Penguins hire Mark Recchi as an assistant coach

The Pittsburgh Penguins didn't look very far for assistant coach Rick Tocchet's replacement after he left to take the head coaching job with the Arizona Coyotes.

PITTSBURGH (AP) The Pittsburgh Penguins didn't look very far for assistant coach Rick Tocchet's replacement after he left to take the head coaching job with the Arizona Coyotes.

The Stanley Cup champions hired newly elected Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Recchi to take over Tocchet's position on Tuesday just moments after the Coyotes made Tocchet's hiring official.

The 49-year-old Recchi is the 12th-leading scorer in NHL history, racking up 1,533 points during a 22-year career that included stops with Pittsburgh, Philadelphia and Montreal. Recchi won Stanley Cups with Pittsburgh (1991), Carolina (2006) and Boston (2011) as a player.

Recchi spent the past three years as a player development coach with the Penguins and was recently promoted to director of player development.

Recchi will focus on working with the team's forwards and helping head coach Mike Sullivan coordinate the power play.

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