10 NHL Groups Enter The 2022-23 Season With New Head Coaches

There’s an outdated cliché that coaches are employed to be fired. That has by no means been extra true than in at present’s NHL.

When the puck drops for the 2022-23 common season with a pair of NHL World Sequence video games between the San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators on Oct. 7 and eight, David Quinn will make his debut behind the Sharks’ bench. Tapped for San Jose’s head teaching job by new normal supervisor Mike Grier on July 26, he was the final of 10 head coaches who have been employed for NHL positions this offseason.

Right here’s a rundown of who you’ll discover the place this fall, and what’s anticipated in every case. The hirings are listed chronologically. All contract time period and wage data is from CapFriendly.

Lane Lambert – New York Islanders – employed Could 16

After a dismal season that noticed the New York Islanders miss the playoffs following back-to-back journeys to the NHL’s ultimate 4, normal supervisor Lou Lamoriello despatched shockwaves by way of the league when he dismissed his well-respected bench boss and two-time Jack Adams Award winner Barry Trotz after 4 seasons.

However Lamoriello didn’t look too far afield for Trotz’s alternative. Lane Lambert, 57, has labored alongside Trotz ever since becoming a member of the Nashville Predators’ AHL affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, as an assistant coach within the 2005-06 season. He spent 4 years as Milwaukee’s head coach earlier than becoming a member of Trotz’s bench as an assistant in Nashville, then moved with him to the Washington Capitals in 2014 and the Islanders in 2018 — the place he was promoted to affiliate coach.

Lengthy thought to be a prime candidate for a head-coaching place, Lambert is trying to amp up the Islanders’ offense after they completed 23th general with simply 2.79 objectives scored per sport final season.

Consistent with Lamoriello’s notoriously secretive nature, phrases of Lambert’s contract haven’t been made public.

Bruce Cassidy – Vegas Golden Knights – employed June 14

After a 107-game stint because the Capitals’ head coach in 2002 and 2003, it took Bruce Cassidy greater than 13 years to get one other kick on the can. On Feb. 7, 2017, first-year assistant Cassidy changed the fired Claude Julien behind the Boston Bruins bench.

In 399 regular-season video games with the Bruins, Cassidy put up a .672 factors proportion. He obtained Boston into the playoffs in all six of his seasons and to the Stanley Cup Remaining in 2019, the place they misplaced to the St. Louis Blues. And after guiding Boston to 100 factors in 70 video games earlier than the 2019-20 season was paused because of the pandemic, Cassidy was named the 2020 Jack Adams Award winner as coach of the 12 months.

Rumors of rifts between the demanding coach and his gamers preceded his dismissal in Boston on June 9. Then, it took lower than per week earlier than he was snapped up by the Vegas Golden Knights, who have been on the lookout for a brand new voice after lacking the playoffs for the primary time of their five-year historical past.

Per CapFriendly, Cassidy’s new deal in Vegas is a five-year pact price $4.5 million per season.

John Tortorella – Philadelphia Flyers – employed June 17

Following six seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets — and one legendary first-round sweep of the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2019 — 2004 Stanley Cup winner John Tortorella spent final season working as an analyst with ESPN. This summer season, he signed a four-year contract reportedly price $4 million per season to attempt to flip across the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers have been one of many NHL’s largest disappointments over the past two seasons, and followers have jumped ship in droves because the membership has reached franchise-record ranges of futility.

Now 64, Tortorella is the 2004 Jack Adams winner, with 1,383 video games of NHL teaching expertise. His hard-edged teaching type has softened considerably over time. Now he’s higher recognized for setting a demanding normal whereas additionally caring deeply for his gamers.

Tortorella might should lean arduous on youth as he tries to return the Flyers to respectability. After veteran defenseman Ryan Ellis performed simply 4 video games final season, his long-term well being is now in query. In the meantime, 2020 Selke Trophy winner Sean Couturier has been sidelined with a preseason again difficulty after he was restricted to simply 29 video games final season earlier than present process again surgical procedure.

Peter DeBoer – Dallas Stars – employed June 21

Dismissed in Vegas on Could 16 after the Golden Knights’ playoff miss, Peter DeBoer landed with the Dallas Stars simply over a month later. His four-year deal is reportedly price $4.25 million per season.

At 54, DeBoer is now on his fifth NHL head-coaching job. He began with the Florida Panthers, then took the New Jersey Devils and San Jose Sharks to the Stanley Cup Remaining in his first season with each of these groups. He was fired by the Sharks on Dec. 12, 2019, and landed in Vegas on Jan. 15, 2020.

Paul Maurice – Florida Panthers – employed June 22

Final December, Paul Maurice left his head-coaching job with the Winnipeg Jets after almost eight years, saying that his gamers wanted a distinct voice. On the time, it wasn’t clear how lengthy he’d keep away from the sport, however he couldn’t resist the chance to return when the NHL’s greatest regular-season squad from the 2021-22 season got here calling.

The Florida Panthers have been a crew on the upswing. However after a humbling second-round playoff sweep by the hands of their archrivals, the Tampa Bay Lightning, Florida normal supervisor Invoice Zito determined his crew wanted a distinct voice than interim head coach Andrew Brunette, who had stepped into large sneakers when Joel Quenneville left the crew in late October.

