Scott Stevens is now an assistant coach in New Jersey

The New Jersey Devils have replaced two Hall-of-Famers with another, naming Scott Stevens one of two new assistant coaches after Larry Robinson and Adam Oates left to take other jobs.

Matt Shaw is the other new man in New Jersey, coming over from San Jose where he assisted Sharks coach Todd McLellan the past three seasons.

“Both Peter (DeBoer) and I look forward to the additions of Scott Stevens and Matt Shaw as assistant coaches,” said GM Lou Lamoriello in a release. “They bring experience to our coaching staff with Scott’s 22 years as a Hall of Fame defenseman and five seasons as a special assignment coach; and Matt’s 19 seasons of coaching success at every level.”

From the release:

Stevens, 48, will enter his sixth season as a member of Devils’ coaching staff, having previously served as a special assignment coach. As a player, he spent 13 seasons with New Jersey and captained the team to three Stanley Cup Championships. Stevens was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 12, 2007, and on February 3, 2006, became the first player in franchise history to have his number (4) retired. His playing career spanned 22 seasons with Washington, St. Louis and New Jersey. Stevens’ 1,635 games played are second all-time among defensemen and seventh overall, while his 233 playoff appearances are sixth in NHL history. He ranks fourth on the Devils’ all-time games-played list (956), fourth in assists (337) and tied for seventh in points (430).

Lamoriello called Stevens a “student of the game, always has been” while discussing the hiring with The Record, “and I don’t think we have a question about his knowledge of defense. And he played for some great coaches throughout his career. He played in the Olympics, World Cups. What he brings, you can’t teach.”

Considering the Devils don’t have a particularly stacked defense, the addition of Stevens behind the bench can’t hurt. Never know, maybe he can turn Andy Greene into a hitting machine.

PS — This reminds of us The Simpsons episode when Moe gave Homer his old boxing gloves…

Moe: Homer, I want you to have my lucky mitts.

Homer: Gee, thanks, Moe. What’s this?

Moe: Ah, that’s the barbed wire. We, uh, we called that the stinger. They…they don’t let you use that no more.