Detroit Red Wings

The NHL announced the Jack Adams Award finalists Thursday, which means three coaches can (probably) say they are safe to keep their jobs beyond this season: the New York Rangers' Gerard Gallant, Calgary Flames' Darryl Sutter and Florida Panthers' Andrew Brunette. 

These are three very different coaches with varying styles. Gallant is considered an affable players' coach. He's a motivator and has his players' backs, all while guiding them through the season with an even-keeled demeanor. 

Sutter is as old-school as they come. He grew up playing in the frozen farmlands of Viking, Alberta, was previously the coach and general manager of the Flames before he returned to the farm for a year and then came back to help the Los Angeles Kings win two Stanley Cups. He has long implemented a grinding, physically demanding style of play. 

Brunette, who carries the interim label, stepped into a difficult situation and deftly guided the Panthers to the Presidents' Trophy after Joel Quenneville resigned.

Other teams aren't quite as lucky with their coaching situations. The week began with the New York Islanders filling their opening by promoting assistant Lane Lambert shortly before the Vegas Golden Knights fired Peter DeBoer, the second coach in the franchise's five-season history. 

Barry Trotz is still on the market, having been fired by the Islanders last week, though he has already interviewed with the Winnipeg Jets. Openings exist in Detroit and Philadelphia. Speculation looms that there may be another vacancy in Dallas, and the bench bosses in Chicago and Montreal still have interim tags ahead of their names. 

With that said, let's take a look at the landscape and try to predict where a few coaches will end up, as well as examine some up-and-coming coaches who could vie for head jobs soon.

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Detroit Red Wings: Mike Vellucci

General manager Steve Yzerman recently fired Jeff Blashill and will keep his cards close to his vest in the search for the Detroit Red Wings' new coach. This is how the franchise legend has always operated, and there is no reason to expect he'll suddenly do things differently. 

It gets tough to move in complete secrecy in this business unless you're Lou Lamoriello and all you have to do is tell the club's owner that the coach is getting fired without consulting anyone who could leak information. 

But if Yzerman wants to cast a wide net, he'll have to talk to agents and team executives in order to receive permission to speak with candidates. And he should talk to Pittsburgh Penguins president Brian Burke and general manager Ron Hextall regarding the availability of assistant coach Mike Vellucci.

Vellucci is a Detroit-area native from Farmington, Michigan, and he was the longtime head coach of the OHL's Plymouth Whalers before he worked up the pro ranks in the front office with the Carolina Hurricanes, as the head coach of the AHL's Charlotte Checkers and as the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Vellucci brings experience but isn't a recycled NHL head coach. Yzerman has gone outside the traditional pipelines to fill head coaching jobs in the past, hiring a relatively unknown commodity named Jon Cooper when he was the GM of the Tampa Bay Lightning. 

Given Yzerman's history with Cooper, if Vellucci doesn't move him, then maybe Cooper's assistant Derek Lalonde will. 

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Philadelphia Flyers: John Tortorella

John Tortorella proved to have some behind-the-times views when he said on ESPN that the lacrosse-style goal that burgeoning Anaheim Ducks stars Trevor Zegras and Sonny Milano combined for earlier this year was bad for the game. There is no doubt the lightning rod of a coach would get the fans talking in Philadelphia if nothing else.

He is known for being demanding and holding his team accountable, but behind the curtain, his demeanor is that of a coach who fiercely protects his players, which would also be helpful with a demanding, blue-collar fanbase such as the one in Philadelphia.

He has the credentials: Tortorella led the Lightning to the 2004 Stanley Cup title, is a two-time Jack Adams Award winner, has coached a team to a season of 100 or more points three times, reached the playoffs 12 playoffs times and recorded 10 series victories.

His calling card is defense, and the Columbus Blue Jackets were adept at limiting chances when he was at the helm. The Flyers had little structure under Alain Vigneault and later under interim coach Mike Yeo, bleeding chances in the defensive zone.

Last season, Philadelphia allowed nearly 2000 five-on-five scoring chances (1,971), per NaturalStatTrick.com, which was the eighth-most in the NHL. Playing like that certainly can't help when it comes to developing a goalie like Carter Hart. 

