NHL Coaches On The Hot Seat, Early Season Edition
It is hard to believe that the 2022-23 NHL season is just about two weeks old. Yet, here we are, looking at coaches who could be on the hot set or already are.
Some bench bosses are here as a product of last year, and some may be here because of expectations and pure speculation. Either way, this weekly column will serve as a way to monitor bench bosses who are on thin ice.
Andre Tourigny - Arizona Coyotes
Arizona was going to be bad and in the “Fall Hard For Bedard” category. However, the first four games of this season, aside from the Toronto game, could be best described as the 1974-75 Washington Capitals. The Coyotes are giving up their usual high amount of prime scoring chances and, yes, plenty of goals.
In some ways, Andre Tourigny has inherited the equivalent of an AHL team. Injuries to Nick Schmaltz and Jakob Chychrun have not helped, but it matters little. Tourigny cannot get this team to play simple fundamentals at times. He seems a little over his head with this job. Arizona is a total mess.
Will management pull the cord and declare an act of mercy? Arizona was expected to be near the bottom of the league. At that point, does one consider mercy or go in another direction?
Bruce Boudreau - Vancouver Canucks
This is a head-scratcher considering Bruce Boudreau went 32-15-10 last season as coach of the Vancouver Canucks. He stepped in and nearly dragged Vancouver into the postseason. However, Canucks’ management did not give him the assurances one would expect.
Instead, Vancouver did something no team ever did at the start of the season. The Canucks blew four multiple-goal leads in a row and lost each contest (0-3-1 overall). Now, it is unfair to blame the coach entirely. On the other hand, the penalty kill had been running below 60%, and things like this will get you on the hot seat.
Boudreau will be monitored as the season rolls along to see how Vancouver responds. Either way, it should be quite the ride.
Dean Evason - Minnesota Wild
Evason is another person who should not be here, yet the Minnesota coach finds himself on this dubious list. Ironically, Minnesota and Vancouver played each other Thursday, and it went as expected. To be kind, it was chaotic.
Minnesota’s defense and special teams have been suspect since about January. The second half of last season was about Kirill Kaprizov and the top six outscoring their problems. With the goaltending of Marc-Andre Fleury struggling mightily, things look even worse for Evason. It seems every move the coach makes is wrong.
Fortunately, the Wild have time to make headway in the standings, as teams in the Central are not going to pull away just yet. However, this malaise could put Evason even more on the hot seat if this continues well into November.
Lindy Ruff - New Jersey Devils
The argument for Lindy Ruff being here is that he should have been fired after last season. For some reason, Ruff was allowed to stay despite the organization reshuffling most of its deck. Andrew Brunette was brought almost as his replacement (and he might be yet). New Jersey lost its first two games of the season but has responded with back-to-back wins since.
However, the jury is still out on Ruff. One bad streak might be enough for New Jersey ownership to say enough is enough.
John Hynes - Nashville Predators
The two-game sweep over the San Jose Sharks in the NHL Global Series is now a distant memory. Nashville has since lost four games in a row. That included a Dallas Stars sweep, which outscored the Predators 9-2.
Nashville squandered consecutive games where it had a two-goal lead. It didn't matter if Juuse Saros was in net. In the Thursday night loss to Columbus, Nashville allowed four third-period goals. Things could get ugly if it loses to Philadelphia on Saturday.
