Guy Boucher is back in the NHL. The Toronto Maple Leafs announced this Thursday morning the appointment of the Quebecer as assistant to head coach Sheldon Keefe.
Boucher spent three seasons behind the bench for the Tampa Bay Lightning (2010-2013) and three more behind the Ottawa Senators (2016-2019). He led each of the two teams to the conference final.
Between his two stints in the NHL, he managed SC Bern, Switzerland. He had taken his first steps as a professional with the Hamilton Bulldogs, which were then the school club of the Montreal Canadiens. After only one season (2009-2010), he was hired in Tampa.
Since leaving Ottawa, he has been an analyst for the RDS network.
Like Boucher, Mike Van Ryn will also join the staff led by Sheldon Keefe.
Another former member of the Habs organization found a new job on Thursday. Kirk Muller has indeed been named assistant coach of the Washington Capitals.
Muller has spent the past two seasons as an associate coach with the Calgary Flames. He was in line to replace head coach Darryl Sutter following the latter’s dismissal, but he was preferred to Ryan Huska, who was previously an assistant in Calgary. It’s unclear at this point if Muller was quietly dismissed by the Flames or sought out on his own.
Muller has worked as a coach – head, associate or assistant – continuously since 2006, in Montreal (twice), Carolina, St. Louis and Calgary.
