Former Abbotsford Canucks head coach Jeremy Colliton is going back behind a National Hockey League bench.
The New Jersey Devils announced on Tuesday (June 11) that Colliton is joining that team's coaching staff as an assistant coach.
We have named Jeremy Colliton as an assistant coach.
鈥� New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils)
Welcome to the team, Coach!
馃摪:
Colliton reportedly declined to sign an extension with the Canucks organization last month, which led to the team moving on and hiring former Vancouver Canucks forward and Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Manny Malhotra to take the bench boss job in Abbotsford.
Malhotra's hiring was announced on May 24.
An interesting wrinkle to Colliton and Malhotra's moves is that both now have experience working under Sheldon Keefe as a head coach. Keefe was hired as the Devils new head coach on May 23 after being fired by Toronto (where he worked with Malhotra) on May 9 .
Colliton spent the past two seasons as the Abbotsford Canucks head coach, compiling a record of 80-50-14. Abbotsford qualified for the Calder Cup playoffs in both seasons and were eliminated in the Pacific Division semifinal round both campaigns.
His time as head coach coincided with the leap from AHL to NHL competition for players like Nils H枚glander, Noah Juulsen, Arshdeep Bains, Vasily Podkolzin and Arturs Silovs.
Prior to his time in Abbotsford he was the head coach of the Chicago Blackhawks for parts of four seasons (2018-19 to 2021-22). He finished with a record of 87-92-26 during his time there. Colliton also coached two seasons for Chicago's AHL affiliate the Rockford IceHogs. He posted a record of 46-31-0-11 in Rockford.
The Devils finished the 2023-24 season in seventh place in the Metropolitan Division and 23rd overall in the NHL with a record of 38-39-5. New Jersey does have some Vancouver connections on the team, including former Canucks forward Curtis Lazar and both younger siblings of Quinn Hughes (Jack and Luke).
New Jersey is likely to make one stop to Vancouver's Rogers Arena in the 2024-25 regular season.
