While the second round of the playoffs is in full flight, the biggest news came off the ice in a week filled with plenty of coaching headlines which dominate the key stories.
Dallas Cleans House: While the Stars made the playoffs and gave Calgary all they could handle in the first round, there will be plenty of changes behind the bench. Rick Bowness decided to step down while the team also dismissed assistant coaches Derek Laxdal, John Stevens, and Todd Nelson. Bowness had been the head coach in Dallas since taking over partway through the 2019-20 season, his first NHL head coaching role in more than 15 years. The Stars did relatively well under his watch with an 89-62-25 record while they reached the Stanley Cup Final in the bubble. Although he’s 67, it’s expected that Bowness will be looking into other coaching opportunities around the league.
Lambert Promoted: Part of the rationale for the Islanders firing Barry Trotz was that GM Lou Lamoriello wanted a new voice guiding the team. He didn’t need to go outside the organization to find that new voice as he instead promoted associate coach Lane Lambert to serve as their new bench boss. It will be Lambert’s first opportunity as an NHL head coach and his first time as a head coach at any level since 2011 when he was last in charge with AHL Milwaukee. Lambert had worked with Trotz since 2011 but will now get the opportunity to implement his own systems and will be tasked with getting New York back into the playoff picture.
Six Years For Rust: The Penguins have several prominent pending unrestricted free agents and they were able to get a deal worked out with one of them as they inked winger Bryan Rust to a six-year, $30.75MM contract. The 30-year-old has become a key part of Pittsburgh’s attack over the past three seasons, scoring at least 22 goals per year in that stretch. In 2021-22, he had the best output of his eight-year career, recording 58 points in just 60 games during the…
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