The Vancouver Canucks announced head coach Travis Green’s coaching staff Wednesday, naming Newell Brown, Nolan Baumgartner, Doug Jarvis and Manny Malhotra assistant coaches, Dan Cloutier goaltending coach, Glenn Carnegie skill coach and Ben Cooper video coach.
Baumgartner will join Green on the bench, taking the lead with the team’s defensemen and penalty killing.
Baumgartner, 41, joins the Canucks from the AHL’s Utica Comets where coached four seasons alongside Green, including a trip to the Calder Cup Finals in 2015. Baumgartner began his coaching career as an assistant with the Chicago Wolves in 2012-13.
Prior to joining the coaching ranks, Baumgartner completed a 16-year professional playing career that included 143 regular-season NHL games with Washington, Chicago, Vancouver, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Dallas.
He also tallied 83 goals, 307 assists, 390 points and 815 penalty minutes in 878 career American Hockey League contests with the Portland Pirates, Norfolk Admirals, Manitoba Moose, Philadelphia Phantoms, Iowa Stars and the Wolves, and added 29 points in 86 career Calder Cup Playoff outings, which included an appearance in the 2009 Calder Cup Finals as a member of the Moose.
Baumgartner ranks 19th in AHL history in games played (878), including sixth all-time among defensemen. He appeared in three AHL All-Star Classics and was selected an All-Star playing captain in 2010.