Rangers hire veteran coach Jacques Martin

This just in, the New York Rangers have hired longtime NHL coach Jacques Martin to act as an assistant coach under head coach David Quinn.

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Martin has spent the previous seven seasons as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins and was a driving force behind the team's 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup championships.

Read below for the full press release announcement of Martin's hiring courtesy of the Rangers' official website:

The New York Rangers announced today that the team has named Jacques Martin as an Assistant Coach.

Martin joins the Rangers after spending the past seven seasons in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization (2013-14 - 2019-20), including parts of the last five seasons as one of the team's Assistant Coaches (from Dec. 12, 2015 through the conclusion of the 2019-20 season). Martin played a key role on the coaching staff that led to two Stanley Cup Championships (2015-16 and 2016-17). During his tenure, the team played in at least one postseason series in all seven seasons. From Dec. 12, 2015 until the end of the 2019-20 season, the Penguins posted a 214-115-40 record in 369 regular season games (.634 points percentage). Over the span, Pittsburgh ranked second in the NHL in goals per game (3.29) and shots on goal per game (33.5), was tied for second in the NHL in power play efficiency (23.0%), was tied for third in the NHL in wins, ranked fourth in the NHL in points percentage, and was tied for 12th in the NHL in penalty kill efficiency (80.9%).

Prior to joining the Rangers, Martin has served on a coaching staff and/or in a front office position with an NHL team for three decades. He has spent parts of 17 seasons as a head coach in the NHL with St. Louis (1986-87 - 1987-88), Ottawa (1995-96 - 2003-04), Florida (2005-06 - 2007-08), and Montreal (2009-10 - 2011-12), and he has posted a 613-481-119-81 record (.551 points percentage) in 1,294 career games as a head coach in the NHL. Martin ranks 20th on the NHL's all-time wins list among head coaches, and he ranks 14th on the NHL's all-time games coached list among head coaches. He is the Senators' all-time leader in games coached (692), wins (341), playoff games coached (69), and playoff wins (31) among head coaches. In addition, Martin is the Panthers' all-time leader in wins by a head coach (110), and his 246 games coached with the Panthers are tied for the most by a head coach in franchise history. He also served as Florida's General Manager for three seasons (2006-07 - 2008-09), holding the roles of both Head Coach and General Manager for two seasons (2006-07 and 2007-08).

Martin, who won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's Coach of the Year in 1998-99 and has also been named a finalist for the award on three other occasions (1996-97, 2000-01, and 2002-03), has guided his team to a playoff appearance in 12 of his 17 seasons as a head coach in the league (including 12 of 15 seasons in which he coached the entire season) and helped his team advance to the Eastern Conference Final twice (2002-03 with Ottawa and 2009-10 with Montreal). He has served as a head coach in 111 Stanley Cup Playoff games in his coaching career, and he ranks 22nd on the NHL's all-time playoff games coached list among head coaches. Including his tenure working as an Assistant Coach or in a front office role in the NHL, Martin's team has played in at least one postseason series in nine of his last 10 seasons and in 17 of his last 22 seasons.

The Saint-Pascal-Baylon, Ontario native has also held several roles with Team Canada in international competition. Martin has served as an Assistant Coach in the Winter Olympics twice (2002 and 2006), helping Canada win a gold medal in 2002. In addition, he helped Canada win the 2004 World Cup of Hockey as an Assistant Coach and helped Canada win a gold medal while serving as the team's Assistant General Manager at the 2007 IIHF World Championship.

Prior to beginning his coaching career in the NHL, Martin coached in the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) for three seasons, serving two seasons as an Assistant Coach with the Peterborough Petes (1983-84 and 1984-85) and one season as the Head Coach of the Guelph Platers (1985-86). In his one season as Guelph's Head Coach, Martin helped the team win the OHL Championship and the Memorial Cup, and he received the Matt Leyden Trophy as the OHL's Coach of the Year.