The Columbus Blue Jackets announced on Thursday that they've promoted assistant coach Brad Larsen to become the eight head coach in franchise history, and have signed him to a three-year contract.
Larsen, 43, has spent the last seven seasons in Columbus as an assistant coach. He played parts of eight seasons in the NHL with Colorado and Atlanta, winning the Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2001.
"We underwent an exhaustive process in which we looked very closely at a number of outstanding candidates to be the next coach of the Columbus Blue Jackets and the one individual we kept coming back to throughout was Brad Larsen," said Blue Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen. "Brad was one of the top young coaches in the American Hockey League when he joined our club as an assistant coach and over the past seven years has earned the respect of our players, staff and organization with his work ethic, hockey acumen and the way he treats people, and we couldn't be more pleased to introduce him as our next head coach."
"I've been extremely proud to be a Columbus Blue Jacket and be part of this wonderful community for the past seven years, and I am humbled and honored to be the head coach of this hockey club," said Larsen. "I'd like to thank Mr. McConnell, J.D., Jarmo and Mike Priest for the opportunity and look forward to helping this team get better every day as we work towards our goal of winning a Stanley Cup for The Fifth Line."
The Blue Jackets will now focus their attention on the 2021 NHL Entry Draft where they'll select 5th overall in the first round.
Source: Columbus Blue JacketsADS
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