The New Jersey Devils are expected to announce the hiring of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach John Hynes as their next head coach.
The Pittsburgh Sporting News has been able to confirm, via to a source close to the situation, an earlier report by Bob McKenzie of TSN that Hynes would “very likely” get the job in New Jersey.
Certainly appears as if PIT’s AHL coach John Hynes is the likely leading candidate to be next head coach in NJ. Nothing official, mind you.
— Bob McKenzie (@TSNBobMcKenzie) June 1, 2015
Hynes, 40, has been the head coach of the Penguins’ top farm team since 2010. He was hired for the job by former Penguins general manager Ray Shero, who now holds the same job in New Jersey after taking over for Lou Lamoriello earlier this offseason.
In New Jersey, Hynes will take over a struggling club that finished seventh in the Metropolitan Division. His defense-first mentality should be well suited for the Devils, who have traditionally been a defensive powerhouse.
It seems likely that the Penguins will seek draft pick compensation for Hynes, who had just signed a contract extension last December. They chose not to do so when Shero went to New Jersey, but they did receive a third-round pick from the Buffalo Sabres when they hired former Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma.
Hynes leaves Wilkes-Barre as the winningest coach in team history, compiling a 231-126-27 record over his five seasons. He spent six years in total with the organization, the first of which was as an assistant coach.
Before coaching the Penguins, he was a head coach and an assistant coach with the US National Team Development Program and a collegiate assistant at Wisconsin, UMass-Lowell and his alma mater, Boston College.
The fate of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton assistant coach and former Penguins defenseman Alain Nasreddine is unknown at this time.
Photo credit: WBS Penguins
