NHL Coaches on the Hot Seat: Not Much Time for Some
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February shows little or no love for NHL coaches as their grips on their jobs seem to loosen with each losing streak.
This is a bit different than the typical column. Why? There are elimination numbers to consider. Even with almost two months left in the regular season, we start to ponder what could happen over the season's final third.
Coaches are sounding increasingly like politicians and it's raising suspicions.
Darryl Sutter – Calgary Flames
This Flames looked off from the start of the season. If it were not for how bad the West bubble teams have fared, Calgary would be on the outside looking in too. Oh, wait, Minnesota has more wins, so the Flames are on the outside. At 61 points, few could have expected this after Calgary easily won the Pacific Division last season. A drop-off was possible, but this team is on pace for 91 points.
Some wonder how many points it will take to make the playoffs because even a few Flames fans almost hope a change happens. Injuries have not helped. Rasmus Andersson lost time because he got hit while on a scooter in Detroit. You can't make up these things. Calgary needs to get timely goaltending. Even its defense has faltered.
Fortunately, the Flames may only need a few sustained runs to make the playoffs. St. Louis is moving laterally or selling. Nashville is a mess without Filip Forsberg and cannot score. Even Minnesota needs to maintain consistency. One or more of these “bubble teams” will miss, and those may be the coaching casualties.
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Dean Evason – Minnesota Wild
At what point does Dean Evason realize it is not working with Marc-Andre Fleury in goal for Minnesota? This is not all on Fleury. Minnesota is a mess at times, defensively, with questionable penalty killing at best. Worse, the Wild were expected to top 100 points this season easily. They will be lucky with a good streak to get much above 95.
General Manager Bill Guerin is hamstrung on several fronts regarding fixing his team. That bodes poorly for Evason because this Wild team still plays below expectations. Consider an injured Colorado team, along with a down Blues squad, as reasons too. Minnesota is only in a playoff spot because of their five shootout wins.
No one thought we would be talking about Minnesota like this right now. However, here we are. The bubbles are bursting for several coaches, and Evason may pay the price.
Lane Lambert - New York Islanders
It was like we saw this coming. The New York Islanders losing three straight after winning four is what one would expect here. Lane Lambert has tried everything. One can't fault him for what he has in front of him. The Islanders are a mess, and the schedule does not help. Teams below them, like Detroit and Buffalo, are getting hot again. Even Florida has passed them in the standings.
New York can't sustain offense and has 24 games to figure out things. After playing three games in four nights this long weekend, there may be an even clearer picture. Matt Barzal, Anders Lee, and Ilya Sorokin know the clock is ticking. That clock ticks every fast for Lane Lambert.
John Hynes - Nashville Predators
There is a sentence a head coach never wants to hear worse than “You are fired!” It is … Your star player is hurt.
John Hynes looks even more lost than usual for a few reasons. Losing Filip Forsberg to an upper-body injury (concussion-like symptoms) didn't help. However, that strange decision was not to start Juuse Saros in a winnable game versus Arizona on Monday. Nashville had two days off before facing Boston.
Guess what. It all backfired as Nashville was blown out on home ice Thursday night, 5-0. The Bruins made quick work of a team that looked almost as sad as its coach. This Predators team stands five points out of a playoff spot with a few teams to hop. The Predators have more goals scored than Chicago, Anaheim, and Columbus. Trust me; they are not far ahead of two of those three teams. That is sobering with their talent level. Upcoming games are key to how they finish.
It is inexcusable to see this team needing to rely on a goaltender to slug them into a playoff spot. This year, that hill may be too high to climb. Even with 30 games left, Nashville likely needs close to 40 more points to make the playoffs. For a team struggling to play .500 hockey now, their coach has few answers other than hoping and wishing.
In many ways, the end is very near Nashville.
That is all for now! Stay tuned next week as we toss in a few more numbers for the next edition of Coaches On The Hot Seat.
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