Former Islanders head coach Jack Capuano joins Wild coaching staff

The Minnesota Wild have added former Islanders head coach Jack Capuano as an associate coach on John Hynes' staff.

Capuano was most recently an associate coach with the Ottawa Senators for the past five seasons. Before that, he served on the Florida Panthers' staff for two seasons. His seven-year run as Islanders head coach ended midway through the 2016-17 season, completing a stretch in which the Islanders went 227-192-64 and made the playoffs three times.

The 57-year-old previously served as head coach of Team USA during the 2021 IIHF World Championship, as well as an assistant coach for Team USA during the 2016 World Cup and 2017 IIH World Championship.

Capuano will replace Darby Hendrickson, who was fired May 31 after 14 years on the Wild bench. Hendrickson has since joined the head coach and former Minnesota teammate Andrew Brunette on the Nashville Predators coaching staff.

According to The Athletic's Michael Russo , Capuano will run the team's defense and penalty kill. Minnesota's penalty kill ranked 30th in the league last season.