However, Tortorella's effectiveness can wane as the tough love wears thin, especially if his teams aren't winning. But hey, it's worked for Sutter. Tortorella might not be a long-term solution but instead a way to bridge the gap to the next coach. 

If not Tortorella, then Trotz could be the answer. 

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Winnipeg Jets: Barry Trotz

Few coaches do more with less than Trotz. 

The system is the star with the 59-year-old, and it's heavily predicated on defense and limiting chances. But he has proved this style of play can win, as is evidenced by his 914 career victories and a 2018 Stanley Cup. 

The Jets could have some key long-term pieces in place to retool around in forward Kyle Connor and defenseman Josh Morrissey. Franchise cornerstones Mark Scheifele, Blake Wheeler and Connor Hellebuyck will still be around for a few more years, and Pierre-Luc Dubois is in need of an extension, as he'll be a restricted free agent this summer.

Trotz, a Dauphin, Manitoba, native, once brought the Cup back to the province during his day with it after he won the title with Washington, but he has a chance to bring it back as more than just a display item. 

The other name that could be in the mix is Randy Carlyle, the 66-year-old former Anaheim Ducks and Toronto Maple Leafs coach. 

Carlye hasn't coached since he was fired from his second stint with Anaheim in 2019. According to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, the former Winnipeg defenseman is interested in getting behind a bench again.

Carlyle's style was a little stale toward the end with the Ducks, though the second time around in Orange County, he did prove to have a softer demeanor and showed an ability to adapt. 

He could be continuing to evolve, and if that's the case, then it makes sense for a team to at least inquire about the 2007 Stanley Cup-winning coach. 

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Vegas Golden Knights: Rick Tocchet

Rick Tocchet made some strides with the Arizona Coyotes, taking them to the playoffs in 2020. But the TNT analyst wasn't given much of a chance to show what he could do as a coach in Arizona since the club decided to rebuild and go in another direction in 2021, hiring former Ottawa 67's coach and Team Canada World Junior coach Andre Tourigney. 

Prior to that, Tocchet's first head coaching job came in 2008, when he got the interim role in Tampa Bay after the Lightning fired Barry Melrose. Tocchet was fired after the 2010 season, having posted a 53-69-26 record in two years.

The 58-year-old has played in 1,144 career NHL games and won two Stanley Cups as an assistant coach on Mike Sullivan's bench, overseeing a power play that often featured Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. 

It's tough to get a read on the Golden Knights given the club's tendency to make decisions on a whim, like parting with former coach Gerard Gallant in the middle of the season and trading away former franchise face Marc-Andre Fleury. But Tocchet developed a respected, no-nonsense approach in Arizona, and with a roster of veterans who want to win and who know what it takes to do so, that style could be effective. 

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Dallas Stars: Peter DeBoer

Look, this is a shot in the dark, but it seems as though Rick Bowness has outlived his effectiveness. The Dallas Stars made it to the first round of the playoffs and pushed the Flames to seven games, largely based on the performance of emerging young goalie Jake Oettinger. 

But getting into the playoffs shouldn't be the goal for a team that was in the Stanley Cup Final while in the bubble two years ago. Sure, we could point to the flukey nature of the bubble, but it was an even playing field for everyone in Edmonton and Toronto, so no one can say they didn't earn it. 

The Stars are in a tough place with an aging core and some top young talent. They either have to move on from players such as John Klingberg or risk clinging to the past and mediocrity. That won't be easy, considering Tyler Seguin has five years left on his contract and Jamie Benn has three. 

The club was at an impasse with Klingberg, an impending unrestricted free agent, earlier this year, but he has expressed a desire to stay in Texas. 

No decision has been made on Bowness, but if Dallas decides it has enough talent to continue on this same path and go for it in the near future, it might want a win-now coach such as DeBoer, who has led two teams to the Cup Final (New Jersey Devils in 2012, San Jose Sharks in 2016). 

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Under-the-Radar Names

There is a dearth of European coaches and executives in the NHL. Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen (Finland) and Vancouver Canucks GM Patrik Allvin (Sweden) are the only two Europeans to hold high-level executive positions. There are no European head coaches. 

Marco Sturm could soon change that. A veteran of nearly 1,000 NHL games, Sturm is getting NHL coaching experience as a Kings assistant on Todd McLellan's bench. He has also coached the German national team in international competition. 

