Penguins Assistants’ Roles Defined; Still One to Hire

It turns out the Pittsburgh Penguins are not done filling out their coaching staff. President of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas, interspersed with talk about the draft over the weekend, offered some details about new coach Dan Muse’s staff.

Dubas said the Penguins will be hiring an assistant to oversee the defense and the penalty kill, joining Todd Nelson, Nick Bonino and Rich Clune, who have already been announced. Andy Chiodo was retained as the goaltending coach.

Nelson will run the power play. “That’s been his specialty,” Dubas said.

Bonino, a rookie coach who just retired as a player, will help the team work on faceoffs and will be immersed in learning the coaching aspect of the game.

Clune, while a full-time member of the NHL staff, will be deployed as the “eye in the sky,” Dubas said, and in some sort of development role. “He has deep experience with that,” Dubas said of the development side.

In addition, Dubas said Sheldon Brookbank has moved from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton assistant to joining Clune in a development coaching role with the organization.

With the team skewing younger as part of a retool, development will be a key area of focus, Dubas said.

Dubas added that while Muse was familiar with some of the draft-eligible players, he has been more involved since his hiring with rounding out his staff and interacting with the players. Muse was hired earlier this month to replace Mike Sullivan.

Mooney Rising

Forward L.J. Mooney, who is from the Pittsburgh suburb of West Mifflin, was selected by the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday in the fourth round of the draft.

He is also the cousin of Logan Cooley, also from West Mifflin, who plays for the Utah Mammoth after being the third overall pick of the 2022 draft by, at the time, the Arizona Coyotes.

Mooney had 28 points, including five goals, in 26 games last season for the U.S. National Team Development Program. The biggest knock against him is his size, 5 feet 7, 162 pounds.

Gonchar Bloodlines

The New York Rangers selected defenseman Artyom Gonchar in the third round. He’ll need to fill out – the Russian junior leaguer is listed at 6-0, 156 pounds – but he’s got arguably some strong genes.

He is the nephew for former Penguins star defenseman and assistant coach Sergei Gonchar, who was a member of the 2009 Stanley Cup team.

Artyom had 25 points, including seven goals, in 50 games for the Magnitogorsk junior team.