The youngest head coach in the AHL is now Trent Vogelhuber after he was officially promoted by the Columbus Blue Jackets today as head coach of the Cleveland Monsters, their minor league affiliate.
Vogelhuber, 33, has served as an assistant with the club for the last four seasons and won a Calder Cup with the team in 2016 (then the Lake Erie Monsters). Drafted 211th overall in 2007, the Ohio native spent parts of seven seasons in the AHL before retiring in 2018.
Blue Jackets director of player personnel Chris Clark released the following statement:
We are thrilled to name Trent Vogelhuber as the next head coach of the Cleveland Monsters. Trent has done a terrific job as an assistant coach over the past four years, including leading the bench at times during this past season, and has earned this opportunity. He is extremely bright, hard-working and passionate about the game and we believe he will succeed in both developing our young players and putting a winning team on the ice for the passionate fans in Cleveland.
Getting to the head coach level already is a strong indicator that Vogelhuber will eventually be manning an NHL bench in some fashion, though that’s something for down the road. For now, his focus will be building on the work of veteran coach Mike Eaves, who stepped away from the club in April after three seasons behind the bench of the Monsters.