Minnesota Wild assistant coach Scott Stevens has resigned after one season to spend more time with his family back on the East Coast.
“My family is here (in New Jersey) and two of my kids are in New York and I want to be closer to them,” Stevens said. “That’s the toughest part of this job. Just being away from family.”
Stevens was named to the coaching staff last June and spent the 2016-17 season in charge of the Wild’s blue line. He spoke very highly of the group, and emphasized that he’s confident in its potential.
“It was one of the draws of coming to Minnesota,” Stevens said. “I had a great time working with the players. They are young yet and it takes awhile for D. They made a lot of progress.”
Stevens was a Hall of Fame defenseman most notably for the New Jersey Devils in his heyday, tallying 196 goals and 712 assists to go along with 2,785 penalty minutes. He played 13 seasons with the Devils and captained the team to Stanley Cup championships in 1995, 2000 and 2003. He played for the Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues before his time with the Devils.
Stevens was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Nov. 12, 2007.
After retiring from the NHL, and before coming to the Wild, he tried his luck behind the bench and was named co-coach for the Devils midway through the 2014-15 season after serving two seasons as an assistant coach for the Devils.
“We thank Scott for the hard work and dedication he provided our team this past season,” Wild general manager Chuck Fletcher said in a statement. “We respect his decision to spend more time with his family and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Stevens said it was “very difficult” to tell head coach Bruce Boudreau of his decision. That said, Stevens said he’ll be cheering on the Wild from afar with no immediate plans to jump back into coaching.
“At this point I’m going to take a step back,” he said. “I just want to see where it goes. … I just want to catch up and get organized.”
No timetable has been set on when the Wild plan to fill the vacated position.
