Manny Malhotra appears to have found one of the assistants who will help him run the Vancouver Canucks‘ bench.

According to a report from NHL Insider Frank Seravalli late Thursday afternoon, the Canucks are in the process of naming Providence Bruins head coach and recipient of the Luis AR Pieri Memorial Award as the AHL’s most outstanding coach, Ryan Mougenel, to Manny Malhotra’s staff.

“Hearing the AHL Coach of the Year, Ryan Mougenel, is joining Manny Malhotra’s staff with [the] Canucks,” Seravalli wrote in a post to X/Twitter.

Mougenel, 50, enjoyed a six-year-long professional hockey career with stops in the ECHL and IHL after spending his junior hockey days with the OHL’s Owen Sound Platers and Kitchener Rangers. After winning an ECHL championship with the Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies in 2003, Mougenel began his coaching career as an assistant on the ECHL Fresno Falcons’ bench in 2005-06. After four seasons with Fresno, Mougenel was named the head coach of the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL, leading the team to a finals appearance in his third year behind the bench in 2011-12.

From there, he worked as an assistant coach for the AHL’s Hershey Bears in 2013-14, the Worcester Sharks in 2014-15, and the San Jose Barracuda from 2015-2018. Mougenel joined the Providence Bruins as an assistant coach in 2019-20, and was promoted to head coach in 2021-22, a role he’s held for the past five seasons. Providence put together 54 wins in the regular season this past season, which certainly helped Mougenel’s case to be named coach of the year. Unfortunately, the Bruins lost in the first round of the AHL playoffs.

In the press release back in April announcing him as AHL coach of the year, Bruins AGM Evan Gold said the following about Mougenel:

“This is well-deserved recognition of both Providence’s success and the impact Ryan has made as a coach and leader. His strengths as a teacher, communicator and culture-builder have been a major factor in that success. Along with his staff, he has done an outstanding job developing our players on and off the ice, and we are fortunate to have someone so committed to our players and organization. Congratulations to Ryan, his family, and the entire staff.”

It is not yet clear what role Mougenel will serve on the Canucks’ bench. More to come.

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