Tampa Bay Lightning hire Jeff Blashill as assistant coach

In what has basically become a coaching trade, Jeff Blashill will join the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant for next season. He takes the spot of Derek Lalonde, who was hired to replace him with the Detroit Red Wings this summer.

It will be something of a surprise to see Blashill back as an assistant, given how long he’s been the head man in one place or another. You have to go back to 2011-12 to find the last time he wasn’t running a bench, his first year in the NHL. Since then, he took over the head=coaching duties with the Grand Rapids Griffins for three years (where he won a championship) and then was the head coach of the Red Wings for the last seven seasons.

Even before he came to the NHL, Blashill was the head coach at the USHL and NCAA levels, meaning assisting isn’t something Blashill is very familiar with.

As Joe Smith of The Athletic has profiled in the past, Blashill and Lightning head coach Jon Cooper have a strong relationship, so this move doesn’t come as much of a surprise. Still, it will be interesting to see what kind of effect it has on the Lightning, and how long Blashill is on the sidelines before pursuing another head-coaching opportunity.