Former Penguins Goalie and World Champion Makes Surprise Career Move as Head Coach

In the 2000/01 season, Johan Hedberg, a former Flyers draft pick made his debut with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he'd go on to play three of his 13 years in the NHL with the team.

In two of those three years, Hedberg would post a GAA under 3.00 and a save percentage over .900, but unfortunately, he would never become much more at the NHL level than a solid backup and a serviceable starter if needed.

Now, the 51-year old is making the switch to coaching as he was officially announced as the new Head Coach of Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League, signing a three year deal to be the bench boss with the team.

Way back in the 1990's, Hedberg began his professional career with the team, appearing in seven seasons with the team, with his latest coming in 2004/25 before heading back to North America and the NHL.

Between 2015 and 2019, Hedberg was the goaltending coach for the Sharks under Peter Deboer, but after he was fired from the role, he wanted to take on a more prominent role behind the bench.

Now, he gets that opportunity on a big stage with Leksands IF in his home country of Sweden, and as anyone that watched him during his NHL career could tell you, he's cut out to be a coach, but now we will see if the results can back up what many have believed about him for the majority of his career both on and off the ice.