Alain Nasreddine
Alain Jean-Paul Mohammed Nasreddine (born July 10, 1975) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach and former player. He is the assistant to the head coach for the New Jersey Devils of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played as a defenceman in the NHL. Playing career. Nasreddine played junior ice hockey with the Drummondville Voltigeurs and Chicoutimi Saguenéens of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). He was selected in the sixth round, 135th overall by the Florida Panthers in the 1993 NHL Entry Draft. Nasreddine has played for six different NHL organizations, but mostly played  in the minor leagues. He saw very limited NHL duty with the Chicago Blackhawks (seven games), Montreal Canadiens (eight games), New York Islanders (three games), and the Pittsburgh Penguins (56 games). In 2008, he signed with the Sinupret Ice Tigers of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga, and after two seasons in the DEL was released on June 12, 2010, following the 2009–10 season. Coaching career. On August 20, 2010, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League (AHL) named Nasreddine their new assistant coach. On June 17, 2015, Nasreddine was named an assistant coach for the New Jersey Devils . On December 3, 2019, Nasreddine was named interim head coach of the Devils. On October 2, 2020, he was retained as an assistant coach of the Devils after the hiring of Lindy Ruff as head coach on July 9. Personal life. Nasreddine grew up in Saint-Leonard, Quebec, the son of Akram, a Lebanese Muslim immigrant, and Francine, a French-Canadian Catholic. He has one younger brother, Samy, who was also an ice hockey player. Akram owns a pizza chain in Montreal, Pizza Madonna, and has previously owned other restaurants and a convenience store. He is one of four NHL  players of Lebanese descent, along with John Hanna, Ed Hatoum, and Nazem Kadri.