Khan: John Torchetti out as Wings assistant coach

From MLive’s Ansar Khan:

The Detroit Red Wings have parted ways with assistant coach John Torchetti, whose contract expired at the end of the season.

Torchetti served as an assistant under head coach Jeff Blashill the past two seasons. He worked primarily with the forwards and was in charge of the power play. The Red Wings’ power play ranked 24^th in the NHL this season at 17.5 percent. It was 27^th in 2016-17 at 15.1 percent.

The Red Wings could be seeking another assistant to join a staff that includes Doug Houda, who works with the defense and is in charge of the penalty kill, and Pat Ferschweiler, who ran the power play in 2015-16.

Here’s more from The Athletic’s Craig Custance:

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings and assistant coach John Torchetti are going separate ways following the conclusion of his two-year contract, signed in 2016. Multiple sources told The Athletic that the Red Wings have notified NHL teams via e-mail of the decision to part ways with Torchetti. Torchetti was brought to Detroit in 2016 after his stint as the interim head coach of the Minnesota Wild. “I’m looking forward to another challenge,” Torchetti told The Athletic on Tuesday. “I wish I could have done more with the team here.”

Update #2: The Detroit News’s Ted Kulfan also confirms:

The Detroit Red Wings will not bring back assistant coach John Torchetti next season.

Torchetti, 53, oversaw the power play and forwards. His two-year contract expired after the season.

The power play ranked 24th in the NHL (17.5 percent), a mild improvement over the 2016-17 season (27th, 15.1 percent).

The Red Wings finished 28th overall in goals (2.59 per game) this past season.

Torchetti came to Detroit after three times serving as interim head coach in the NHL – in Florida, Los Angeles and Minnesota, taking the Wild into the playoffs in that interim role at the end of the 2015-16 season.