One of the Colorado Avalanche’s important coaching vacancies has been filled.
The Avs hired Mark Letestu as the head coach of the Colorado Eagles, the club announced Saturday. Letestu has spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach for the Cleveland Monsters, the AHL affiliate of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Letestu played 567 NHL games across 11 seasons with five teams, including two stints with the Blue Jackets. He was an undrafted free agent who spent a year at Western Michigan and then signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
For the past three seasons, Letestu has been an assistant coach for Trent Vogelhuber, who played for Jared Bednar in 2015-16 when the then-Lake Erie Monsters won the Calder Cup as AHL champions.