Ex-Oiler Buchberger joins Islanders’ coaching staff
Doug Weight followed Kelly Buchberger as Edmonton Oilers’ captain.
Now Buchberger, 50, is following Weight and officially joining his New York Islanders’ staff after reports trickled out more than a month ago he was leaving his job as the Oilers’ vice-president of player development.
He’s got a three-year job to look after the Islanders forwards, while another former Oiler, Luke Richardson, 48, will handle the defence, and one-time backup Oilers goalie Fred Brathwaite, 44, who had been working with Hockey Canada, will tend to instructing goalies Jaroslav Halak and Thomas Greiss.
“Dougie always said to me if I was interested in coaching (again) to come and talk to him,” said Buchberger, who played with Weight for six years in blue and orange in the 1990s, served as an Oilers assistant coach for six years and also as head coach of their farm team, then in Springfield, for a season.
“Really looking forward to working with Dougie. He did a great job when he took over last season for 40 games and almost got them into the playoffs.”
In the end, it’s once a coach, always a coach for Buchberger.
“I really enjoyed my time in player development here, and working with Rick Carriere made it easy for me, but in the back of my mind, I wanted to get back into coaching and back in the league,” said Buchberger, who worked in player personnel for two years before that.
Scott Howson has taken over from Buchberger’s as player development VP.
“Kelly adds years and years of NHL coaching and management experience to our staff," Weight said on the Islanders’ website. "He is a tireless worker who commands respect behind the bench and in the locker-room. I’m thrilled to welcome him to the organization."
Buchberger will have a much more pleasant task with the Isles’ group of forwards if the team can re-sign star captain John Tavares, who’s in the last year of his contract, and heading to unrestricted free-agent status next summer. He’ll have ex-Oiler Jordan Eberle, somebody he coached in Edmonton, on Tavares’ right side on the Islanders’ top line, most likely.
Weight, 46, played here with Richardson for four seasons and with Brathwaite for two campaigns. Buchberger reportedly will be boarding at Weight’s house because he and wife Carla are empty nesters and Carla has a job in Edmonton. “She’ll commute back and forth,” he said.
ON THE BENCH: The Oilers’ 2016 third-round draft pick, 19-year-old defenceman Markus Niemelainen, is headed back to Europe to play in the Finnish Elite League (HPK Hameenlinna) this coming season rather than return to the junior Saginaw Spirit of the Ontario Hockey League. Niemelainen is one of Oilers’ best prospects, but he struggled last season and hasn’t yet been signed to an entry-level deal.