Lightning hire former NHL forward as assistant coach

The Lightning have hired former NHL forward Dan Hinote as an assistant coach, the team announced today. He fills the vacancy created last month when Jeff Blashill departed head coach Jon Cooper’s staff to accept the Blackhawks’ head coach opening.

Hinote, 48, joins Tampa with a lengthy coaching resume that began as soon as his playing career ended in 2010. After playing his final pro campaign with Sweden’s MODO Hockey, he came back stateside and accepted a role on the Blue Jackets’ bench. He remained in the organization until 2018, although he transitioned away from coaching and into a pro scouting role for the 2014-15 season.

The Florida native returned to coaching after leaving Columbus. He spent two seasons as an associate coach for the United States National Development Team Program before returning to the NHL as an assistant coach with the Predators for the 2020-21 season. He remained in that role up through last year, when he departed to accept the role of associate head coach for the Avalanche’s AHL affiliate.

Assuming Hinote directly replaces Blashill’s responsibilities, he’ll take over the team’s penalty kill and work closely with assistant Rob Zettler on managing the club’s defense. Hinote was a frequent penalty killer himself during his 503-game NHL career, averaging 1:50 per game while shorthanded across six years with the Avalanche and three with the Blues.

He’ll now work to maintain a Lightning PK unit that was excellent under Blashill over the last three seasons. Tampa’s 81.5% success rate shorthanded was sixth in the league from 2022-23 to 2024-25.