Flames add Kirk Muller, Cail MacLean to coaching staff

Montreal Canadiens' Corey Perry listens to assistant coach Kirk Muller during a practice in Brossard, Que. on Tuesday, January 5, 2021. (Paul Chiasson/CP)

The Calgary Flames have added Kirk Muller and Cail MacLean to their coaching staff, the team announced Thursday.

Muller, who was fired along with head coach Claude Julien by the Montreal Canadiens in February, will serve as an associate coach in Calgary.

MacLean, meanwhile, is getting his first shot in the NHL as an assistant after leading the Flames' AHL affiliate, the Stockton Heat.

Muller and MacLean will join head coach Darryl Sutter's staff that includes assistant Ryan Huska, goaltender coach Jason Labarbera and video coach Jamie Pringle.

Former assistants Ray Edwards and Martin Gelinas will not return, with both transitioning to the player-development side.

Muller, a six-time all-star who put up 959 points across 1,349 games in his 19-year NHL career, has 15 years of coaching experience. He spent his first five seasons behind a bench as an assistant with the Canadiens from 2006-07 to 2010-11, before taking the lead role with the Carolina Hurricanes, guiding them to an 80-80-27 record across three campaigns (2011-12 to 2013-14). Muller then served an assistant with the St. Louis Blues in 2014-15 before returning to Montreal in 2016-17.

Under MacLean's leadership, the Heat went 72-65-16 across three seasons. He previously held the role of an assistant with the Abbotsford Heat from 2011-2013, was head coach of the ECHL's Adirondack Thunder for two seasons and spent one year as an assistant in Stockton before taking the top job in 2018-19.

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