New York Rangers news: Darryl Williams officially named an assistant coach

While Alain Vigneault assumed he'd be entering his second season behind the Rangers' bench with the same coaching staff, he was on man short as Dan Lacroix went to Montreal in a surprise move last week.

And while there was speculation last Friday as to who would fill that role, the team announced on Tuesday that Darryl Williams will in fact join the Rangers staff as an assistant for the upcoming season.

#NYR Transaction: Agree to terms with Darryl Williams as assistant coach http://t.co/p48WTzlFdH pic.twitter.com/FiIHGmEoTk

— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) August 5, 2014

From the press release on the team's website:

Williams, 46, joins the Rangers organization after spending the last six seasons as an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks. Williams joins Associate Coach Scott Arniel and Ulf Samuelsson on Head Coach Alain Vigneault's staff.

Prior to joining the Canucks, Williams served in many coaching capacities. He was the Associate Coach, Video Coordinator, and Strength and Conditioning Coach for the St. John's Fog Devils of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from 2005-06 - 2007-08. St. John's reached the playoffs in each of the three seasons when Williams was a part of the coaching staff.

Williams has also served as an assistant coach with the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks of the American Hockey League (AHL) and as a head coach with the Kansas City Outlaws of the United Hockey League (UHL).

Before joining the coaching ranks, Williams played 11 seasons of professional hockey. He skated in two games with Los Angeles during the 1992-93 season, making his NHL debut on March 2, 1993 vs. Calgary. Williams registered 126 goals and 157 assists for 283 points in 676 career games in the AHL and the International Hockey League (IHL).

With his tenure in Vancouver, Williams spent a good deal of time working with Vigneault, no doubt a big factor in bringing him aboard the Rangers staff.