Chelios joins Messier at ESPN

According to a report from Andrew Marchand of The New York Post, ESPN is hiring Hockey Hall of Famer Chris Chelios to join the network's staff as an analyst for the 2021-22 NHL season.

From Marchand:

ESPN is adding another Hall of Famer to its forthcoming NHL coverage, The Post has learned.

Chris Chelios will join Mark Messier as part of ESPN’s top studio team, according to sources.

ABC/ESPN and TNT take over the NHL's broadcasting rights in the United States next season, after a 10 year exclusive agreement with NBC. TNT shocked many in the hockey world by announcing that they had landed The Great One Wayne Gretzky as an analyst, but now ESPN has countered that with Chelios' hiring and the hiring of Mark Messier, as well.

ESPN has also hired Ray Ferraro and Brian Boucher to serve as in-game analysts and Kevin Weekes and Leah Hextall to serve as studio analysts. It's believed that Chelios and Messier will join Weekes and Hextall in studio, but the broadcaster hasn't made its full intentions known just yet. Suffice it to say though that ESPN is amassing a star studded crew of studio analysts.