According to sources, Scott Gomez will be joining the New York Islanders’ coaching staff for the 2017-18 season.
He’s baaaaaack.
Scott Gomez, also referred to as “SG23,” will be joining the Isles’ coaching staff for the 2017-18 season, sources tell me.
The 37-year-old Anchorage native spent more than a decade tormenting the Isles as a member of the rival Rangers and Devils. He is expected to contribute to the power play, although even that isn’t set in stone.
Recently, the Isles announced the hiring of Luke Richardson, the former Maple Leafs forward best known for incurring 238 penalty minutes during the 1990-91 season.
According to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, it’s very possible that Weight will turn to Kelly Buchberger to solidify the team’s coaching staff. He spent 14 seasons with five teams, including the Oilers, where he was Weight’s teammate.
The Islanders’ special teams — power play and penalty — underperformed last season. In the NHL, it’s the responsibility of the assistant coaches to ensure that these units are performing at a respectable level.
NOTES
On Thursday, the Isles made Luke Richardson’s hiring official, which reunites him and former teammate Doug Weight behind the team’s bench. The move signifies that Weight has full clout over the decision-making process, and that the Isles will be seeking to establish themselves as a fast, gritty team in 2017-18.
Calvin de Haan and his Canadian teammates will battle the Swedes for the IIHF World Championship title. He’s the lone Islanders skater remaining, as the United States’ Brock Nelson and Anders Lee, and Germany’s Thomas Greiss and Dennis Seidenberg, have all been eliminated from the tourney.
David Shear of Lighthouse Hockey argues that the Isles would be better off without assistant coach Greg Cronin returning next season. Citing a 2013 interview with Maple Leafs Hot Stove, Shear explains that Cronin is behind on the modern game.
