Who is Ben Smith, Boston College Men's Hockey's Expected New Assistant Coach?

Just two days after the Boston College men’s hockey program announced the resignation of former associate head coach Brendan Buckley, New England Hockey Journal’s Evan Marinofsky reported that Ben Smith, a former assistant captain for the Eagles, is expected to join head coach Greg Brown’s staff as an assistant.

Expect Ben Smith to be hired as an assistant coach for the Boston College men’s hockey team.

Smith was the player development coordinator for the Boston Bruins over the last year.

Played at BC from 2006-10.
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) August 13, 2026

Smith, who played on the Heights from 2006-10, in which he captured Frozen Four All-Tournament Team honors twice and won two national championships, served as the player development coordinator for the Boston Bruins this past year, which means he is certainly familiar with a good chunk the current roster — in 2025-26 alone, BC’s roster had six Bruins draft picks on it.

During his four-year playing career on the Heights, the Avon, Conn., native earned the 2010 Nathaniel J. Hasenfus “Eagle of the Year” Award as Boston College’s outstanding male student-athlete in his graduating class, including “Distinguished Scholar” honors from the Hockey East Association after previously being awarded All-Academic Team nods all four years.

Smith signed a professional contract with the Chicago Blackhawks in April of his senior year — Chicago selected him in the sixth round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft — and he went on to play professionally until 2025, closing out his career as a member of EHC München in the DEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga), which is the highest-tiered league in Germany, before joining the Bruins’ development office.

Smith played for a total of four NHL franchises, consisting of the Blackhawks, the San Jose Sharks, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Colorado Avalanche, but he only played over 36 games twice in his career — in back-to-back years with the Blackhawks from 2013-15, during which he became a Stanley Cup winner (2013).

Brown got to coach Smith at BC, as he served behind the bench for 14 seasons from 2004-18 as an assistant on former head coach Jerry York’s staff, so the two of them already have that connection that seemingly played into bringing Smith back to the Heights.

Smith’s most successful season in Chestnut Hill, Mass., occurred during his sophomore campaign in 2007-08, in which he totaled 50 points with 25 goals and 25 assists, including 10 power-play goals and four game-winners, en route to a national championship — the program’s first since 2001.

The Eagles are coming off a season which concluded in the Hockey East semifinals against UConn, in which they fell 4-3 in overtime at TD Garden.

While that was a bit of a disappointment, as BC failed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2022-23 season, it won its first Beanpot Trophy in over a decade, throttling Boston University 6-2 in the final on Feb. 9.

The program released its full schedule for the 2026-27 season just over a week ago. The Eagles will open their fifth campaign of the Brown era with an exhibition matchup against the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP) on Oct. 3 before hosting Alaska for their season opener on Oct. 9.

2026-27 Schedule Drop!

Single-game tickets for the first half of the season are on sale NOW!

📰 https://t.co/abFL77R5Ew
🎟️ https://t.co/EWrHfNtJBs pic.twitter.com/XnhrvTMVph
— BC Men's Hockey (@BC_MHockey) August 4, 2026

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