Marat Khusnutdinov's first practice The Wild announced the hiring of Jack Capuano as the team's new associate coach during day one of free agency. The new Wild coach comes in to replace Darby Hendrickson who was fired by the team a few months ago. Hendrickson has already joined the Nashville Predators as an assistant coach. What will Capuano's role be in Minnesota? Last year after the Wild fired Bob Woods, they called up their assistant coach from the AHL Pat Dwyer to run the team's defense and penalty kill. With Dwyer still on the staff, Capuano will run the team's defense and help Dwyer on the penalty kill as well. "Jack’s gonna bring a lot of experience to the staff," Wild head coach John Hynes said. "Patty Dwyer and Jason King are two young coaches that are really sharp and are great at their respective jobs they’re good with the players, and they’re excellent teachers. I think Jack brings a little bit of a different dynamic to the staff. He’s obviously an excellent coach, he’s had lots of experience." King will still run the Wild's power play as well. Capuano rounds out the staff with Hynes (Head Coach), Dwyer (Assistant Coach), King (Assistant Coach), Frederic Chabot (Goaltending Coach), Jonas Plumb (Video Coach) and T.J. Jindra (Video Coach). "I think just in getting to know him and looking at different people through the interview process that I think Jack’s knowledge of the game, his strengths as a coach, will be able to relate with players," Hynes said. "I think develop defensemen, he's worked with special teams. He’s got a wealth of experience and a real passionate guy, digs into the details of the game. "Tactically sharp and brings a lot of energy and is known for great relationships and relating to the player. So I think it just adds a different element to our staff but I think we’re going to be a great working group starting this summer and moving forward in the camp." Make sure you bookmark The Hockey News' Minnesota Wild page [https://thehockeynews.com/nhl/minnesota-wild/] for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more. OTHER WILD NEWS
