- The Penguins have hired Nick Luukko as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the team announced Monday. He’ll complement NHL veteran Sheldon Brookbank as an assistant on head coach Kirk MacDonald’s staff, the latter of whom was hired for the role last month. Luukko, 32, had spent the last three seasons as head coach and director of hockey operations for the ECHL’s Jacksonville Icemen, where he compiled a 126-73-17 record (.623 points percentage) and notched a franchise-best 44-win season in 2022-23. The Pennsylvania native was a Flyers sixth-round pick in 2010, playing four seasons for their ECHL affiliate in Reading from 2015 to 2019.