The New Jersey Devils have found their new head coach.
John Hynes has an agreement in place with the Devils according to Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos and Elliotte Friedman.
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Hynes is currently the coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh’s American Hockey League affiliate. He has a 231-126-27 record with the AHL Penguins over the last five years and is the winningest coach in team history.
Prior to joining Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Hynes spent six seasons as a head coach with USA Hockey’s National Development Team Program, posting a 216-113-19-9 record. He is a former Boston University player who won a national title in 1995.
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New Jersey went 32-36-14 for 78 points this past season, missing the playoffs by 20 points. It was the sixth-worst record in the NHL and the team’s worst in a full season since getting 66 points in 1988-89.
Pete DeBoer, who led the Devils to the Stanley Cup Final in 2012, was fired as head coach in December. The Devils finished the season with team president and then-general manager Lou Lamoriello running them with assistant coaches Adam Oates and Scott Stevens.
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The 72-year-old Lamoriello stepped aside as general manager early last month and Shero was hired. Lamoriello maintained his role as president.
The move will reunite the 40-year-old with new Devils general manager Ray Shero, who formerly held the same title with Pittsburgh. Shero hired Hynes to coach in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
He was the AHL’s coach of the year in 2010-11.
Dan Bylsma, who recently was hired to be the Buffalo Sabres coach, is a former Wilkes Barre/Scranton coach who led the Penguins to a Stanley Cup title.
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With files from The Associated Press.
