There was this coach I heard about. He hadn’t yet served as an NHL head coach. His qualifications indicated he was ready to do so.
So like a fan of a new indie band double-checking its coolness with a music snob, I reached out to an NHL team executive to ask how they felt about the guy.
“I don’t know why he’s on the ‘Wow, why doesn’t he have a head-coaching job yet?’ tier,” they said. “If we count NHL assistants and AHL head coaches, there are about 100 guys in the candidate pool. What makes him stand out to you as being among the top of that group?”
I didn’t really have an answer. To quote the movie “Major League”: Well, cross him off then …
If last offseason was the NHL’s Summer of the Netminder, this one is the Summer of the Bench Boss. As that team executive noted, the number of potential candidates for open jobs could reach triple digits when one factors in former head coaches, current assistant and associate coaches, minor league coaches, junior and NCAA coaches, international coaches and some of those out-of-the-box options, like when Martin St. Louis went from coaching his kids to coaching the Montreal Canadiens this season.
The Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings, Philadelphia Flyers, Vegas Golden Knights and Winnipeg Jets all have official vacancies; the Chicago Blackhawks, Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers all currently have interim coaches.
Here is what I’m hearing on some of the top candidates, some other coaches who are being discussed by teams (but probably won’t make the cut this year) and some rising coaching candidates to tuck away for the future.
The top candidates
Barry Trotz
The third-winningest coach in NHL history (he has 914 victories) was fired by the New York Islanders after two trips to the third round of the playoffs and one disastrous non-playoff season. What makes the 59-year-old an exemplary candidate isn’t just his coaching acumen, but the culture he instills around the teams that hire him.
Trotz would be a top candidate…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at www.espn.com – NHL…