Kings hire Pierre Turgeon as assistant coach to boost scoring

Intent on improving their scoring, the Kings are hoping that Pierre Turgeon can translate the outstanding offensive skills he displayed during a distinguished NHL career into sound advice for their players as he takes on an assistant coach’s role next season.

In a press release issued on Monday the Kings announced that Turgeon, who ranks 38^th in career scoring with 515 goals, will join coach John Stevens’ staff to work alongside fellow assistant coaches Dave Lowry and Don Nachbaur and goaltending coach Bill Ranford. This will be Turgeon’s first NHL coaching job.

He had 1,327 points in 1,294 career games, which ranks 32^nd in career scoring. He played for Buffalo, the New York Islanders, Montreal, St. Louis, Dallas and Colorado over 19 seasons and retired after the 2006-07 season.

“Pierre had great success as a player and has a tremendous hockey background on the whole. He is a person who brings a lot of energy, passion and insight to the job along with a great deal of enthusiasm about the game,” Stevens said in a statement released by the Kings.

“We look forward to him adding to our team, and to our staff, a real team perspective from a person who was a high-end player, especially in the offensive zone. We have talked a lot during the process of building a coaching staff regarding the qualities of the people we wanted to bring aboard. We feel strongly that Pierre will help complement myself, Dave Lowry, Don Nachbaur and Bill Ranford and we are together looking forward to the start of the season.”

helene.elliott@latimes.com

Twitter: @helenenothelen