Rikard Gronborg's name comes up every year. The longtime Swedish national team coach is guiding Switzerland’s ZSC Lions but has worked in North America in collegiate ranks. 

Patrik Elias has also coached the Czech junior national team and with the Devils as a special assistant of sorts. He expressed interest in coaching in the NHL a few years ago, though he may need some experience as an assistant or as the coach of an AHL team first.

And speaking of the Devils, Alain Nasreddine, who briefly served as New Jersey's interim coach when John Hynes was fired in December 2019, parted ways with the Devils recently. Nasreddine could either take his lockdown penalty-killing system elsewhere in the NHL or try to become an AHL head coach to gain experience in the big chair. 

Kris Knoblauch's name was mentioned last year after the Rangers fired David Quinn. The coach of the AHL's Hartford Wolfpack since 2019 and a former assistant coach with the Flyers, Knoblauch could be ready to make the jump to an NHL head coaching job.

Quinn is also on the market, as is Claude Julien. Both coached at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. 

New York Islanders team president and general manager Lou Lamoriello might have shocked the hockey world Monday morning when he unceremoniously fired coach Barry Trotz, but those who have followed his career will tell you the move was par for the course for the 79-year-old Hall of Fame executive.

Lamoriello is known as an iron-fisted, tight-lipped executive who views coaches as expendable. He fired Robbie Ftorek with eight games left in the regular season when the New Jersey Devils were leading the Eastern Conference standings.

Often compared to George Steinbrenner and sometimes called the "Baby Boss" by the local media, Lamoriello made 20 coaching moves during his tenure as the president and general manager of the Devils.

Trotz won the Jack Adams Award in 2019 and took the Islanders to back-to-back conference final/semifinal rounds in 2020 and 2021, losing to the eventual champions, the Tampa Bay Lightning, both years.

Keep in mind that this was mostly accomplished with players acquired by former general manager Garth Snow.

But Lou is back to his old ways.

"This would be a tremendous understatement to say that it was an easy decision to make, but unfortunately, it's my role to make the best decisions for the organization going forward," Lamoriello said on a conference call shortly after announcing the decision. "I believe that this group of players needs a new voice."

As for what that new voice needs to sound like, Lamoriello isn't sure yet. He offered no specifics other than to say he was unhappy with the offensive production and that the decision was not made primarily on this season.

Lamoriello said he does not need to report to anyone except for owners Jon Ledecky and Scott Malkin.

"Did I consult with anyone on this decision, the answer is no. Did I speak to players on this decision? No. I would never even consider thinking of anything like that," he said. "This decision is on the knowledge that I have, of the experiences I've had, and going forward, what I think and feel is best for this group to have success."

But here's where he got it wrong: While this kind of thinking might have worked in the 1990s and the early aughts in New Jersey, it doesn't work in 2022. This is a team devoid of a true star because Trotz's vaunted defensive system is the star.

Lamoriello's philosophy that players should play for the name on the front of the jersey and not on the back, regardless of the cameras, media outlets and social media platforms is quaint but outdated.

Another team is going to get a very good coach in Trotz. Let's take a look at where he could land.

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Detroit Red Wings

Detroit seems like an obvious destination for Trotz, considering this is an up-and-coming team with high-end young talent that needs a coach to help them put it all together.

Jeff Blashill was recently fired after losing seasons in six of the last seven campaigns, though you could make the argument that he never really had a chance given how long this rebuild has taken.

However, you need to look at the general manager's history of coaching hires to try to connect the dots. Steve Yzerman has hired two head coaches as an executive, both in Tampa: Guy Boucher and Jon Cooper. Both were relatively young and relatively new to NHL coaching.

Boucher came to the NHL from the AHL and, as a rookie head coach, led the Lightning to the Eastern Conference Final. He bridged the gap for Cooper, who was the club's AHL coach. Cooper played lacrosse in college and was a practicing lawyer before moving into coaching.

Yzerman has an eye for coaching talent, so while this might seem like an obvious move on paper when you look at the hiring patterns, it suddenly doesn't feel like one anymore.