Now 55, Maurice obtained his begin as an NHL head coach with the Hartford Whalers again in 1995, at simply 28 years outdated. Along with 920 complete video games over two stints with the Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes franchise and his 601 video games in Winnipeg, he additionally spent two seasons behind the bench of the Toronto Maple Leafs.

His new deal in Florida is reportedly for 3 years, at $3.9 million per season.

Luke Richardson – Chicago Blackhawks – employed June 27

Through the Montreal Canadiens’ run to the 2021 Stanley Cup Remaining, assistant coach Luke Richardson stepped into the highlight throughout his crew’s third-round sequence towards the Vegas Golden Knights after head coach Dominique Ducharme was pressured into isolation because of a constructive take a look at for COVID-19.

The Canadiens gained three of six video games whereas Richardson was on the helm, and superior to the Stanley Cup Remaining for the primary time since their win in 1993. That success amplified the chatter that the popular former blueliner was prepared for his first full-time NHL head-coaching place.

This summer season, the 53-year-old obtained his probability from the Chicago Blackhawks, who had changed Jeremy Colliton with interim head coach Derek King in early November. Richardson is reportedly on a four-year deal that pays $1.5 million per season. However he has a troublesome activity in entrance of him — making an attempt to get essentially the most out of a Blackhawks crew that had abruptly steered right into a rebuild and could also be extra all in favour of a excessive draft-lottery place than in making an attempt to get again to the playoffs.

Jim Montgomery – Boston Bruins – employed June 30

At 53, Jim Montgomery will get his second probability to run an NHL bench in Boston. In December of 2019, he was abruptly fired in his second season with the Dallas Stars for “unprofessional conduct” — a scenario that led to him getting therapy for alcoholism.

Montgomery returned to the NHL originally of the 2020-21 season as an assistant coach with the St. Louis Blues. After he obtained good grades for his work over the past two years, the Bruins tapped him to succeed Bruce Cassidy.

The Bruins are beginning the season at a little bit of a crossroads, with Father Time catching as much as a few of their prime stars and key gamers like Charlie McAvoy and Brad Marchand starting the 12 months on the injured checklist. Montgomery might want to faucet into the expertise of a few of the membership’s youthful gamers if he hopes to increase that postseason streak.

His contract in Boston is reportedly for 3 seasons, at $2 million a 12 months.

Derek Lalonde – Detroit Pink Wings – employed June 30

Out of the playoffs for the final six years, the Detroit Pink Wings have been stockpiling younger expertise due to mittfuls of excessive draft picks.

This season, normal supervisor Steve Yzerman signalled that he’s able to see his group take the following step by hiring Derek Lalonde because the Wings’ new head coach.

Now 50, Lalonde was employed as an assistant to Jon Cooper with the Tampa Bay Lightning in July of 2018, two months earlier than Yzerman resigned his place as that crew’s normal supervisor and 9 months earlier than he resurfaced in Detroit. Within the meantime, Lalonde gained two Stanley Cups and burnished his teaching popularity whereas working as Cooper’s key deputy.

Yzerman operates underneath a cone of silence that’s almost as hermetic as Lamoriello’s. Terns of Lalonde’s contract in Detroit haven’t ben made public.

Rick Bowness – Winnipeg Jets – employed July 3

When interim alternative Dave Lowry did not get the Winnipeg Jets to the playoffs after Paul Maurice stepped down final season, normal supervisor Kevin Cheveldayoff aggressively courted Barry Trotz for Winnipeg’s head-coaching place after he was let go by the Islanders.

Born and raised in Manitoba, Trotz would have been a pure match on his hometown crew. However regardless of Winnipeg’s greatest efforts, the 60-year-old elected to not instantly join one other head-coaching place.

Trotz didn’t announce his choice till June 24, leaving the Jets taking part in catch-up when contemplating different choices. Ultimately, they settled on Rick Bowness, the 67-year-old who had been a part of the unique Jets’ teaching employees again within the Eighties and who took the Dallas Stars on a shock run to the Stanley Cup Remaining in 2020.

Together with his historical past, Bowness understands the distinctive character of the Winnipeg market. And having taken the Jets’ job after pondering retirement, he has wasted no time placing his stamp on the franchise — most notably, stripping longtime captain Blake Wheeler of his title and electing to go along with a bunch of assistants as a substitute.

Bowness’s new contract in Winnipeg is reportedly for 3 years and a complete of $8 million, with funds of $2.5 million in every of the primary two seasons and $3 million within the third.

David Quinn – San Jose Sharks – employed July 26

After an extended search course of, the San Jose Sharks employed Mike Grier because the everlasting alternative for longtime normal supervisor Doug Wilson on July 5. 4 days earlier, the group cleaned home on the teaching facet, parting methods with Bob Boughner and his assistants and leaving room for Grier to make his personal rent.

A veteran of 1,060 NHL video games as a participant, Grier performed his school hockey at Boston College within the Nineties, so longtime B.U. bench boss David Quinn was instantly linked to the open place.

Quinn had simply spent three years as head coach of the New York Rangers earlier than taking the reins for Group USA on the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing and the 2022 World Championship in Finland.

With barely a second to settle into his new place, Grier navigated the Sharks by way of the 2022 NHL Draft on July 7-8 and the opening of free company on July 13. Earlier than the top of his first month, he had additionally put in Quinn as San Jose’s new head coach.