Gruden, 52, spent the last four seasons (2018-22) as an assistant coach for the New York Islanders.
Before joining the NHL ranks with the Islanders, Gruden spent two seasons behind the bench as Head Coach of the Hamilton Bulldogs of the Ontario Hockey League. He led the Bulldogs to a 43-18-7 record in 2017-18, capturing the J. Ross Robertson Cup as champions of the OHL. Gruden's first head coaching job came in 2015-16 for the Flint Firebirds of the Ontario Hockey League.
He began his coaching career as an assistant coach for the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2011-15, helping lead Team USA to gold medals at both the 2012 and 2014 Under-18 World Championships.
Prior to his coaching career, Gruden spent more than a decade playing as a defenseman in the NHL, AHL and IHL from 1993-2004. The Virginia, Minnesota native was originally selected by Boston in the eighth round (168th overall) of the 1990 NHL Entry Draft. The 6-foot, 200-pound blueliner skated in 59 career NHL games with the Bruins from 1993-96.
