One year and one day ago, the axe fell.
The first coach fired last year was Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins on Nov. 19, 2024.
Five days later, Montgomery signed a five-year deal to coach the St. Louis Blues, who cleared space behind the bench by sacking Drew Bannister.
Montgomery had a .715 points percentage in 184 games with Boston when the B’s let him go, while Bannister had been on the job less than 365 days in St. Louis when the Blues gave him the boot.
Suffice it to say, the NHL can be a ruthless place both on and off the ice.
When the puck dropped on this season just over a month ago, nine teams — nearly a third of the league — had a new top suit calling the shots. And just to reinforce the notion that change happens fast in coaching circles, consider the fact Martin St. Louis — who was hired less than four years ago with basically no coaching experience at any level to shepherd the Montreal Canadiens through a rebuild — is currently the fourth-longest tenured bench boss in the NHL.
Of course, with a quarter of the season already in the books, some fanbases are already getting antsy about bad results. And, as the adage goes, it’s always easier to fire one coach than 20 players.
With that in mind, we’re using this week’s power rankings as a hot-seat check of sorts, as we take a quick peek at the coaching situation for all 32 clubs.
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1. Colorado Avalanche (13-1-5) Jared Bednar is the second-longest tenured coach in the NHL, having been tabbed to guide the Avs — his first head coaching gig in the NHL — in the summer of 2016. Bednar, of course, is the first coach to win an ECHL, AHL and NHL championship. He’s a huge character in the current iteration of the Avs. That said, Colorado has hit that point where another early playoff exit could put anything on the table.
2. Carolina Hurricanes (13-5-2) Just like in our power rankings, Rod Brind’Amour is right behind Bednar as the third-longest tenured bench boss in the league. As much as any coach in the NHL, Brind’Amour is the face of his team.
3. Dallas Stars (12-5-3) Glen Gulutzan is getting his third crack (and second with the Stars) behind an NHL bench. His previous two stops as head coach ended after two seasons, so he’s obviously hoping for more in Big D this time around as the Stars try to get over the championship hump.
4. New Jersey Devils (13-5-1) Sheldon Keefe got the Devils back in the playoffs during his first year behind the bench in Jersey last season and the expectation is for a deep playoff run soon.
5. Anaheim Ducks (13-6-1) Joel Quenneville returned to the NHL in the summer after nearly four years away from the league. The hiatus, of course, stemmed from his inaction when Kyle Beach — a member of the Chicago Blackhawks team Quenneville coached — came forward with sexual assault allegations against Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich in 2010. Quenneville is second all-time in NHL wins (982) behind Scotty Bowman (1,244) and has the Ducks off to a great start this season.
6. Winnipeg Jets (12-7-0) Scott Arniel has a .693 points percentage in a season-and-a-quarter as Jets coach. A few factors play into that number, but Arniel surely deserves his share of the credit.
7. Los Angeles Kings (10-6-4) Jim Hiller took over the Kings in-season in February 2024 and while L.A. remains a strong club, Hiller is 0-2 versus the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the playoffs, just like his predecessor Todd McLellan was.
8. Detroit Red Wings (12-7-1) McLellan was out of work less than a year after being axed in L.A. He’s been a staple behind Western Conference benches this century, guiding the Kings, Sharks and Oilers. He’s still in search of a ring and hoping to guide the Wings to their first playoff appearance since 2016.
9. Vegas Golden Knights (9-4-6) Bruce Cassidy has 119 Stanley Cup Playoff games on his resume, fifth-most among active coaches. He’s already in his fourth season behind the bench in Vegas. While Cassidy won the Cup during his first year in the desert, another deep run is required soon to satisfy management’s high expectations.
10. Chicago Blackhawks (10-5-4) Jeff Blashill missed the playoffs in six of the seven years he coached the Red Wings. Wouldn’t it be something if he made them during his first year in Chicago?
11. Pittsburgh Penguins (10-5-4) When Dan Muse was tabbed to coach the Pens last spring, it marked as big a surprise hiring as we’ve seen in a minute. Even more surprising is how well Muse has Pittsburgh — pegged for the bottom of the standings in most circles — playing through a quarter of the season.
12. Seattle Kraken (9-5-5) Lane Lambert is getting his second crack as an NHL head coach after spending two years guiding the Islanders. Lambert was a big branch on the Barry Trotz coaching tree and that means his teams always aim to play with pristine structure.
13. New York Islanders (11-7-2) The league is more fun when Patrick Roy is in it, full stop. Let’s see if he and the Isles can keep the good results coming all year in his second full season at the helm on Long Island.
