“I like player development”
by Gayle Troiani
3 hours ago
When Hall of Fame forward Mark Recchi hung up his skates, he did so as a member of the Boston Bruins, and he followed immediately by lifting the Stanley Cup for the third time.
After winning the Cup in 2011, Recchi moved to Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t long before the seven-time star returned to the NHL as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ player development coach in 2014.
Recchi spent six seasons with the Penguins before moving to the New Jersey Devils, where he served as an assistant coach for two seasons before being relieved of his duties.
So where does Recchi go from here? He recently went on OVERTIME Podcast with TSN’s Gino Reda and revealed what the future holds.
“I think the game was so good for me,” Recchi said. “It’s actually been refreshing because I’ve spent a lot of time with my family. I have three older kids who are in college, so I’ll see them a bit, but I’d probably like to go back into management if I could.
When most think of management, it usually means general manager or president of hockey operations, but not for Recchi. He prefers something closer to the game.
“I love development, I love player development. I’ve loved being part of that process of helping young people and working with young people,” Recchi explained. organizations and especially because it is so important to work in the age of ceilings.
“You have to develop players and you have to work with them. I think that’s really the direction I would like to take but you never know. Maybe something coaching will come back. I’m not really sure. I’m starting to pull out some feelers now and put my name back in the hat and see what can happen in the future.
Recchi didn’t mention which teams he contacted, but you have to wonder if the Bruins might be high on the list since he last played in Boston and was part of the Stanley Cup winning team. The front office has a lot of decisions to make regarding free agents this summer and developing young players like Fabian Lysell, Marc McLaughlin and Matthew Poitras is a top priority with the Bruins’ lack of cap space.
Who better to develop these players than a player with Recchi’s pedigree?
