The Pittsburgh Penguins have made a slight change to their coaching staff, promoting Ty Hennes to the role of assistant coach after serving for the last few years as a skating and skills coach. General manager Ron Hextall explained:
Promoting Ty to an assistant coach was one of our top priorities heading into the season, as he is widely regarded as one of the best skills coaches in the NHL. Ty brings a unique skill set to our coaching staff and has gradually taken on more responsibility over the years as his role has evolved. He has been a big part of our team and will continue to be so moving forward.
Hennes, 43, had already been behind the bench with the rest of the coaching staff for the last few seasons, and works with players on specific skills and injury rehab between games. The 5’9″ former Boston College forward has even released some of his expertise on YouTube through the Pittsburgh Penguins Foundation, hosting a series of instructional videos for young hockey players.
In 2020, Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette profiled Hennes, and quoted several then-Penguins players. Jared McCann, for instance, raved about their work together, saying that “he knows the game so well” and calling him “one of the best” skill coaches he’s ever seen.
Now, he joins Mike Vellucci as an assistant under head coach Mike Sullivan and associate coach Todd Reirden to form quite an experienced staff. Hennes will likely remain focused on the skills work that he’s been involved in for the last several years, though a promotion does suggest a further increase of responsibility in the future.