Fly Like An Eagle

Colour me surprised that another former Winnipeg Jets forward was making news in July, but it seems that the mustard-eating Mark Letestu, pictured to the left, has himself a new role in the AHL! No, he's not making a comeback for his playing career, but Letestu is moving from the Cleveland Monsters where he spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach to the Colorado Eagles where he'll assume the head coaching role after Aaron Schneekloth left for a position with the Seattle Kraken.

Letestu was hired by the Columbus Blue Jackets in 2021-22 as their development coach and as the Cleveland Monsters' assistant coach, and he's overseen the development of players such as Liam Foudy, Trey Fix-Wolansky, Jet Greaves, Owen Sillinger, and Daniil Tarasov to name a few. While the cupboards have mostly been bare for the Blue Jackets over the last few seasons, players like Jake Christiansen and David Jiříček saw big improvements to their games come in the Cleveland system. That's not all Letestu, but he had a hand in it.

Rather than working with the new additions to the Blue Jackets' depth chart, Letestu joins the Colorado Eagles who finished atop the AHL's Pacific Division with a 43-21-8 record before falling in five games in the best-of-five Pacific Division Final to the eventual Calder Cup champion Abbotsford Canucks. Needless to say, Letestu's coming into an organization that's hungry for more success.

"We're excited to welcome Mark to the Avalanche and Eagles family," Avalanche Assistant General Manager Kevin McDonald stated in the release today. "Mark has quickly established himself as up-and-coming coach in the American Hockey League and we feel he’s the perfect fit to lead the Eagles moving forward."

You might be wondering who Letestu will lean on when it comes to star players, and I don't think he'll have to worry about defender Jacob MacDonald filling that role after he scored 31 goals and 55 points this season. If he somehow isn't skating for the Avalanche next season, MacDonald will be a nightmare for goalies once again.


Letestu's development role will see him work with 77th-overall selection in defender Francesco Dell'Elce if he opts to leave UMass-Amherst this season. Adding another dynamic defender to complement the work of MacDonald would certainly be a boost for the Eagles as Dell'Elce was named a Hockey East All-Rookie Team member while finishing tied for second in the NCAA in scoring among freshmen defensemen. Colorado always seems to find good scoring threats from the blue line, and Dell'Elce continues that trend.

He may also get a shot to work with the 118th-overall selection in Swedish defender Linus Funck and the 214th-overall selection in forward Nolan Roed. Both look like capable skaters in the AHL with some solid upside to get them to the next level, but it will come down to hard work and dedication along with some quality coaching and development from Letestu if and when they get to the AHL level.

"I am very grateful to both the Avalanche and Eagles for this opportunity," Letestu said in the release. "I am excited and ready for this challenge to lead their AHL franchise. Thank you to the Kroenke family, Joe Sakic, Chris MacFarland and Kevin McDonald for their trust in me, as well as a big thank you to Martin Lind, Ryan Bach and the entire Eagles organization. Most importantly thanks to my family for all of their support throughout my playing career and now my coaching career. I can’t wait to get the season going."

He may have only played seven games in a Winnipeg Jets uniform, but it's always nice to see a former player come full circle by becoming a coach and imparting his experiences and wisdom on the next generation of players. I can't say that he'll demand to have mustard packets on the bench for the Colorado Eagles next season, but Mark Letestu has shown that he has the drive to make players better. In turn, that should make the Eagles better and, ultimately, the Avalanche better as both teams seek more championships.

This season, Mark Letestu will spread his coaching wings as he looks to push his team to new heights in making the Eagles soar!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!