Blue Jackets name Larsen head coach, Flames add Mueller as associate

Today, the Columbus Blue Jackets announced the signing of Brad Larsen to a three-year contract to serve as head coach.

The Blue Jackets and John Tortorella parted ways back in May.

“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 general manager 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.”

Larsen served as the head coach of the Springfield Falcons of the AHL from 2012-2014, and was an assistant coach with Columbus for the past seven seasons.

In other news, the Calgary Flames announced that they have brought on Kirk Mueller as an associate coach.

Mueller and the Montreal Canadiens parted ways in February after five seasons together. Mueller has an extensive coaching resume that includes stops in Carolina as a head coach with the Hurricanes, and two seasons as an assistant with the St. Louis Blues.