From the Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins have named Todd Reirden and Mike Vellucci assistant coaches, and signed goaltending coach Mike Buckley to a two-year contract extension, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford.
Reirden and Vellucci join head coach Mike Sullivan’s staff, replacing Jacques Martin, Mark Recchi and Sergei Gonchar, whose contracts were not renewed at the conclusion of Pittsburgh’s season. Reirden, 49, will oversee the team’s defensive group and power play unit. Vellucci, 54, will work with the team’s forwards and oversee the penalty kill.
“I am pleased to add Todd and Mike to our coaching staff, and believe they will complement Mike Sullivan’s coaching style,” Rutherford said. “Todd is a Stanley Cup winning coach with a decade of NHL experience as both an assistant and head coach. Mike brings championship experience at both the AHL and OHL level, and is very familiar with how we function as an organization.”
Reirden, a Deerfield, Illinois native, spent the past six seasons on the Washington Capitals coaching staff, serving as head coach for the past two seasons. He was an assistant coach from 2014-16, and then associate coach from 2016-18, where he helped the Capitals to their first Stanley Cup Championship in franchise history in 2018.
Vellucci is joining Pittsburgh’s NHL club after completing his first season as the general manager and head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, helping them to a 29-26-3-5 record in 63 games this year. In total, eight of Vellucci’s players at the AHL level saw action with Pittsburgh last season, most notably Sam Lafferty, Anthony Angello and Andrew Agozzino.
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