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Philadelphia Flyers

General manager Chuck Fletcher is hanging on to his job by a thread. He hired coach Alain Vigneault prior to the 2019-20 season and fired him this season, replacing him with assistant coach Mike Yeo. The club recently announced that they are moving on from Yeo, though they would like to keep him in the organization.

The Flyers are in a weird spot. They dealt veteran captain Claude Giroux at the trade deadline a few months ago and have significant money committed to some veterans on the roster, with new deals kicking in for Joel Farabee and Rasmus Ristolainen next season.

The young players are struggling to develop, but that's not uncommon in a losing season.

The defensive structure was an Achilles' heel for Philadelphia last season, as the Flyers allowed the fourth-most shot attempts at five-on-five and the eighth-most scoring chances. Trotz's calling card is his defensive system.

Plus, the club has long struggled to develop goaltending talent. Bleeding chances like that would be a challenge for even the best goalies in the world, but a better defensive setup and Trotz's renowned goaltending coach Mitch Korn could help Carter Hart finally become a franchise backstop.

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New Jersey Devils

General manager Tom Fitzgerald has made one NHL coaching hire since taking over for Ray Shero early in 2020, going with veteran Lindy Ruff.

He recently threw his support behind his head coach after yet another dismal season, but could the availability of Trotz change his mind? Fitzgerald has some familiarity with Trotz, having played for him in Nashville.

The Devils were mediore at best scoring goals last season, a problem further exacerbated by injuries, poor goaltending and a disastrous power play.

It's unclear whether the club is content with goalie Mackenzie Blackwood, but bringing in Trotz to fix the defense and Korn to aid in the goaltending (assuming they are still a package deal) could help the club finally take a step toward a return to prominence.

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Vancouver Canucks

Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin have a June 1 deadline to decide whether to pick up Bruce Boudreau's option year. Boudreau replaced Travis Green for the final 57 games of the season, and the Canucks pushed for a playoff spot, but that might not be enough of a sample size to retain the affable Boudreau.

Rutherford seems on the fence, saying he might need to see how Boudreau does over a full season.

One thing to keep in mind here is that Boudreau was hired by owner Francesco Aquilini before he fired general manager Jim Benning and brought in Rutherford and Allvin. The former Pittsburgh Penguins front office duo might want to put their own stamp on the organization with their own coach.

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Vegas Golden Knights

What will the Golden Knights do with Peter DeBoer after the club's failure to make the playoffs? Former Caps GM George McPhee is in Vegas as the president of hockey operations—Trotz and McPhee previously worked together in the Washington Capitals organization when Trotz was the AHL coach (Baltimore Skipjacks and Portland Pirates) in the 1990s.

DeBoer might be a very respected coach, but he has a reputation for wearing out his welcome. He hasn't been in Vegas for very long, but the decision-making group there has proved to be somewhat impulsive.

DeBoer's timing hasn't been great as he was in New Jersey during the start of their rebuild and in San Jose as the roster began to age. He took both of those teams to Stanley Cup Finals, but the difference is that Trotz won it all while DeBoer has yet to reach that peak.

The Golden Knights are in win-now mode with significant money committed to players 30 and over. Trotz is a win-now coach.

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San Jose Sharks

Bob Boughner is in a similar spot to his predecessor in that his job status seems to be tenuous.

Longtime general manager Doug Wilson recently stepped down citing health issues and Sharks president Jonathan Becher and interim general manager Joe Will are conducting a search for his replacement.

A coach is rarely hired before a general manager, but stranger things have happened (see the above on Boudreau). It's more likely the Sharks will let a new GM conduct his own coaching search, but if Trotz is still available when a new executive is hired, then he could be an attractive option.

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Winnipeg Jets

This feels like the most natural fit. Trotz is a Manitoba native, and he played and coached at the University of Manitoba, as well as with the Dauphin Kings of the Manitoba Junior Hockey League.

Former head coach Paul Maurice resigned earlier this season, and under interim coach Dave Lowry, the Jets failed to reach the postseason. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff said Lowry can interview for the full-time job, but it sounds as though the club will move on from him.

This is a team in dire need of a reset. Maurice never could take the Jets deep into the postseason, and the roster is flawed. It seemed as though the message grew stale.

Trotz has long been lauded for understanding how to keep his message fresh. The 59-year-old is a proven winner, and as a proud Manitoban, he would bring some much-needed excitement back to the fanbase.

