NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Nashville Predators President of Hockey Operations/GM David Poile announced today that the team has hired Dan Hinote as an assistant coach.

“Dan Hinote‘s character, personality, as well as playing and coaching experience will be a great fit for our team and players,” Head Coach John Hynes said. “As a player, Dan brought energy and leadership to his teams, winning a Stanley Cup with Colorado in 2001, and his experience as a coach with the Columbus Blue Jackets and USA National Team Development Program will be of great value to our organization.”

“In this assistant coach position, we were looking for a former player who was fairly recently retired but still had coaching experience and Dan fit that description perfectly,” Poile said. “He builds strong connections with players – including Ryan Johansen in his time in Columbus – and has played with Predators alumni and Hall of Famers Paul Kariya and Peter Forsberg in Colorado, as well as Predators Director of Player Development Scott Nichol, Preds broadcaster Chris Mason and Kariya again in St. Louis. Dan complements John and the rest of current staff nicely and I trust he will be a tremendous asset to the team.”

Hinote, 43, won the Stanley Cup as a player with the Colorado Avalanche in 2001 and joins the Predators organization after spending the previous two seasons as an associate coach for USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program, most recently working with the Under-17 squad during the 2019-20 campaign. The Under-17 team captured three medals in international play in 2019-20, winning gold at the Four Nations tournament in December and earning silver at both the World Under-17 Hockey Challenge and the Five Nations tournament. Hinote’s club also finished with a 12-17-1-1 record in their part of the NTDP’s USHL schedule, helping the entire program to a fourth-place finish in the Eastern Conference before the league canceled the remainder of its season on March 18.

Hinote worked with the Under-18 team during his first season with the NTDP in 2018-19, winning gold at the 2019 Under-18 Five Nations tournament and earning a bronze medal at the 2019 Under-18 World Championship. He also aided the development of the 17 players selected directly from the NTDP in the 2019 NHL Draft – eight of which came in the first round – including first-overall pick Jack Hughes, Alex Turcotte (fifth overall) and Trevor Zegras (ninth overall). Six players on Hinote’s 2018-19 team tallied at least 60 points, led by Hughes’ record-setting 112 (34g-78a), while Cole Caufield scored 72 goals, a new NTDP single-season record.

Prior to his stint with USA Hockey, Hinote spent eight seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets organization – the first four as an assistant coach (2010-14) and the final four as a pro scout (2014-18). In his final season behind the bench in Columbus, he helped the Blue Jackets post a 38-point improvement from the previous season and reach the playoffs for the first time since 2008-09 on the strength of a 43-32-7 record (93 points).

Known as a tenacious competitor and strong penalty killer, the Leesburg, Fla., native played nine NHL seasons with the Avalanche and St. Louis Blues from 1999-2009, tallying 90 points (38g-52a) and 383 penalty minutes in 503 career games. During Colorado’s Stanley Cup-winning campaign in 2000-01, the 6-foot, 187-pound right wing posted a career-high 15 points and 10 assists during the regular season and chipped in with six points (2g-4a) in 23 postseason contests. Selected by the Avalanche in the seventh round (167th overall) of the 1996 NHL Draft, Hinote competed in 72 career Stanley Cup Playoff games, recording 15 points (6g-9a).

Hinote also suited up for MODO of the Swedish Hockey League in both 2004-05 and 2009-10 as a teammate of Forsberg, and played parts of three seasons with the AHL’s Hershey Bears from 1998-2000. Before turning pro, he skated two seasons with the OHL’s Oshawa Generals and attended Army West Point (U.S. Military Academy), where he became the first player in program history to be drafted to the NHL.