Less than a month after departing the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kamloops native Mark Recchi is back behind an NHL bench.

He’ll join Lindy Ruff with the New Jersey Devils as an Assistant Coach just 28 days after the Penguins announced his contract would not be renewed. Speaking to NL Sports, Recchi says it all came together rather quickly with New Jersey.

“I had a number of teams call me. I had an opportunity to go meet with Lindy [Ruff] up in Buffalo. It was only a three hour drive,” he said. “I said let’s spend some time and get to know each other. We met and hit it off right away and moved forward from there.”

The former Blazer admits it was tough to leave Pittsburgh as it was a place where he played and was on the bench the past three seasons.

“It’s always tough.  I had a great run here in Pittsburgh. Things didn’t work out and then you go and think about what you need to do next,” Recchi added. “[The Devils] really excite me and it’ll be great to be part of a rebuild situation and have some influence on some of those young players on the roster.”

Recchi was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2017. He continues to make his off-season home in Pittsburgh.