Mike Buckley replaces Mike Bales as Penguins goalie coach

For the Penguins, a changing of the guard in goal comes with a changing of the goalie coaches.

Mike Bales, who was the team's goalie coach for the past four seasons, left the organization to take the same position with the Carolina Hurricanes. He was immediately replaced by Mike Buckley, the team's goaltending development coach.

Bales, 45, has been widely credited with helping Marc-Andre Fleury shake off struggles that plagued him at the start of this decade and reestablish himself as a top NHL goaltender.

Buckley, a 40-year-old Massachusetts native, has worked with the team's goaltending prospects for the last four seasons. As such, he was Matt Murray's first pro goalie coach and has coached Tristan Jarry as well.

“We are excited to have Mike Buckley join the Pittsburgh staff,” general manager Jim Rutherford said in a news release. “He has tutored our young goalies, especially Matt Murray, for a number of years, making this a seamless transition for our group. We certainly appreciate the contributions from Mike Bales throughout his time with our club. He was invaluable to our team, and especially our goaltenders, during our Stanley Cup runs the past two seasons.”

Fleury is expected to join the Vegas Golden Knights in Wednesday's NHL expansion draft.

Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.