"This season has been extremely disappointing and the responsibility for that lies with all of us," said Kekalainen. "These decisions were difficult and not made lightly given our respect for both Brad and Manny as coaches and people. Brad has been part of our organization for more than a decade, and we are extremely thankful for his hard work and many contributions - both on and off the ice - during that time. We wish nothing but the best for Brad and his family in the future."
Larsen, 45, led the Blue Jackets to a 62-86-16 record in 164 games (.427 points percentage) over the past two seasons, including a 25-48-9 mark in 2022-23. He guided Columbus to a 37-38-7 (81 pts./.494 points percentage) mark in his first season behind the bench in 2021-22. He spent the previous seven seasons with the Blue Jackets as an assistant coach under head coaches Todd Richards and John Tortorella. Prior to his arrival in Columbus, Larsen served as the head coach of the American Hockey League's Springfield Falcons, the club's AHL affiliate, from 2012-14 and led Springfield to a pair of Northeast Division titles. He began his coaching career as an assistant coach with Springfield in 2010-11 and 2011-12.
Legace, 50, has served as the club's goaltending coach for the past five seasons after spending the previous five campaigns in a similar role with the club's American Hockey League affiliates, the Cleveland Monsters and Springfield Falcons. The Toronto, Ontario native played professionally for 18 years, including 11 NHL seasons with the Los Angeles Kings, Detroit Red Wings, St. Louis Blues and Carolina Hurricanes with whom he compiled a record of 187-99-41 with a 2.41 goals-against average, .912 save percentage and 24 shutouts in 365 games between 1998-2010.
