It has been mentioned before and will be said again: change is coming for the Boston Bruins organization this summer. Whether it's with the big club in Boston or the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League, change is coming.
There has been a mass exodus for multiple reasons from the front office in Boston, which includes both of Don Sweeney's assistant general managers, Jamie Langenbrunner and Evan Gold, leaving with Gold's tenure ending on Aug. 1.
As for changes in the AHL with the P-Bruins, there has been some big roster turnover going into the season, with some of the top prospects leaving either through a trade or free agency. The biggest beneficiary of those moves has been the Colorado Avalanche, who acquired Fabian Lysell in a trade and signed Georgii Merkulov in free agency.
Also gone is head coach Ryan Mougenel, who left earlier this offseason to become an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks. That left an opening, and late last week, Mark Divver of New England Hockey Journal and NHL.com reported that Providence was going to hire Trent Whitfield as their head coach. That became reality on Monday morning.
Boston Bruins announce Trent Whitfield as the next head of the Providence Bruins
Whitfield, who was an assistant for Providence over the last decade, is becoming the 14th head coach in the franchise's history. The 49-year-old is an NHL veteran who played for the Boston Bruins, Winnipeg Jets, New York Rangers, St. Louis Blues, and Washington Capitals. He also spent a good chunk of his career in the AHL, and one of the teams he played for was Providence.
It was a no-brianer for Providence to elevate Whitfield to assistant coach. It was also announced that Providence was adding 39-year-old Ryan Ward as an assistant for Whitfield. Both Whitfield and Ward will be tasked with developing Boston prospects, and if there was one knock on Mougenel during his time with the P-Bruins, it was the inability to develop some of Boston's top prospects to get them ready for the NHL in Boston. Maybe this is the new head coach the Black and Gold need to develop their prospects more quickly.
