Pens Promote Reirden To Assistant Coach

Over the last 6 weeks or so, the Pittsburgh Penguins interviewed around a dozen candidates for their open assistant coaching position, made vacant when former assistant Mike Yeo left the organization to serve as the head coach of the Houston Aeros American Hockey League outfit.

Several of those candidates were highly respected around the game, including former Penguin assistant and experienced veteran Barry Smith, and up-and-coming coach and former NHL defenseman Mike Ramsey, who just finished a stint as an assistant with the Minnesota Wild.

In the end, despite their interviews and potential candidates, they continued a recent organizational trend by hiring in-house, promoting now-former Wilkes-Barre Scranton Head Coach Todd Reirden to assist HC Dan Bylsma and current assistant Tony Granato behind the Pens' bench this coming season.

Reirden was an assistant under Bylsma when he was the head coach of the Baby Penguins, and ascended to lead the bench there when Blysma was chosen by Pittsburgh GM Ray Shero to replace former Pens' head coach Michel Therrein. 

Since that time, Reirden led the Pens' AHL team to a 55-43-5 record, losing in the second round of the post-season the year Bylsma was promoted, and falling in a sweep in this last year's opening round of the playoffs.

Reirden was a former NHL defenseman in the league during a 5-year stretch earlier this decade, playing with the St. Louis Blues, Edmonton Oilers and Atlanta Thrashers, primarily.  Interestingly, he also briefly played in the Phoenix Coyotes organization, where his segway into coaching began in part by helping tutor now Pens' blueliner Zbynek Michalek.

Not surprisingly then, Reirden is expected to work with the team's defensemen on the big club, which is one thing the team was looking for in hiring its new assistant.

Meanwhile, Bylsma will probably take on the bulk of responsibility in working with the team's power play, something Yeo also did when he was with the club.

Finally, continuing the in-house theme, Shero promoted John Hynes to be the Head Coach at Wilkes-Barre, sliding up from his assistant position there.  Hynes will probably just pick up with the team where Reirden left off.  

Don't sleep on Hynes, either.  He has been a very successful coach working with young players, having led several U.S. National Development program under-17 and under-18 teams to medals before joining the Penguins' organization.  

More soon.