Talking Pack: New Sheriff in Town
The Wolf Pack completely revamped their coaching staff entering the 2026-27 season. What do the new faces bring to the team?
Welcome to Talking Pack, a weekly offseason column about the Hartford Wolf Pack, exclusively at Blueshirt Banter. Every week, we'll catch you up on what's going on with the Rangers' AHL affiliate as they prepare for their 30th season in the fall.
After a dismal 2025-26 season saw them finish in last place in the entire AHL, the Hartford Wolf Pack dismissed their entire coaching staff. Head coach Grant Potulny, as well as assistant coaches Jamie Tardif and Paul Mara, were relieved of their duties by the team.
In the search for a new head coach, the Wolf Pack and Rangers targeted experience at the professional level. Potulny had been hired after a seven-season stint as head coach of Northern Michigan University, but had no prior professional coaching experience. Hartford wanted to go in the opposite direction following their last place finish last season.
This summer, the Wolf Pack have assembled a coaching staff that brings plenty of experience, in both playing and coaching, at the professional level as they aim to return to the Calder Cup Playoffs in the spring. Today, we'll take a look at the remade staff that will lead the Wolf Pack in the 2025-26 season.
Jay Leach, Head Coach
After five seasons as an assistant coach at the NHL level, Jay Leach returns to the AHL as the head coach of the Wolf Pack. He was named the ninth head coach in Wolf Pack history on June 5.
Leach was drafted 115th overall by the Phoenix Coyotes in the 1998 NHL entry draft. The former defenseman appeared in 70 NHL games with the Boston Bruins, Tampa Bay Lightning, New Jersey Devils, Montreal Canadiens, and San Jose Sharks from 2001 through 2013, while also suiting up in 499 AHL games and 180 ECHL contests.
Leach would eventually hang up his skates and enter the coaching world. His first job came across the pond in Germany, working as an assistant coach for the DEL's Adler Mannheim. Leach returned stateside the following season, where he was hired as an assistant coach for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, working alongside current Rangers coach Mike Sullivan.
