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Clowe, forced to stop playing due to concussions, joins Devils’ coaching staff

Ryane Clowe

Ryane Clowe

AP

Ryane Clowe, whose playing career was cut short by concussion issues, has embarked on a new chapter -- coaching.

On Tuesday, the Devils announced that Clowe will join head coach John Hynes’ staff as an assistant for the upcoming campaign.

More, from the club:

Clowe will join Assistant Coaches Geoff Ward, Alain Nasreddine and Goaltending Coach Chris Terreri on John Hynes’ staff.

“We are looking forward to Ryane joining our staff,” said Hynes. “His character, expertise as a player, knowledge of the game and passion to coach will be a benefit for our players and the Devils’ organization.”

Clowe, 33, signed a five-year, $24.25 million deal with the Devils in 2013, but only appeared in 56 games over the course of two seasons due to the aforementioned concussion issues. He stopped playing entirely last fall on doctors’ recommendations, having suffered four concussions in a two-year span -- including the last in November of 2014 against St. Louis.

“Ryane Clowe was the guy -- you think of [Milan] Lucic, you think of Clowe, those are the two guys that teams always wanted,” Devils GM Ray Shero said at the time, per NHL.com. “You’d have to talk to (San Jose Sharks general manager) Doug Wilson (about) how many times teams would try to trade for Ryane Clowe, because you couldn’t find guys like that.”

Rather than officially retire, Clowe was placed on long-term injured reserve and will remain there until his contract expires in 2018. Shero orchestrated a similar move with Marc Savard, acquired from Florida last month.

Savard, who is also no longer playing due to concussion issues, will remai on New Jersey’s books until the end of next season.