Who will be the next coaching change?
The Vegas Golden Knights sent shockwaves through the NHL world on Sunday when they fired head coach Bruce Cassidy and hired John Tortorella as his replacement for the rest of the season.
While a mid-season coaching change was able to turn the season around for the Columbus Blue Jackets, a move this close to the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs is well out of the norm around the league.
With the regular season just a few weeks away from ending, several non-playoff teams are likely to make changes behind the bench in short order. After a disappointing season that has seen them miss the playoffs for the first time in nearly a decade, could Craig Berube of the Toronto Maple Leafs be next?
On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed which NHL head coach is most likely to be the next to lose his job after Cassidy was shown the door.
Tyler Yaremchuk: Alright, Hutts, Daily Faceoff inbox time. We’ve got one: Who do you believe is the next coach who will be searching for a new gig? And listen, it’s crazy. The list of longest-tenured coaches in the NHL, you obviously have Jon Cooper who’s been north of a decade in Tampa. Bednar’s been pretty much a 10-year run now with Colorado. Brind’Amour’s locked in. Then after those three, Martin St. Louis is fourth on the list. He’s only had a job for four years. Spencer Carbery’s only had a job for three years, and now he’s tied for fifth or sixth in longest-tenured coaching, and when you look at the NHL, there’s going to be a lot more guys looking for new gigs this summer. I think in LA, you’re probably going to have D.J. Smith out at the end of this season… I’m curious if Winnipeg makes a switch behind the bench… You go out East, Craig Berube’s good as done in Toronto. In Detroit, if they miss, Todd McLellan’s likely gone… There’s another six to eight jobs in the league that could be open again in the next few months.
Carter Hutton: Yeah, the one for me is Craig Berube. I just think of the way that the whole Gudas situation went down with Auston Matthews, and then they played this weekend in St. Louis where Craig Berube won a Stanley Cup. You think there’d be some sort of response, and they were so bad in that game… I think there, it’s just the fact they lost the room… Those are teams that I think will have an effect, the Winnipeg one is one you mentioned that I think is interesting. With Scott Arniel, it just hasn’t gone as planned.
You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode below…