Michael Peca leaves Rangers to join Jeff Blashill’s staff with Blackhawks
Michael Peca will not be part of Mike Sullivan’s coaching staff next season with the New York Rangers. Peca is leaving the Rangers to join the Chicago Blackhawks as an assistant under new coach Jeff Blashill.
Peca was an assistant the past two seasons with the Rangers as part of Peter Laviolette’s staff. When Laviolette was fired in April after the Rangers failed to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time in four seasons, associate coach Phil Housley was also let go. However, Peca and fellow assistant Dan Muse remained with the organization and were able to interview for the opportunity to work under Sullivan.
There’s no timeline on when Sullivan will fill out his coaching staff. Jeff Malcolm remains the goalie coach, but other positions behind the bench remain open. Sullivan was hired to replace Laviolette on May 2 after he coached the Pittsburgh Penguins for the past 10 seasons, a run that included a pair of Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017.
It’s been rumored that Sullivan’s respected assistant Mike Vellucci will join him in New York, but that’s not been confirmed.
This is Peca’s second coaching job in the NHL. Prior to the Rangers, he was an assistant with Rochester of the American Hockey League. The 51-year-old also played 864 games over 14 NHL seasons, and was captain for both the Buffalo Sabres and New York Islanders. He won the Selke Trophy twice as the top defensive forward in the NHL (1996-97 and 2001-02).
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Former Rangers assistant Michael Peca moves behind Blackhawks bench
Word about Peca joining Chicago broke after the Blackhawks officially named Blashill the 42nd coach in franchise history. Blashill previously was coach of the Detroit Red Wings for seven seasons, and spent the past three as an assistant under Jon Cooper with the Tampa Bay Lightning.
“Jeff is an incredibly smart and talented coach who boasts more than 25 years of coaching experience across developmental leagues, the NHL and the world stage,” Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson said in a statement. “He’s thrived when in a position to develop young players and has shown he’s capable of blending that into overall team success, a vision and philosophy we share for where we are today and where we see our team in the future. We couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come under Jeff’s direction.”
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Interestingly, the Blackhawks retained Anders Sorensen on Blashill’s staff. Sorensen was Chicago’s interim coach after Luke Richardson was fired Dec. 5. In 56 games with the rebuilding Blackhawks, Sorensen was 17-30-9, a .384 points percentage.
Three NHL teams remain without a coach: the Boston Bruins, Seattle Kraken and Penguins. Former Rangers coach David Quinn has been linked as a candidate to the Kraken job, and currently is a Penguins assistant. Laviolette’s name hasn’t been associated publicly to any of these three openings.
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