The Minnesota Wild have added Andrew Brunette to their coaching staff. Brunette will serve as an assistant coach next season. He will likely work from the bench during games with head coach Mike Yeo and fellow assistants Rick Wilson and Darryl Sydor. Brunette hung up his skates in 2012 after playing in 1,110 career NHL games.

Former player Andrew Brunette has been put in charge of Minnesota's power play for the coming season. Brunette also wears the hat of adviser to the hockey operations department, but given his success with the man advantage as a player he's the perfect person to direct the team's power play. The Wild were near the middle of the league in terms of power play efficiency last season, but did not record any goals with the man advantage in their opening round playoff loss to the Blackhawks, something that didn't sit well with head coach Mike Yeo over the summer.

Andrew Brunette officially hung up his skates Tuesday, but he's returning to the Wild -- in a front office role. The 16-year veteran has taken a job as hockey operations advisor. According to the team release, Brunette, now 39, will assist Minnesota general manager Chuck Fletcher with "scouting, free agent signings and helping with the evaluation and development of prospects at all levels of the organization." He amassed 269 goals and 733 points in his career, six years of which was spent with the Wild.

Andrew Brunette was signed by CHI on Friday January 18.

Andrew Brunette admitted that he might announce his retirement in the near future. "I'm not going to be someone who hangs around waiting for an injury. I don't know how many teams are looking for a 39 1/2-year-old guy who can't skate," Brunette said with a chuckle. "I don't know how much interest there is. But if there was some, it would be interesting. If there's not, I'm OK with that." Brunette has 268 goals and 733 points in 1,110 career NHL games.

With the lockout dragging on, Andrew Brunette might have played in his last NHL game. "I've got one foot in the grave and one foot on the ice with the casket slowly creaking to a close," Brunette said. He's 39 years old and doesn't have a contract for the 2012-13 campaign. If this lockout wipes out the season, then older players like Brunette will have a very hard time coming back.

Andrew Brunette might retire this summer. "I'm not sure," said Brunette. "It was a tough year. You don't want to leave this way, but there are times when the game tells you to leave and you don't have a decision. I'm going to let it decompress, come up for air and make some kind of decision." Brunette is 38 and was limited to 27 points in 78 games. He's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer and he's not likely to re-sign with Chicago.

Andrew Brunette is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent this summer. After a disappointing season, we wouldn't be surprised if Brunette is forced to seek employment elsewhere. He had just 27 points in 78 games with Chicago in 2011-12.

Andrew Brunette (foot) re-joined practice Monday and said he will be good to go for Thursday's first-round opener. Brunette missed the final three games of the regular season with a foot injury. "Everything has been moving along pretty good and that extra week of rest really helped," Brunette said.

Andrew Brunette (foot) will miss his third consecutive game on Saturday. It's not clear if Brunette will be available for the start of the playoffs. He has just 27 points in 78 games this season after surpassing the 40-point mark in each of his previous 11 seasons.