14. Tampa Bay Lightning (10-7-2) Can Canadian Jon Cooper add an Olympic gold medal to his incredible resume in February? That’s about the only thing the NHL’s longest-tenured coach has yet to accomplish behind a bench.
15. Montreal Canadiens (10-6-3) Only one NHL coach was a Hart Trophy winner in his playing days and it’s Martin St. Louis of the Canadiens. (Of course, Habs fans would also be happy to point out Isles coach Patrick Roy was a three-time Conn Smythe Trophy winner as playoff MVP). An out-of-the-box hiring early in the rebuild, St. Louis has shown he’s the man for the job in Montreal.
16. Minnesota Wild (10-7-4) John Hynes has coached three teams in the past 10 years and when he’s been out of work, it hasn’t been for long. Still, a Hynes-coached team has never finished as high as third in its division.
17. Florida Panthers (10-8-1) Jon Cooper is the longest-tenured NHL coach, but Paul Maurice had already coached 15 seasons in the league when Cooper made his debut with the Lighting in 2013. A handful of coaches are in their 60s and Maurice, at 58, still isn’t one of them. Barring unforeseen events — and, hey, this is coaching we’re talking about — Maurice will pass Scotty Bowman for the most contests coached in the NHL about halfway through 2027-28 and he’ll still basically have his entire 60s ahead of him to keep piling up games.
18. Philadelphia Flyers (9-6-3) Something about Rick Tocchet coaching his old team in Philly just feels right.
19. Ottawa Senators (9-6-4) Travis Green got Ottawa back in the post-season during his first season with the club last year. Making the playoffs again will have a lot to do with the Sens’ goaltending — currently posting the 25th-ranked 5-on-5 save percentage in the NHL — improving.
20. Washington Capitals (10-8-2) Spencer Carbery won the Jack Adams Trophy during his second year with Washington last season. If the Caps want to defend their Metropolitan Division crown, Carbery and Co. will have to get the club’s 30th-ranked power play clicking.
21. New York Rangers (10-9-2) Mike Sullivan is one of the defining coaches of this century, having guided the Pittsburgh Penguins to a pair of championships. Year 1 in New York, though, has been defined by an inexplicable 1-7-1 record at Madison Square Garden.
22. Boston Bruins (12-10-0) Marco Sturm became a Bruin 20 years ago in November 2005, when he was part of the return from San Jose in the trade that shipped Joe Thornton west. He returns to the organization as a freshman NHL coach trying to navigate the club through a retool on the fly.
23. Edmonton Oilers (9-9-4) It’s cold comfort because Edmonton has not been able to get over the hump, but Kris Knoblauch’s .617 playoff winning percentage is the highest of any coach in the NHL.
24. Utah Mammoth (10-7-3) Andre Tourigny is now in his fifth season guiding the Coyotes/Club/Mammoth. He’s never had a better squad than the one he’s got right now, but with increased spending from ownership comes higher expectations and pressure to perform.
25. Columbus Blue Jackets (10-8-2) Dean Evason had a .639 points percentage in five seasons with the Wild and nearly got the Jackets into a playoff spot last year when nobody expected too much from the club. Year 2 in Ohio comes with the notion that Evason and the Jackets can snag a post-season spot.
26. Toronto Maple Leafs (9-9-2) Even the biggest pessimist likely never thought GM Brad Treliving would be fielding questions about coach Craig Berube’s job security earlier this week at the former’s quarter-season press conference. Treliving backed Berube, but obviously things need to improve fast in Toronto.
27. San Jose Sharks (9-8-3) 38-year-old Ryan Warofsky was hired to oversee a long-term project in San Jose and the fact he’s got the rebuilding Sharks over .500 this far into his second season behind the bench speaks well of his work.
28. Vancouver Canucks (9-10-2) Adam Foote is one of three rookie head coaches in the league, along with Dan Muse and Marco Sturm. Right now, his team has the worst expected goals percentage (42.76 per cent) of any club in the NHL.
29. Buffalo Sabres (7-9-4) Lindy Ruff will always be a legend in Buffalo, but having swords criss-cross his heart hasn’t allowed Ruff to stop the bleeding during his second tour as the team’s coach.
30. St. Louis Blues (6-9-5) Jim Montgomery is regarded as one of the finest coaches around, which makes the Blues’ miserable start that much more perplexing.
31. Nashville Predators (6-10-4) You don’t want to see anybody lose their job, but if you were to put a nickel down on the first coach who might fall this year, Nashville’s Andrew Brunette would be squarely in the mix.
32. Calgary Flames (6-13-3) Ryan Huska just got a contract extension before the season. Whatever is next in Calgary, he figures to be a part of it.
