Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach J.D. Forrest and assistant coach Kevin Porter will not be retained after the Pittsburgh Penguins declined to renew their contracts.
On Sunday, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced those transactions with regard to their American Hockey League affiliate.
“These decisions come after taking the season to fully evaluate our minor league and development systems,” Pittsburgh Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza said in a statement. “As we enter into an era where each of those systems operating at an elite level becomes paramount to the future of our entire program, we felt it would be best to take this time to make the changes that our management team deems important to reaching our goal of having Wilkes-Barre become the (premier) developer of players and staff that can help the Pittsburgh Penguins win Stanley Cups.”
Forrest had been Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s head coach for four seasons. Over that time, he compiled a 113-102-37 record and reached the postseason twice.
This season, Forrest guided Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to a 39-24-9 mark and third place in the AHL’s Atlantic Division. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was swept out of the opening round of the Calder Cup playoffs by the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a best-of-three series, 2-0.
Forrest, 43, initially joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2016 as an assistant coach, serving under previous head coaches Clark Donatelli and Mike Vellucci.
Players such as forwards Drew O’Connor and Valtteri Puustinen as well as defensemen P.O Joseph and Jack St. Ivany were among those who played under Forrest and eventually reached the NHL.
Porter, 38, joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2020 as an assistant coach after retiring as a player following a 13-year career. A member of the Pittsburgh Penguins for parts of two seasons as a forward, Porter was part of the franchise’s 2016 Stanley Cup championship team.
Sheldon Brookbank remains on staff as an assistant coach. Per a release from the Pittsburgh Penguins, “additional changes to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton staff will be announced when a new head coach is named.”
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Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.