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Where do the Islanders go next?

When Trotz left Washington, he was replaced by assistant coach Todd Reirden. The Islanders could choose to go in a similar direction with Lane Lambert, Trotz's longtime right-hand man. Lambert has long been viewed as an up-and-coming coach, and some have wondered why he doesn't already have a head-coaching job.

Lambert, as well as the rest of the staff, is still under contract with the club, but Lamoriello said the new coach will get the final say on personnel. Lambert should be an option, but his time with Trotz dates back a decade to the Nashville Predators. Reirden didn't quite have the history that Lambert has.

One name to keep an eye on is Mike Babcock. This would be questionable given the allegations of abuse toward players that emerged after Babcock was fired from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lamoriello worked with Babcock in Toronto, though, and he has gone back to the same coaching well on a few occasions (Jacques Lemaire, anyone?), so there is a familiarity.

The Detroit Red Wings announced Saturday they won't renew the contract of head coach Jeff Blashill, ending his tenure with the organization after seven years.

Blashill compiled a 204-261-72 record with just one playoff appearance, which came during his first season with the NHL team in 2015-16.

The 48-year-old Detroit native was the coaching version of a top prospect. He guided the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Wings' AHL affiliate, to a Calder Cup championship in 2013 and won the league's Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award as its top coach the following year.

He was promoted to head coach of the Red Wings in 2015 following the departure of Mike Babcock, who accepted an offer from the Toronto Maple Leafs to become the highest-paid coach in league history after leading Detroit to 10 straight playoff appearances, highlighted by the 2008 Stanley Cup title.

Blashill enjoyed some initial success as the Wings posted a 41-30-11 record to reach the 2016 postseason. They were eliminated by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the first round.

Since that point, Detroit hasn't posted a record above .500.

Blashill doesn't deserve the sole blame for that lack of success. The Wings went through a rebuilding process that left them well short of the talent necessary to seriously compete in the recently loaded Eastern Conference.

That said, they were expected to show some signs of serious progress this season and that didn't happen. Their points percentage (.451) was only modestly better than last year (.429), and their 32-40-10 record left them 26 points out of the postseason in the East.

After Detroit's season ended Friday, Blashill said he hadn't heard from general manager Steve Yzerman but he wanted to focus on the promising signs from the campaign, including the development of standout rookies Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider.

"We stayed in the playoff race longer than we have in the last couple of years, probably since we started the rebuild," Blashill told reporters. "We had as much hope as we've had. That's a positive."

He previously served as head coach of the USHL's Indiana Ice and Western Michigan University before joining the Red Wings organization.

All told, Detroit decided it was time to move in a new direction as it attempts to finally turn the corner in its rebuild next season.

By any objective measure, the Detroit Red Wings aren't having a great start to the 2021-22 NHL season. Through 15 games, they hold a 7-8-2 record, which ranks 23rd leaguewide in points percentage.

The underlying numbers are more or less in line with that record. The Red Wings rank 22nd by expected goals percentage (48.4 percent), per Evolving Hockey.

For most NHL franchises, that kind of a stretch to open the season would raise the question of why so much is going wrong. But consider where the Red Wings came from.

The Red Wings have failed to make the playoffs ever since their 25-season run of playing in the postseason ended in 2016. It isn't just that they were losing; their entire outlook was as bleak as possible.

The roster was a decaying visage with a number of bloated contracts from their prior contention window, plus whatever leftover journeymen they could find. General manager Steve Yzerman, whom the Red Wings hired in 2019, inherited an unmitigated disaster with few redeemable parts. 

Anything above the abyss is progress for Detroit, and flirting with a position outside the bottom 10 teams is certainly that.

There's a noticeable buzz inside Little Caesars Arena that wasn't present in previous seasons. The current group of players is, if not good, then at least intriguing. 

Rookies Lucas Raymond and Moritz Seider are at the center of the Red Wings' upward trend. The two top prospects made the team out of training camp, which was fully expected. It was less certain that they'd be positive contributors so soon.

Yet not only are they proving they belong at hockey's top level, but they are also two of the biggest drivers of Detroit's relative progress through 15 games.

