Mark Letestu’s coaching career has come to an abrupt halt.
On Monday, Swedish second division club Almtuna announced it has signed the Blue Jackets forward to a lockout deal.
Prior to joining the Swedish club, Letestu had taken a somewhat unique approach to staying busy during the work stoppage -- serving as an assistant coach for Bonnyville of the Alberta Junior Hockey League, a tier-two Canadian junior hockey club a few hours east of Edmonton.
An Alberta native, Letestu spent three years playing for Bonnyville before joining Western Michigan University for one season, then signing as a undrafted free agent with Pittsburgh in 2007.
He was traded to Columbus in November of last season and put up impressive numbers with the Jackets, scoring 11G-13A-24 points in just 51 games while averaging a career-high 16:15 minutes per game.
In Almtuna, Letestu will join fellow locked-out NHLers Jhonas Enroth and Mike Lundin. The team is currently sitting second from bottom in the Allsvenskan.