The Columbus Blue Jackets finalized their coaching staff by bringing in Hockey Hall of Famer Mark Recchi as an assistant coach. That’s a name that veteran hockey fans will certainly remember and one that newer fans should familiarize themselves with. For those unfamiliar with him, he spent 22 seasons in the NHL as a player and has more recently been an assistant coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils. He’s well-traveled around the NHL and brings an extraordinary amount of experience to the organization during a time in which they desperately need it.
Recchi’s Playing Career
Recchi was a fourth-round pick in the 1988 NHL Draft by the Pittsburgh Penguins, whom he had a total of three stints with throughout his career. He was a member of the 1990-91 Penguins who won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history, led by the dynamic duo of Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. While those two are the most commonly discussed names when the Penguins’ back-to-back championships are discussed, Recchi was one of the most significant contributors in both the regular season and playoffs during that first Stanley Cup run. He was moved across the state before the end of the 1991-92 season though, and continued his superstar level of play with the Philadelphia Flyers.
He’d later go on to play for a multitude of teams, including a couple more stints with both Pennsylvania teams, the Montreal Canadiens and Boston Bruins. He added two more Stanley Cups to his resume as well, with the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2005-06 season and in his final season with the Bruins in 2010-11. He finished with a total of 1,533 points through 1,652 games in the NHL, and over 1,000 penalty minutes as well. Finally, the Hockey Hall of Fame came knocking and he was inducted as a member of the class of 2017.
Recchi’s Coaching Career
Recchi started off his coaching career as a development coach for the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2014-15 season. He quickly rose up through the ranks and became an assistant on Mike Sullivan’s staff for the 2017-18 season, and he was often tasked with running the power play during the three seasons he spent in that role. While he was in Pittsburgh they had the third-best power play in the league during his stint, with a power play percentage of 23.8 through those 233 games. With a lineup consisting of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, it’s no surprise that his power play succeeded at a high rate.
With the Devils, the numbers fell off considerably. Under Lindy Ruff, Recchi’s power play was 21st in the league over his tenure in New Jersey. With that being said when the Devils took a major step forward last season, so did the power play. They finished with a power play percentage of 21.9%, which was significantly better than the 14.2% in 2020-21 and the 15.6% in the following season.
The Blue Jackets specifically needed an assistant who could lead the power play since Pascal Vincent was promoted out of that role. Considering the fact that the organization has struggled to convert chances on the man advantage for most of the last decade, they’ll need Recchi to reproduce what he was able to get out of the Penguins and even the last year of his tenure with the Devils. They certainly can’t get by with what he showed with the 2020-21 Devils. With players like Patrik Laine, Johnny Gaudreau, and rookie Adam Fantilli at his disposal, Recchi has weapons to utilize but it’s important that he gets the most out of them as quickly as possible.
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