Avalanche hire Brett McLean as assistant coach
The Colorado Avalanche are turning to a familiar face as a new voice behind their bench.
On Thursday, the Avalanche announced that they have hired Brett McLean as an assistant coach.
McLean, 48, comes in to replace Dave Hakstol, who leaves Colorado after accepting the head coaching position for the troubled Arizona State men’s hockey program on Thursday.
Hakstol had coached the forwards and power play under head coach Jared Bednar while with the Avalanche, so McLean will presumably take on those same responsibilities.
McLean spent last season as an assistant coach under Adam Foote with the Vancouver Canucks. He ran Vancouver’s power play, helping it finish 14th in the NHL at a respectable 21.8 percent. Following the season, McLean and the rest of Foote’s coaching staff were fired after the Canucks placed dead last in the NHL with 58 points. McLean should be excited to work with the talent on Colorado’s power play, which features center Nathan MacKinnon and defenseman Cale Makar.
Prior to his time in Vancouver, McLean spent two seasons as the head coach of the Minnesota Wild‘s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Iowa Wild. The Comox, British Columbia native began his coaching career in 2017-18 as an assistant coach for Iowa, a role he held for three seasons before becoming an assistant for Minnesota for another three seasons.
McLean is a former Avalanche player, too, spending the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons in Colorado. The former center also played for the Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers, finishing his NHL career with 56 goals and 106 assists for 162 points in 385 total games.
The Avalanche, who have a 4-2-1 record for nine points through seven games so far, host the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday before kicking off a miniature two-game road trip against the Philadelphia Flyers on Monday.
