Seattle Kraken Assistant Jay Leach Drawing Coaching Interest

Former NHL Player And AHL Head Coach Is On The Radar Of Teams With Coaching Vacancies

Seattle Kraken assistant coach Jay Leach has been given permission by the team to be interviewed for the New York Rangers' coaching vacancy.

That's according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, who broke that news during a segment on NHL Network. Friedman also said the front-runner for the Rangers' job is recently-fired Washington Capitals coach Peter Laviolette.

Leach has reportedly been on New York's wish list to interview for the past couple of weeks. The Rangers may not be the only team to inquire about Leach, who's been an assistant on head coach Dave Hakstol's staff since before the Kraken played their first game in 2021.

Interest in Leach isn't unexpected. That's what happens when you're part of a Kraken 100-point regular season, and first round playoff victory over the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche.

Same for Kraken assistant general manager Jason Botterill, a name of interest among teams with GM openings. Botterill was general manager of the Buffalo Sabres from 2017-2020.

Back to Leach, he's drawn high praise from two New York Post hockey writers. Columnist Larry Brooks wrote, "There is a yearning for the next (Lightning coach Jon) Cooper, a yearning for the next (Hurricanes coach Rod) Brind’Amour. Leach might be that."

Mollie Walker of the Post wrote of Leach, "The question is not whether he will become a head coach in the NHL, it is just a matter of when."

Walker contacted Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, who worked with Leach in the AHL. Sullivan praised, among other things, Jay's leadership, likeability, communication skills, work ethic, humility, and "knack with relationships."

(Heck, forget coaching; ABC-TV should nab Leach to be the next "Bachelor" for its dating show franchise. Jay is so nice, even his ex-wife, NBC and TNT sportscaster Kathryn Tappen, tweeted congratulations when he got the Seattle job.)

Another fan quoted by the Post is John Ferguson Jr., Arizona Coyotes' assistant GM. Ferguson hired Leach to be his head coach when both were with the AHL Providence Bruins. During the pandemic, "We had zero positive cases throughout that entire time," said Ferguson.

"He went out of his way to make our players feel supported, comfortable. He personally at times brought over a smoker grill, put it outside our locker room out in the street, set it up and cooked for everybody.”