Dan Hinote Leaves Organization For Job in Tampa Bay

Dan Hinote is on his way to Tampa Bay. The Lightning announced on Friday that the former Avalanche Stanley Cup champion was hired as an assistant coach on Jon Cooper’s staff.

Hinote, who is filling the role vacated by Jeff Blashill, was the Colorado Eagles’ associate coach in the AHL this past season. He worked on the power play for the Avs’ AHL club and helped the team finish with the sixth-best PP in the AHL.

The Eagles also finished third in the league in the regular season.

Before joining Colorado last summer, Hinote previously spent four years as an assistant coach for both the Nashville Predators and the Columbus Blue Jackets.

I’m not entirely sure Hinote will be in charge of the PP in Tampa. Cooper’s other assistant, Jeff Halpern, handles the PP and has done so since 2018. Hinote is replacing Blashill after the Blackhawks hired the former Red Wings bench boss to be their head coach.

Blashill was fired by the Red Wings in 2022 and ended up switching places with then-Lightning assistant coach Derek Lalonde. Both Lalonde and Blashill were in charge of the team’s penalty kill. I’d assume Hinote will assume that role.

I do wonder if the Avs had any interest in hiring Hinote to fill their assistant coach role after the team fired Ray Bennett last month. Bennett was handling PP duties, and the Avs are still looking for his replacement.

One name I was curious about was David Quinn. He was once an assistant in Colorado and helped the Penguins elevate their PP this past season. But the Rangers announced earlier this week that Quinn would be joining Mike Sullivan in New York as an assistant coach for the Rangers.

Lalonde is another name I wondered about for Colorado. His Red Wings had a spectacular power play during his tenure as head coach. His assistant Alex Tanguay, a familiar name to the Avs, is still holding the same role in Detroit and is unlikely to leave his post. But Lalonde likely learned a thing or two from Tanguay.

Either way, he’s no longer available as the Toronto Maple Leafs announced he’d be joining Craig Berube’s staff as an assistant coach.