John Hynes to be Named Next Head Coach of New Jersey Devils

John Hynes will make five active NHL head coaches that have also coached the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins will have a new head coach in the 2015-16 season as the New Jersey Devils are expected to announce tomorrow that John Hynes will be their next head coach. Local Wilkes-Barre news station WNEP and Sports Director/Anchor Jim Coles reported that Hynes will be named the Devils head coach tomorrow morning.

Jason Mackey and Jonathan Bombulie of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review added that the deal is "close but not done", with Mackey adding that the draft pick compensation is the only hangup from making it a done deal.

The Penguins received a third-round draft pick in 2016 from the Buffalo Sabres as compensation of their hiring of Dan Bylsma. The New Jersey Devils own three third-round picks in 2016 currently, so the likely return from the Devils for hiring Hynes will be another third-round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft next summer.

After the jump, my thoughts on Hynes, what Devils fans can expect and some in-house options that could replace Hynes as the AHL Penguins head coach next year.


John Hynes has done great things for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in his five years as head coach of the Penguins' AHL affiliate. He owns the franchise's all-time wins mark with a record of 231-126-27, not including his playoff record of 33-31.

As head coach of the AHL Penguins, Hynes took his team to the postseason in all five of his seasons as bench boss - including back-to-back trips to the Eastern Conference Finals in 2012-13 and 2013-14, while making it past the first round in all five of his postseason runs during his tenure.

Hynes seems like a perfect fit for the Devils as they are currently constructed. In Hynes' five AHL seasons as head coach, his teams allowed the fewest goals in the league in four of those five seasons. For a team predicated on defense-first and not allowing a ton of quality chances against - it matches Hynes' style to a tee.

With Hynes' hiring by the New Jersey Devils, he will be the 5th active NHL head coach who has coached the WBS Penguins prior to making it to the NHL, joining Dan Bylsma (Buffalo), Michel Therrien (Montreal), Todd Richards (Columbus) and Mike Yeo (Minnesota).

As for who the next coach of the WBS Penguins will be, some in-house options could include WBS assistant coach Alain Nasreddine - a former WBS Penguins defenseman - if he doesn't join Hynes in New Jersey, or possibly Clark Donatelli - the current head coach of the Pens' ECHL affiliate Wheeling Nailers.