9:51PM: Larry Brooks notes that right now the plan is for Oliver and Ruff to be with Quinn on the bench while Brown will be upstairs. (NY Post)
Brown and Ruff will work with the Rangers defensemen, Ruff will handle the Rangers PK and while Brown and Oliver will share duties on the PP. (NY Post)
11:50AM: The Rangers announced that David Oliver and Greg Brown have joined David Quinn's staff as assistant coaches.
Oliver has spent the last 11 seasons with the Avalanche in a variety of roles:
- Director of Player Development: 2009-10 to 2010-22, 2014-15 to 2017-18
- GM for AHL Lake Erie: (2007-08 to 2009-10)
- Assistant coach in Lake Erie: 2011-12 to 2012-13
- Director of Hockey Operations for Lake Erie: 2010-11 to 2013-14
Oliver was the GM of Lake Erie when David Quinn was hired in 2009 and was an assistant with Quinn during the 2011-12.
From the Rangers release, "In his most recent role with the Avalanche as Director of Player Development, Oliver assisted in overseeing the development of all the franchise's prospects in the professional, junior, and college ranks in both North America and Europe."
He played in 233 career NHL games including 14 regular season and 3 playoff games for the Rangers in 1996-97.
Oliver was drafted in 1991 by Rangers President Glen Sather while Sather was GM of the Oilers.
The Rangers also confirmed that Lindy Ruff was staying on as an assistant coach.
Adam Rotter: So the Rangers coaching staff will be David Quinn, Benoit Allaire, Lindy Ruff, David Oliver and Greg Brown. Allaire has arguably had as much impact on the Rangers since 2005-06 as anyone, since he has helped Henrik Lundqvist become a Hall of Famer. Ruff stays on as the experienced coach that Quinn and the others can lean on and is one of the connections, for better or worse, to last year's team and the players who came up at the end of the season. Brown is similar to Quinn and comes from the college game while Oliver is the most interesting name. He has experience as a player but not a ton as a coach and I'm guessing that his past in player development with the Avs, as well as his relationship with David Quinn, played a big role in his hiring. I'm guessing that Quinn, Ruff and Brown will be on the bench while Oliver will be the eye in the sky and the one on radio down to the bench. Ruff is one of the most experienced coaches in the league and Allaire has been with the Rangers for more than a decade, but this is a pretty inexperienced staff at the NHL level. Inexperience doesn't mean that they will be bad and it's clear, as with the hiring of Quinn, that the Rangers want to have teachers and guys that they think can help develop these players the best they can.