Columbus Blue Jackets President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Don Waddell announced today that Trent Vogelhuber, who has spent the past four seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Monsters, the club’s American Hockey League affiliate, has joined the Blue Jackets as an assistant coach. The club also announced that Nick Bootland, who has spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the AHL’s Hersey Bears, has been named head coach in Cleveland.
“Trent has done a fantastic job over the past four seasons in Cleveland and is one of the bright, young coaches in our game,” said Waddell. “He is hard-working, an excellent communicator, knows our players and will be a great addition to our staff in Columbus.”
Vogelhuber, 37, compiled a 145-108-35 record (.564) in 288 regular season games behind the Monsters bench and added a 17-12 mark (.586) in 29 outings in the Calder Cup Playoffs. After posting a 33-32-7 mark (73 pts.) in his first campaign, he led the club to three consecutive playoff appearances beginning in 2023-24 when Cleveland went 40-24-8 (88 pts.), captured the North Division title and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, where they were defeated in seven games by eventual Cup champion Hershey. Vogelhuber, who coached the North Division at the 2024 AHL All-Star Classic, led the Monsters to records of 35-26-11 (81 pts.) in 2024-25 and 37-26-9 (83 pts.) in 2025-26 over the past two seasons.
Vogelhuber was named the Monsters head coach on June 8, 2022 after spending four seasons as an assistant with the club under head coaches John Madden (2018-19) and Mike Eaves (2019-22). His coaching career began following a six-year playing career that was cut short by injuries following the 2017-18 season.
The Dublin, Ohio native was selected by the Blue Jackets in the seventh round, 211th overall, at the 2007 NHL Draft held at Nationwide Arena. During his professional career, he registered 28 goals and 45 assists for 73 points with 191 penalty minutes in 267 career AHL games with the Springfield Falcons, Lake Erie Monsters and San Antonio Rampage. He spent four of those seasons in the Blue Jackets organization from 2012-16 and helped the Monsters capture the 2016 Calder Cup championship. He played the final two seasons of his career with the San Antonio Rampage, the AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche. Vogelhuber also played four seasons at Miami University from 2008-12, tallying 21-30-51 and 123 penalty minutes in 149 career games with the Redhawks. He helped Miami capture a CCHA regular season championship in 2009-10 and earn trips to four consecutive NCAA tournaments.
Bootland, 47, helped Hershey advance to the postseason in each of the past four seasons and capture back-to-back Calder Cup championships in 2022-23 and 2023-24. He began his coaching career with the Kalamazoo Wings (IHL2/ECHL) in 2008-09 and spent 13 seasons as the club’s head coach and director of hockey operations. He compiled a record of 481-366-82 (.562) in 929 career games with Kalamazoo, helping the club qualify for the playoffs nine times. During his tenure, the Wings won four division titles and one conference championship, advancing to the ECHL’s Kelly Cup Finals in 2010-11. His 853 games coached and 437 wins rank among the top 10 in ECHL history.
"Nick is an experienced coach who has spent nearly two decades working with and developing young players. He knows the league very well and we are excited to have him as the next head coach of the Monsters,” said Chris Clark, Columbus Assistant General Manager and GM of the Monsters. “I’d like to thank Trent for his outstanding contributions in Cleveland. From winning a Calder Cup as a player to leading the team to a division title and three-straight playoff appearances, he has been a great representative of Monsters hockey and I know he will do a tremendous job in Columbus.”
A native of Shelburne, Ontario, Bootland was a ninth-round pick of the Dallas Stars in the 1996 NHL Draft. After playing three seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Guelph Storm from 1995-98, the forward embarked on a 10-year playing career in which he registered 29-43-72 and 475 penalty minutes in 329 career AHL games with Hershey and the Cleveland Barons. He also collected 44-54-98 and 216 PIM in 114 games with the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones from 2001-03 and split the 2003-04 campaign between Cleveland and the Wings, and Columbus Stars of the United Hockey League. He retired in 2008 after serving as the Kalamazoo team captain for three seasons.
