Assistants play vital role in helping struggling players, teams

The Coaches Room is a regular feature throughout the 2022-23 regular season by former NHL coaches and assistants who will turn their critical gaze to the game and explain it through the lens of a teacher. Mark Recchi and Phil Housley will take turns providing insight.
In this edition, Recchi, a three-time Stanley Cup champion and Hall of Fame player who has been an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins and New Jersey Devils, discusses what coaches, specifically assistants, can do to help struggling players and teams that are not meeting high expectations.

The demand to meet growing expectations can create motivation or become a burden. When it's the latter, as it has been for some teams this season, the coaching staff has to find a way to lighten the load so players can find the freedom and joy in their game again.
Take the Nashville Predators as an example. They made some key moves in the offseason, bringing in defenseman Ryan McDonagh and forward Nino Niederreiter, bolstering a team that already had high expectations despite getting swept in the Western Conference First Round by the Colorado Avalanche last season.
It hasn't been a smooth ride to say the least, and a big reason is the Predators' big guys aren't having the same type of seasons as they had last season.
Roman Josi had 96 points (23 goals, 73 assists) in 80 games, leading all NHL defensemen. He has 21 points (six goals, 15 assists) in 26 games this season. Certainly a solid level of production, but he's way off the pace that he had last season, which was a big reason the Predators reached the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Matt Duchene and Filip Forsberg each scored 40 goals last season. Neither are on pace for even 30 this season as they have combined for 14 in 26 games, eight for Forsberg and six for Duchene.
Nashville is averaging 2.50 goals per game, 29th in the NHL.
It's easy to say those top players have to find a way, which certainly is the case.
But how?
It can't be wondering any more about why the puck isn't going in the net the same way it did last season. Now it has to be about trying to find other ways to help the team. That's the role of the assistant coach, a big part of it at least, spending time with the players and working through the problems.
It's obvious that they're struggling to score, but there is more to the game, and sometimes players just need to be reminded of that. Even veteran players.
Conversations matter. They're huge. Showing video clips help, but not as much as honest discussions about what is going on and why.
Honesty is of the utmost importance. Being honest and telling a player he's not playing very well right now but then telling him we're going to find a solution together goes a long way.
It could be reminding players that they generate momentum in their game by playing physical and they need to get back to doing that. Maybe they can start to generate offense off their defense and that has to become a focus. Maybe they're not driving the net on offensive rushes as much as they did last season, they're pulling up instead. Well, drive to the net, don't pull up. It's honest talk and then it's on the player to make sure he's consciously doing those things.
This isn't about systems; it's about the individuals. Everybody knows how to play the system and play within structure, but individuals need coaching so the systems work and results can follow.
I think back to my time with the Pittsburgh Penguins (2014-20). Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel are veterans now, but they were younger then and we definitely had those conversations. Conor Sheary too. It was a lot of the times about finding a way to do different things.
You get in their ear and that's how relationships are built, through honest conversation and coaching. That's what assistant coaches have to do and that's what most love to do. You build that relationship with guys, help them through it and it's so much fun when you see that reward of them doing it.
So I mentioned Nashville. It's similar with the Calgary Flames, Florida Panthers and, to a degree, the Ottawa Senators.
Those three teams made major moves in the offseason, major changes that led to higher expectations. But those major changes also disrupted existing chemistry. That doesn't make them bad moves, it just means patience to create new chemistry is required.
It's almost impossible to get that in training camp, when veteran players are getting in three or four preseason games and coaches are just getting to know the new players they have.
You may know what Alex DeBrincat was doing with the Chicago Blackhawks, but if you're on the Senators coaching staff now, you have to figure out how he fits with your team. It's the same with Jonathan Huberdeau in Calgary, which is a completely different team than Florida.
But with high expectations patience becomes thinner, and that wears on everybody when you go through a first quarter-plus of the season and the results aren't where you want or need them to be.
As of Tuesday, the Panthers (13-12-4), Senators (12-14-2) and Predators (12-11-3) all were outside of a playoff position. The Flames (13-11-5) have the second wild card in the Western Conference with 31 points, but they have played three more games than the Colorado Avalanche, who have 30 points.
For all these teams the talent is obvious, and the coaches know they have to show the players they believe in them, that they believe things will turn. They have to show them why.
It's not like the old days when you can beat a guy down. You're going to communicate, grow together as a group and help to grow the chemistry on the ice and in the dressing room. Then you can just help manage it all.
That's coaching.