The Los Angeles Kings have hired 500-goal scorer Pierre Turgeon as an assistant coach, strictly dedicated to the role of offensive coordinator, club vice president and general manager Rob Blake announced Monday.
"Pierre had great success as a player and has a tremendous hockey background on the whole. He is a person who brings a lot of energy, passion, and insight to the job along with a great deal of enthusiasm about the game," head coach John Stevens said.
The new gig will be Turgeon's first behind an NHL bench, and he'll be tasked with overhauling a troubled Kings' offense that mustered 199 goals last season - a mark good for 25th in the league.
Turgeon joins Blake, Stevens, and Kings legend Luc Robitaille in Los Angeles' new braintrust, which came to power after the firings of general manager Dean Lombardi and head coach Darryl Sutter upon failing to qualify for the playoffs in 2016-17.
After being selected first overall by the Buffalo Sabres in 1987, Turgeon suited up in 1,294 career games across 22 seasons, accumulating 1,327 points and five All-Star nods along the way.
Copyright © 2017 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.