Final concluded, it was late June, and teams weren’t waiting around too long. Last season, the Bears were eliminated from the playoffs early, which allowed Nelson to join the Pittsburgh Penguins staff. This season, Manny Malhotra is in a better spot to land an NHL job because the Abbotsford Canucks, who won the Calder Cup last year, finished at the bottom of the Pacific Division. It makes him available for NHL teams, and many of them won’t wait to hire him. The Bruins have a great team that is set up to go on a run. Winning the title would only boost Mougenel’s accolades, yet it would prevent him from joining the hiring cycles. Otherwise, he’s not only a great coach but is entering his “prime” of his coaching career at 50 years old. He’s not a young upstart and not on the older side either, making him a candidate that teams can hire knowing he’ll be behind the bench for a few years and isn’t as big a risk. MOUGENEL IS ONE OF THE MANY GREAT COACHES IN THE AHL Mougenel won the award for the most outstanding coach. Yet, he’s not the only coach who stands out. The AHL has a long-standing history of developing coaches, almost to the same degree as the players the league is built for. Kris Knoblauch, Jared Bednar, and Jon Cooper are among the many who were in the AHL before having success in the NHL. Mougenel headlines the next crop of great coaches but the league also features Trent Vogelhuber, Steve Ott, Malhotra, and Dan Watson, names most hockey fans don’t know but will soon enough. On the other end, Derek King and Pascal Vincent are experienced coaches who are just looking for another shot at the NHL. It’s one of the fascinations of this league. The coaches come from all backgrounds, and in the AHL, they are starting to show their personalities behind the bench. “The best thing about this league is you get to have fun with it as well. You can try different things,” Ott noted after taking the Springfield Thunderbirds job midseason and willing a last-place team into the playoffs. That might be a bonus. The best thing is that this league, with all the turnover and obstacles, prepares coaches for the next level.
