Doug Weight led the Islanders to some impressive results after he took over behind the bench for Jack Capuano.
Earlier this offseason, the Isles announced that they were removing the interim tag from Weight’s title, and now they’re allowing him to shape his coaching staff.
According to beat reporter Arthur Staple, the Isles coach will add Luke Richardson to the staff. Weight and Richardson were teammates in Edmonton for five seasons.
He 1417 NHL games with the Maple Leafs (twice), Oilers, Flyers, Blue Jackets, Lightning and Sens, Richardson became an assistant coach with Ottawa before becoming the bench boss of their AHL affiliate in Binghamton (2012-2016).
After the 2016 AHL season, Richardson and the Senators agreed to mutually part ways.
The 48-year-old interviewed for the Ducks coaching gig last offseason, but they eventually chose Randy Carlyle. Instead of returning to the NHL, Richardson served as an assistant coach for Canada at the Deutschland Cup in November. He was then chosen to be the head coach of Canada’s Spengler Cup team that won gold in Switzerland in December.
Staple also mentions that current assistant Bob Corkum won’t be back next season. Corkum had been on the Isles staff for three seasons.