Seider, whom the Red Wings drafted sixth overall in 2019, was named the Swedish Hockey League's top defenseman last season, producing seven goals and 21 assists in 41 regular-season games while dominating analytically. Now in Detroit, he is playing one of the most difficult roles in the league.

Logging 22-23 minutes every night on a subpar team is a heavy burden, but he's thriving in the role. Per Evolving Hockey, Seider ranks 19th among all defensemen in Defensive Goals Above Replacement.

How is he doing it? The German is displaying a mental and physical maturity beyond his years that in some ways is reminiscent of a young Ryan McDonagh.

At 6'4" and 197 pounds, Seider has the size and strength to defend at the top level, but his skating and footwork is what's tilting the scales in his favor. He's able to cover so much ice and doesn't have wasted motion in his crossovers and pivots.

The most evident benefit is that Seider can defend aggressively.

When defending the rush, he defends from the middle lane outward. He protects the most vulnerable ice in the neutral and defensive zones, and once he's ensured its safety, he closes in on puck-carriers in the blink of an eye. He also mops up a lot of messes on transition rushes when his team is vulnerable, taking big strides and his range to get back quickly on the backcheck.

If it's not his feet, then Seider is using his strength. Once he's gapped up with a puck-carrier, he uses his size to keep them to the perimeter.

On controlled offensive plays, Seider is battling in front of the net, keeping his man out of the goaltender's line of vision. 

The final ingredient is his defensive vision.

Seider anticipates plays well. He takes good routes to pucks on dump-ins and times his jumps well in the neutral zone when picking off plays.

The German has two goals and nine assists in 15 games, which is far more offensive production than most anticipated out of him this soon.

Seider is not a prolific playmaker, but he's comfortable with the puck and can make some passes. He has only two assists at five-on-five, and the Red Wings are shooting an unsustainable 12.8 percent when he's on the ice.

Expect his production to regress, but he does not look out of place in offensive-zone situations nor on the power play. There's untapped offensive potential that should come as he becomes more situated.

Raymond has been equally as effective for Detroit, though with different contributions.

The 2020 fourth-overall pick had a good-but-not-great season with Frolunda in the Swedish Hockey League last year. Whereas he was fighting for playing time there, he's being given a more prominent role in his rookie NHL season.

Raymond has six goals and eight assists in 15 games, and a lot of his success can be attributed to his linemates. Dylan Larkin and Tyler Bertuzzi are playing the best hockey of their careers. 

But they aren't carrying Raymond. Instead, they feed into Raymond's strengths.

There are few flaws in the 19-year-old's unconventionally mature game, but his best attributes are his passing, his contributions to a cycle offense and his ability to get open for shooting opportunities. Getting the most out of him requires linemates who can keep up and feed into those strengths.

Larkin and Bertuzzi are high-end players who fill that need. They're carrying out extended possessions, and they're doing an excellent job of finding Raymond on the power play, where he's scored half of his goals.

If Raymond was only capitalizing on the man advantage and in sheltered offensive-zone minutes, that would be more than acceptable at this stage of his development. But his line is being matched against the opposition's top players most nights, and he is doing his part to tilt the ice in Detroit's favor.

He's been responsible in his own end, creating turnovers when pressuring the points, playing a physical game to win puck battles and making plays in smaller areas of the ice to help advance the puck to the opposing end.

Seider and Raymond are thriving because they are elite young players whose skill sets and physical maturity are easing the adjustment to the NHL compared to most their age. Head coach Jeff Blashill also deserves credit for trusting their talent and handing them in top roles out of the gate.

Detroit's otherwise weak roster makes those decisions a lot easier, but there are plenty of examples of coaches deferring to veterans over more capable rookies. The Red Wings have no expectations this season, which creates a great sandbox to give these two the ability to grow and develop in prominent roles without fear of how their mistakes might hurt the team.

It's a moot point for now, as both are among not only the team's top performers, but the NHL's as a whole. They're each among the early front-runners for the Calder Trophy. 

Continuing this success will be a major challenge for the two, as the 82-game schedule is a grind with which they aren't familiar. The Swedish season is roughly half as long.

However, it's been an ideal start to the season. While the Red Wings still have a lot of rebuilding to do, they're playing competent hockey and giving the fanbase a reason to tune in for the first time in six seasons.