New York fired AHL coach Grant Potulny and assistants Jamie Tardif and Paul Mara after a 26-38-5 season. Minas Panagiotakis / Getty ImagesJune 5, 2026 3:00 pm EDT Updated The Rangers hired Jay Leach to coach their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack, on Friday. Leach spent the previous two seasons as an assistant coach with the Boston Bruins and was previously an assistant for the Seattle Kraken for three years.New York fired AHL coach Grant Potulny and assistants Jamie Tardif and Paul Mara after a 26-38-5 season. Potulny, previously the Northern Michigan head coach in NCAA hockey, took over the Wolf Pack job ahead of the 2024-25 season.
OFFICIAL: Jay Leach has been named the new Head Coach of @HWPHockey.
Learn more → https://t.co/85BjLLLRXO pic.twitter.com/p9btPxGFE6
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) June 5, 2026While Potulny came from the college ranks, Leach has been in North American professional hockey the past 11 seasons and has head coaching experience with the Providence Bruins (2016-2021). He would’ve worked with Rangers assistant coach Joe Sacco — a former Boston assistant — in the Bruins organization and also would have coached with Mike Sullivan with the 2015-16 Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, where Leach was an assistant for a year. Sullivan was head coach until a midseason NHL coaching change opened up the Penguins’ job, which he took, leading Pittsburgh to a Stanley Cup win.The Bruins made the playoffs this past season with Leach as an assistant, losing to the Sabres in six games. He also was an assistant on Seattle’s 2022-23 team that made the second round and eventually lost to Dallas.
