The NHL coaching market is about to get spicy

The Seattle Kraken fired Dave Hakstol on Monday, becoming the 10th head coach to lose his job during the 2023-24 season. The news was a bit of a shocker, since it came weeks after the regular season ended.

General manager Ron Francis says he’s looking for a replacement, but the Kraken aren’t alone, as the St. Louis Blues, San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators, New Jersey Devils and Los Angeles Kings are all looking for new bench bosses — and that list could continue growing as the playoffs evolve.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss the teams looking for a new coach, and who might be the most sought-after names for teams as they look for someone to lead them in 2024-25.

Tyler Yaremchuk: We can look at the coaching availabilities around the league, and at the moment there’s at least six spots open, with potentially more coming as the Stanley Cup Playoffs move along.

There’s a really interesting group of available coaches, as well. Could you see any of the teams with open spots try to get a head start and hire someone before other spots start to open up?

Frank Seravalli: Let me throw in two potential openings: Jon Cooper in Tampa, and there’s speculation as to whether Mike Sullivan stays in Pittsburgh. It’s my understanding that there’s a bit of a power struggle between Kyle Dubas and Sullivan, in that Dubas would like to make some adjustments to the assistants and Sullivan has been resistant to that.

There could be as many as 10 openings, and when you look at some of the names who are available, that’s the enticing part. There’s no shortage of really good coaches: Craig Berube, Todd McLellan, Jay Woodcroft, can someone convince David Carle to leave Colorado?

There’s all sorts of quality candidates that are out there.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…