Hiring of Tony Granato makes sense; Penguins still looking to add?

The Penguins’ hiring of Tony Granato as their new assistant coach makes sense: He’s young (45), dynamic and within the framework of what the Penguins have been doing since appointing Dan Bylsma as the team’s coach.

Granato is a former NHL head coach who doubtless wants to be the boss again. It’s gutsy for Bylsma to bring a potential successor on board.

But Bylsma has a pretty long leash after winning the Stanley Cup as a rookie. Anyway, if a coach isn’t winning, his team will find his replacement somewhere.

Granato’s appointment is odd from one standpoint: The Penguins are a high-powered, fast-skating, north-south team.

Last season under Granato, the Avalanche scored just 199 goals, the worst total in the league and the lowest since the lockout year. The Avs played a clichéd dump, chase and cycle style en route to a mark of 32-45-5, last in the West.

But you can’t shine crap. The Avs were not a skilled group, and their octane was further cut by significant injuries to Paul Stastny and now-retired Joe Sakic.

There’s no reason to believe Granato, a former winger who played 13 years in the NHL, won’t be proficient at coaching the penalty-kill and teaching faceoffs, two duties he figures to inherit from press-box icon Tom Fitzgerald, now an assistant to General Manager Ray Shero.

Granato is known for not pointing fingers or shirking responsibility. He’s a stand-up guy. That’s good. It’s a stand-up locker room.

*Like Alex Tanguay last week