The New York Islanders have hired 16-year NHL veteran Scott Gomez as an assistant coach, the team announced.
Gomez, 37, played with seven teams during his NHL career, but ironically, never for the Islanders. The bulk of his success came during his early days with the New Jersey Devils, when he recorded 450 points in 548 games from the 1999-2000 season through 2006-07. He registered a career-high 84 points during the 2005-06 campaign.
Gomez then famously signed a seven-year, $51.5-million contract with the New York Rangers after his time in New Jersey, but largely failed to meet lofty expectations during his time in the Big Apple. He then had stops in Montreal, San Jose, and Florida, before returning to New Jersey and finishing with stints in St. Louis and Ottawa.
Gomez and Isles head coach Doug Weight were never teammates in the NHL, but both represented USA at the 2005 World Cup and the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
"Scott brings an immense amount of hockey knowledge to our coaching staff," Weight said. "His offensive instincts, expertise on the power play, and the way he could control the game with his skating and smarts, are all key elements that we want implemented into our group.
"He played in the league as recently as the 2015-16 season so he can relate to today's NHL player in an effort to bring out the best in each member of the team."
The Islanders are also reportedly set to add Kelly Buchberger to their coaching staff, according to Arthur Staple of Newsday Sports. After hiring Luke Richardson a couple of weeks ago - and should the Buchberger signing become official - New York will have four different coaches on its staff with over 1,000 NHL games played.
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