Islanders head coach Doug Weight continued to do things his own way, officially hiring former Devils and Rangers star Scott Gomez to join his staff Tuesday.
The decision might be a little outside the box — Gomez has no professional coaching experience — but it has been in the making for a while. It continued Weight’s rebuilding of the staff since he became the full-time headman after half a season as the interim head coach, when he led the Islanders to within one point of qualifying for the postseason following the firing of Jack Capuano in January.
“Scott brings an immense amount of hockey knowledge to our coaching staff,” Weight said in a statement. “His offensive instincts, expertise on the power play and the way he could control the game with his skating and smarts, are all key elements that we want implemented into our group.”
Weight made it clear recently he preferred coaches with good NHL playing experience and not too far removed from the game. He made his first hire by signing former teammate Luke Richardson, who had been a head coach at AHL Binghamton just two seasons ago.
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Gomez, 37, retired before last season, which he spent doing sporadic work for Devils telecasts on MSG. Gomez had a 16-year NHL career that began with the Devils, with whom he won the Calder Trophy in 2000 along with the first of two Stanley Cup championships.
He signed a seven-year, $51.5 million deal with the Rangers in the summer of 2007, disappointing on Broadway until he was part of the deal before the 2009-10 season that sent him to the Canadiens and brought back eventual captain Ryan McDonagh.
After three seasons with Montreal, Gomez bounced around, playing for the Sharks, Panthers, a short stint back with the Devils, Blues, and then finishing by playing just 13 games for the Senators in 2015-16. The native of Anchorage, Alaska, ended up scoring 756 points (181 goals, 575 assists) in 1,079 career regular-season games. That included a lot of power-play time, an area the Islanders would like to improve from their 2016-17 ranking of third-to-last in the league.
“He played in the league as recently as the 2015-16 season,” Weight said, “so he can relate to today’s NHL player in an effort to bring out the best in each member of the team.”
It’s still to be determined how Weight will flesh out the rest of his staff, but more hires are likely coming. The status of the only remaining member from last season’s staff, Greg Cronin, is still up in the air, though it looks as if he’s going to stay.