Penguins Hire Tony Granato As Assistant Coach

So much for waiting 2-3 weeks.

Earlier this morning, when I posted about the hiring of John Hynes to assist Todd Reiden in Wilkes-Barre, I suggested that the Penguins would probably hire their assistant coach in that time period.

Later today, they surprised me and many others in the hockey world by not bringing a true up-and-comer in the coaching ranks, but a former NHL head and assistant coach.

Tony Granto joins the Penguins organ-I-zation with 6 years of coaching experience with the Colorado Avalanche, dating back to the 2002-2003 season. He served 2 stints as head coach with that organization and several as an assistant. Overall, his record there as a bench boss was 215-104-17-16.

I have mixed feelings about bringing Granato on board. Forgetting about my surprise over going for a coaching 'veteran' (relatively speaking) for a moment, I think Granato might, at least, be an nice complement to Blysma. He's someone that HCDB can call on for experience when needed and who can relate to the players like Disco Dan can. Those are good qualities and, in that sense, he's not very different than Tom Fitzergald, who served behind the bench so well as an assistant during this last season's Cup run before going back into the front office.

What concerns me about Granato is that he's never been regarded as a good coaching prospect in league circles. It's fair to say that it was a shock when the Avalanche put him behind their bench for the first time about 6 seasons ago. Personally, I think his record at the time was more of a reflection on the talent Colorado had then, rather than anything he did. They had more high end talent coming off their 2001 Stanley Cup than the Penguins did this past season.

As everyone knows, that's right about the time things started to deteriorate in the Rocky Mountain state and now, the Avalanche are one of the worst teams in the league. Granato was clearly not able to prop them up and keep them afloat. I'm not solely blaming him for their struggles the last 4 or so seasons, but I don't know of any feeling league-wide that he contributed greatly to that franchise. Obviously, had he done so, he would still be behind their bench.

In fact, Granato was really a lame duck in Colorado this past season, in his second stint behind the bench. Everyone knew he was just a stopgap measure until Colorado could hire a permanent coach and, once again, he didn't do a whole lot for the Avalanche in the standings.

In short, I'm just not certain he's cut out to be a good coach in the NHL. He may serve the Penguins' well as an assistant, for the reasons set forth above, but beyond that, I don't view Granato as a bright young coaching mind that it would be nice to have on the staff next to HCDB.

Interesting hiring. One I have mixed feelings about for sure. But I'm willing to give Granato a chance here and see how he does. He's coming into a very stable situation, so that may help him. If he can play the complementary role better than he plays the lead, the Penguins could be benefit. Time will tell.