The Winnipeg Jets have finished their staff, naming Brad Lauer and Marty Johnston as the new assistants under head coach Rick Bowness and associate coach Scott Arniel. Nolan Baumgartner will be joining the Manitoba Moose as an assistant, taking over the role that Johnston held the past five seasons.
Lauer, 55, recently won the WHL championship as head coach of the Edmonton Oil Kings, finishing a four-year run with the club that saw nearly unprecedented success. The Oil Kings went 154-46-23 over his tenure, as he helped top prospects like Dylan Guenther and Jake Neighbours reach entirely new heights. He returns to the NHL where he coached for seven seasons as an assistant with the Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks, and Tampa Bay Lightning.
The 34th overall pick in 1985, the Saskatchewan native played more than 300 games in the NHL, retiring in 2002 after a short stint in the UK.
Johnston, meanwhile, is being promoted from the AHL where he served as an assistant since 2017. Before that, he was the head coach at Carleton University for seven seasons, where he led the school to a 129-49-12 record. This will be his first opportunity to coach in the NHL, a nice jump for a coach who will be one to keep an eye on in the future.
The staff will also include goaltending coach Wade Flaherty and video coach Matt Prefontaine.
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