If you ask anybody who has worked with Jay Leach over his hockey career, the question is not if he will become a head coach in the NHL, it is just a matter of when.
The Rangers, who are in the early days of searching for a new bench boss after parting ways with Gerard Gallant, could very well be a potential landing spot for Leach to break into the NHL head coaching scene.
Leach just finished up his second season as an assistant coach for the Seattle Kraken, who he has been with since their inaugural campaign in 2021-22.
With his help on Dave Hakstol’s staff, the Kraken defeated the defending Stanley Cup champions, the Avalanche, in the first round before bowing out in seven games to the Stars.
This may be Leach’s first taste of coaching in the NHL, but the 43-year-old has a robust hockey background that includes multiple seasons at the helm in the American Hockey League, as well as a 12-year playing career that spans over the ECHL, AHL and NHL.
Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan, who put rumors of his availability for the Rangers gig to bed, gave Leach his first coaching opportunity ahead of the 2015-16 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh’s AHL club.
Leach actually briefly took over the team when Sullivan was promoted to the NHL.
“He’s a really good person, first and foremost,” Sullivan told The Post in a recent phone call. “He’s a great communicator. He just has a knack with relationships. I think he’s a likeable person. Players gravitate towards him. He’s a good leader. He’s been in leadership roles when he was playing in the American League and so he brought all of that to the coaching aspect of what he’s doing now.
“When I got a chance to work right next to him in Wilkes-Barre, I was really impressed, but not surprised, with his work ethic. He rolls his sleeves up, he works hard at being a good coach, he brings a certain humility to the job every day that I think is so important for all of us…
“He has strong convictions of how the game should be played, but he also understands there’s more than one way to play the game and that you have to work with people, both players and coaches a like, in order to try to build the necessary collaboration to have success in today’s NHL.”
Communicating with players has been the common trait highlighted by those who know Leach best, though the flexibility with which he’s able to see the game could be what makes him a strong candidate for the Rangers, a team that is built to play a certain way, but would benefit from more structure and more guidance on the Xs and Os of the game.
As a former defenseman with 70 games of NHL experience, Leach has a player background that has helped influence his coaching style.
He served as captain of many of the teams he played for over the years, beginning at Providence College and then for the AHL teams connected to the Bruins and Devils.
“One of the things for me, a key part of our success, was his leadership,” said Sharks assistant coach Scott Gordon, who was the head coach of the Providence Bruins when Leach played there for parts of 2003 to 2007. “He was captain, then maybe assistant captain two of the years. They just set a great example for our young players, our prospects that were signed by Boston. Just seeing how they carried themselves. Whether it was grabbing a guy and taking him to the gym or just setting the example of how we practice day to day and how they competed in the games.”
After his time in the Pittsburgh organization, Leach was brought on as an assistant for the Providence Bruins by John Ferguson, who is currently the assistant general manager of the Coyotes.
Leach was then promoted to head coach when Kevin Dean moved up to join Bruce Cassidy’s staff in Boston at the time.
Ferguson said he and Leach had a very open relationship as GM and coach.
They challenged one another, but respectfully and in the name of reaching their common goal.
It wasn’t just a professional relationship, either, as it grew into a genuine friendship.
Aside from how he carried himself in the role, with high energy, meticulousness and a great demeanor on and off the ice, Ferguson thinks back to how Leach got the team through the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He took great pride in how we operated there in Providence,” Ferguson said. “We had zero positive cases throughout that entire time. 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.”
The NHL coaching carousel is one that is easy for teams to get caught up in.
At the same time, everybody wants to find the next Jon Cooper or Rod Brind’Amour.
All it takes is a leap of faith on the right candidate.
Leach appears to be someone worth taking a risk on.