As expected, John Torchetti was hired this morning by General Manager Rick Dudley as assistant coach. He leaves the Chicago Blackhawks with two seasons of experience coaching their power play. He was appointed interim head coach of the Florida Panthers after serving as assistant coach under Dudley, and he was an interim head coach of the Los Angeles Kings as well.

The power play under him in Chicago was in the middle of the pack in the league – it ranked 16th overall with a 17.7 percent success rate. Atlanta’s was 25th overall with a 16.1 percent rate of conversion. Chicago’s powerplay improved to 5th out of the 16 teams in the playoffs this postseason, with an impressive 22.5 percent success rate.

Any further coaching hirings will be posted as an update to the stream. Please stay tuned.