NHL Coaching Carousel is Complete

The annual NHL coaching carousel has unofficially ended its ride, well, for the summer anyway. If teams underachieve or get off to bad starts, it could pick up where it left off.

Five teams were looking for a new bench boss heading into the NHL offseason. If you count the Montreal Canadiens, who had not removed the interim tag from Dominique Ducharme at the end of playoffs, then the total is six teams. The Canadiens seemed to play well under Ducharme, reaching the Stanley Cup Final, so I can’t imagine a new head coach for them. The other five teams searching for a new head coach were the Arizona Coyotes, Buffalo Sabres, Columbus Blue Jackets, New York Rangers, and Seattle Kraken.

The Arizona Coyotes decided to go in a new direction and let go of Rick Tocchet, who couldn’t get the team to play consistent hockey. He did manage to get them in the playoff hunt, but that wasn’t enough. The Coyotes missed the postseason in seven of the past eight seasons, so it wasn’t all on the coach. Tocchet was 125-131-24 during his four seasons with the Coyotes.

The Coyotes names Andre Tourigny as the new head coach, and he has a tall task ahead of him. Tourigny has a few seasons of NHL coaching experience under his belt, but it was an assistant job. The Coyotes’ new bench boss has ties to the organization in that he knows both goalies from his time with Hockey Canada’s national team. Tourigny has a ton of coaching experience at the national and junior levels, which is beneficial for the younger players. This should help him navigate the new gig. Can he get the Coyotes over the hump to be a consistent playoff contender instead of the annual playoff pretender they have been?

The Buffalo Sabres parted ways with Ralph Krueger towards the end of last season and named Don Granato the interim head coach. The team was much better in their final 30 games or so under Granato. The Sabres responded well to the coaching change and started playing to its potential. The team was more relaxed and played better with Granato as the interim head coach, and this was all done without Captain Jack Eichel. The Sabres officially removed the interim tag on June 29, 2021.

Granato deserves the chance to see what he can do with this team with a training camp under his belt. The roster may look a little bit different come the regular season with free agency and trades. The team does have the number one overall draft pick in the upcoming NHL Entry Draft. Granato will have a chance to implement his system and not do it on the fly. The fans have seen the potential to which this team can play under Granato, but what happens if the team gets off to a slow start and misses the postseason again? It will be interesting to see if Granato will have any say in player movement and how he and the team respond to adversity.

The Columbus Blue Jackets and John Tortorella, who spent the past six seasons with the team, decided to part ways after a disappointing season. The new head coach, Brad Larsen, is familiar with the roster since he was an assistant under Tortorella for the past six seasons. Larsen has some AHL head coaching experience with the Springfield Falcons from 2012 to 2014. He also played for the Colorado Avalanche and Atlanta Thrashers for eight seasons in the NHL. During his two seasons as the Falcons coach, Larsen had a record of 92-45-15 and helped the team to two division titles.

The Montreal Canadiens officially named Dominique Ducharme the team’s head coach on July 13, 2021. Ducharme was named the team’s interim head coach back in February after the Canadiens fired Claude Julien. The Canadiens made it into the postseason and wen on to run to the Stanley Cup Final, where they lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning. During the run, the Canadiens won series against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Winnipeg Jets, and Vegas Golden Knights.

Ducharme and the Canadiens agreed to a three-year contract extension. The team only went 15-16-7 under him in the regular season, but once the Canadiens got into the playoffs, the magic began. Ducharme managed to get a system in place during a season full of challenges, which included a pandemic. The team lacked practice time, and played the regular season without fans in the stands. He managed to keep the team focused and to buy into his system. It will be interesting to see if he can repeat his success next season, or if he was a one hit wonder.

The New York Rangers let go of David Quinn after missing the postseason. The team decided to go with an established NHL coach from outside the organization in Gerard Gallant. The choice seems like a good one for the Rangers since they have a good mix of veteran and young players. Gallant has had success with every team he has coached, especially the Vegas Golden Knights.

The Rangers tried winning with a head coach who didn’t have any prior NHL coaching experience, and it didn’t turn out so well. The team was trying to win and rebuild at the same time during Quinn’s time as head coach. The Rangers should be playoff contenders under Gallant’s watch. It will be interesting to see if the team can pick up and implement his system in the early portion of the season or it takes time. I’ll be keeping my eyes on Kaapo Kakko, who did not have a great season by any means last year, and how Gallant uses him and his younger players throughout the lineup.

The Seattle Kraken made headlines by naming its first head coach in franchise history and caught most fans off guard with the choice. Dave Hakstol, yes Philadelphia Flyers fans, that Dave Hakstol, was named the Kraken’s first franchise head coach on June 24, 2021, about three weeks before the NHL Expansion Draft. Hakstol was the head coach of the Flyers for three and a half years and was 134-101-42 in his time. The Flyers made the playoffs twice but were out in the first round both times. For the past two seasons, he was an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Hakstol gets a chance to start fresh and prove that he wasn’t the issue during his time with the Flyers. He’ll be able to help build a team this time around and not inherit his roster. Hakstol should have input on players that he thinks will best fit his system and that the Kraken should take in the Expansion Draft. It should be interesting to see how well this team meshes in a short period while learning a new system. Fans will be watching the Kraken and Hakstol closely after the success of the Vegas Golden Knights in that team’s first season.

The new bench boss that I’m most looking forward to seeing in action is Gerard Gallant with the Rangers. The Rangers have a decent mix of veteran and younger players, so it will be interesting to see how Gallant handles that mix. The response of Kaapo Kakko to a new coach is something to watch after his disappointing season last year. How does Gallant handle the goalies by rotation or naming a clear-cut number one guy from the start of the season? There will be some headlines to keep an eye on with the Rangers this season, and how Gallant handles this team should be interesting.

UPDATED July 13, 2021: Added information about the signing of Dominique Ducharme.