Baumgartner returns to Moose as assistant coach

Photo: Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images

The Winnipeg Jets and Manitoba Moose announced that Moose assistant coach Marty Johnston has been named an assistant coach with the Jets on Rick Bowness’s staff, and that Nolan Baumgartner will join the Moose as an assistant under Mark Morrison.

Baumgartner, 46, had been an assistant coach for the Vancouver Canucks from 2017 to 2022, following five seasons as an assistant with the Canucks’ AHL affiliates in Chicago and Utica.

Elected to the AHL Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022, Baumgartner spent the majority of his 16-year professional playing career in the AHL, appearing in 878 games and notching 83 goals and 307 assists for 390 points, including two stints with the Moose (2002-05, 07-11). He is Manitoba’s franchise leader in AHL games played with 385, and served as team captain in 2004-05 and again in 2010-11.

Baumgartner appeared in three AHL All-Star Classics during his career, serving as playing captain for the Canadian team in 2010. He also played 86 postseason games in the AHL, including a trip to the Calder Cup Finals with Manitoba in 2009.

The Calgary native, a first-round draft pick by Washington in 1994, played 143 games in the NHL with Washington, Chicago, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Dallas.

Johnston had served as an assistant coach for the Moose for the past five seasons, helping to graduate players such as Mason Appleton, Jansen Harkins, Logan Stanley and Cole Perfetti to the NHL.