Black Hawks hire former NHL defenseman Andy Welinski as assistant coach

The Waterloo Black Hawks added former NHL defenseman Andy Welinski as an assistant coach on Aug. 6, giving Brett Olson’s staff a coach who has skated the same path the team wants its defensemen to follow. Welinski joins Jason Binkley as Waterloo builds toward the 2026-27 season.

Welinski arrives with a résumé that gives the hire real weight beyond the usual junior-hockey boilerplate. The Duluth native played for the Duluth East Greyhounds and the University of Minnesota Duluth before the Anaheim Ducks selected him in the 2011 NHL Draft. He went on to appear in 46 NHL games across three seasons, finishing with one goal and five assists, and wore the captain’s letter at UMD during the 2015-16 season.

That background matters most in Waterloo’s blue-line room. A coach who has survived the climb from junior hockey to college hockey to the NHL can teach defensemen where the margins get thin: cleaner exits under pressure, better reads at the defensive blue line, and the kind of puck decisions that keep shifts alive instead of turning them into breakouts the other way. For Waterloo’s younger defensemen, that is the difference between looking promising in September and being trusted in January.

Welinski’s value should show up fastest with the Hawks’ puck-moving defensemen and any blue-liners asked to handle more special-teams work. Players with offensive instincts often need help with the details that make those tools usable at higher levels, especially on the power play, where a missed keep-in or a rushed point shot can kill a possession. On the penalty kill, his NHL experience should help Waterloo’s defenders sort out spacing, stick angles and the timing needed to close out plays before they turn into Grade-A looks.

The hire also fits the staff structure Olson inherited when he became head coach in May 2026. Waterloo described both Welinski and Binkley as USHL alumni, and the club’s social posts noted that the two had already faced each other and played against the Hawks before landing behind the bench. That matters in a league where familiarity with the pace and skill level is part of the job description.

For Waterloo, the bet is simple: if Welinski could defend at the NHL level after coming through Duluth and the USHL pipeline, he can help Black Hawks defensemen learn how to do the same thing a little faster.