The Calgary Flames off-season has been slow thus far, with very little movement to speak of, with the departure of assistant Marc Savard being one of the only newsworthy moments. Savard came to the Flames last summer with the goal of turning around this team's powerplay, but in 2023-24, it got even worse than the team's final season under veteran Head Coach Darryl Sutter.
While the team wasn't helped by the departure of many top stars, they still struggled mightily, and now they've made a major addition in the form of an experienced assistant coach in the NHL. The Flames have now officially announced via social media that Brad Larsen will be joining Ryan Huska's staff as an assistant coach for the upcoming 2024-25 campaign.
Welcome to #yyc, Brad!
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) June 11, 2024
The #Flames have named Brad Larsen assistant coach! Following his playing career, he spent time coaching in the AHL and has nine years of #NHL coaching experience, working as an assistant and head coach in Columbus.
The 46-year old has two years of Head Coach experience in the NHL with the Columbus Blue Jackets, where the team compiled a 62-86-16 record in two seasons between 2021 and 2023. That run came after seven years as an assistant with the team, and now he's preparing to fill a huge hole for a team that needed major improvements on the powerplay as well as offensively in 2023-24.
#Flames announce they've hired former #CBJ head coach Brad Larsen to Ryan Huska's staff as an assistant coach.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) June 11, 2024
Larsen spent nine years on Columbus bench, including 2021-23 as head coach, with the previous seven as an assistant.
This summer will be crucial to the future of the Calgary Flames organization, with more key trades to make and a critical 2024 NHL Draft, and with the addition of Larsen to the staff, confidence will be high that they can improve in several key areas as they look to rebuild or re-tool (however the front office wants to market it).