Wings hire two new coaches

The Detroit Red Wings added two individuals to their coaching staff. Brad McCrimmon and Keith McKittrick were hired to fill the vacancies left by Todd McLellan and  Jay Woodcroft, who left for the San Jose Sharks this summer.

McCrimmon is a former defenseman (who even played three seasons for Detroit) with previous coaching experience. He was Atlanta's assistant coach for four seasons and also worked on the coaching staffs for Calgary and the Islanders. He signed a three-year contract.

Keith McKittrick will be the Wings new video coach for the next two seasons. He is leaving Michigan State where he was their video coach for three seasons. Before MSU, McKittrick was the assistant to video and scouting coach with the Minnesota Wild, where he was "responsible for creating video scouting reports, breaking down game film and assisting with U.S. and European-born player research."

Assistant coach Paul MacLean was re-signed for another three seasons so head coach Mike Babcock, MacLean, and McCrimmon's contracts will all expire at the same time.

Time will tell how well these two additions mesh with the current coaching staff, but I trust in GM Ken Holland and Mike Babcock to make strong hiring decisions.