Yeo helped turn Vancouver's penalty kill around this season but that won't be his primary role in Ottawa.
With the Ottawa Senators' new coaching staff in place, new assistant Mike Yeo has provided a sneak preview of how head coach Travis Green plans to use him next season.
"One thing that we talked about is working with the power play," Yeo told TSN 1200 radio. "And with a guy like Alfie on the staff, obviously he can be involved as well. I know it's something that I'm very comfortable with. I've done that before in the past.".
Fans in Vancouver might find Yeo's new deployment in Ottawa a little surprising after he was so successful in turning the struggling Canucks' penalty kill around this season. But Yeo believes his recent PK work is going to be a benefit as he prepares to lay out the chess pieces of Ottawa's power play,
"You almost come in with a completely fresh perspective," Yeo said. "I mean, I have broken down every power play. I've seen every play. I've seen what works and what doesn't work."
Yeo likes Green's collaborative approach to coaching. Even though Yeo will run the power play, he says Green wants everyone on the staff to chime in on everything.
"What I like with Greeny is that he basically said that even though this might sound like it's your department, everybody is going to have input. And I think that's the best way to operate."
Yeo did such a good job with Vancouver's PK the Canucks offered him an extension. He says he loved Vancouver but wanted to be closer to family.
"The hockey side of things and management and the organization was amazing. But I will say Vancouver, as gorgeous as it is, it's far. For a person from North Bay, my kids are both in the States, and it's not the easiest place to get to.
"And so the hockey side was great, but maybe I didn't have that total balance in my life where I thought it was maybe time to explore a different opportunity. And if I had to maybe take a year off, then we were prepared to do that as well."
Along with the power play, Yeo will work with Ottawa's talented group of forwards, which also helped make the job attractive.
"That's part of why I took the job," Yeo said. "If they said that you're going to work the power play, but you've got Mike Yeo working the half-wall, I'm going to say, 'No thanks!'"
For the record, Yeo, who clearly has a fine sense of humour, played professionally in the early 90s as a depth winger for the Houston Aeros (IHL). He played there with a remarkably large number of former Senators from the club's very early days. The list includes Sylvain Turgeon, Neil Brady, Norm Maciver, Mark Lamb, Mark Freer, Kevin Dineen, Bill Huard, Graeme Townshend, Jim Paek, and David Oliver.