Coaching dominoes: Where they go will influence where players go

In auto racing they call it ride-blocking. In hockey, maybe we should call it coach-blocking? Because that’s what appears to be currently happening with the NHL coaching market.

All eyes are on Barry Trotz. The 2018 Stanley Cup winner with the Washington Capitals is a free agent after being fired by New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello not long after the regular season concluded.

Many believe Trotz holds all the cards. Whenever he makes a decision on where to coach next, there will be a domino effect. The expectation is there will be a rapid succession of hirings.

I agree with that sentiment – to a degree. If you’d asked me a week ago, I definitely would have said the same. But things have changed.

When the Boston Bruins unceremoniously fired Bruce Cassidy just weeks after telling him that his job was safe, the coaching market shifted.

I believe Cassidy is now the front-runner for many of the open NHL coaching jobs.

And for good reason. Cassidy had a crack at being an NHL head coach very young in his post-playing career in the early 2000’s with the Washington Capitals. It didn’t last long. But Cassidy was able to claw his way back to the NHL, working his way up from within the Bruins organization.

I saw the results in AHL Providence first-hand. Cassidy always got the best out of his teams. And he continued that success in 2017 after he took over the head coaching job of the Bruins from Claude Julien.

The Bruins never missed the playoffs under Cassidy and came within one win of a Stanley Cup championship in 2019, losing to the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of the finals.

Cassidy’s teams play with structure. They lock down defensively. And when Cassidy is provided with ample offensive firepower – something that’s been missing in Boston recently – his teams can score.

I think Cassidy is now the most desirable coach on the market. He’s hungry, and he’s got something to prove. He wants to coach again immediately. I think he’s eager for his next job and would like it to start as soon as possible.

With Trotz, I think it’s different. He’s done everything in hockey. He’s won a Stanley Cup. He helped build the expansion Nashville Predators into something special. Trotz has every right to take whatever time is necessary to find the perfect fit.

With the Stanley Cup playoffs still ongoing, teams seem to be in a holding pattern. And I think there’s still questions about whether Andrew Brunette will return as head coach of the Florida Panthers. In my eyes, GM Bill Zito needs to either give Brunette a public vote of confidence, or move on.

But regardless of the Panthers situation, I believe that once Cassidy is hired, the run will be on. And Trotz won’t be far behind. But from there, it’s hard to handicap the field. There are so many qualified coaches currently available.

The interesting aspect from a player standpoint is how a coach can be a recruiting tool. Or a deterrent.

Think about the Calgary Flames. No doubt head coach Darryl Sutter has made a positive impact. He won the NHL’s Jack Adams Award this season as the league’s top bench boss.

But Sutter is notoriously demanding of his staff and players. I can’t help but wonder what his relationship with Johnny Gaudreau and Matthew Tkachuk is like. I don’t know if it’s good, bad, or indifferent. But if you’re an unrestricted free agent like Gaudreau, staring down the biggest decision of your career – worth tens of millions of dollars – is the coach a factor? Absolutely.

If Gaudreau signs an eight-year pact with the Flames, it’s a pretty sure bet a lot of that time will be spent with Sutter. Maybe that’s a good thing. Gaudreau just had the best offensive season of his career under Sutter. For all I know, it was all positive.

But don’t think for a second free agents like Gaudreau aren’t aware of the coaching market. If Barry Trotz goes to Philadelphia – despite their struggles over the past several years – the Flyers instantly rocket upward in terms of a desirable landing spot. Players want to win. And coaching matters.

Players want to believe in their coach and vice versa. They want to be trusted. And word spreads quickly among the players how each coach operates. For top-end players with multiple contract offers, it’s something that weighs heavily in their final decisions.

Thinking back to my career, there weren’t many coaches on my no-fly list. And truth be told, I didn’t have many choices to make. There were only a few summers that I had more than one offer on the table.

But there was one coach that absolutely terrified me. John Tortorella.

Most people are aware of Tortorella’s blunt, no-nonsense approach to coaching. I certainly was. And I actually believe we would have gotten along really well from that standpoint. I craved feedback and constructive criticism. I wanted details and communication. The best coaches I ever had – Glen Gulutzan, Scott Allen, etc – were all fantastic at meshing the human component with the tactical.

But what scared me about Tortorella was training camp. And specifically, the amount of running Tortorella demanded.

I run like a wounded gorilla. It’s not fun for me. I’m terrible at it. And I’d heard all the stories from Tortorella’s former players about running countless miles during training camp.

I didn’t want any part of it. My body was built to play goaltender, not casually jog eight or 10 miles. So I avoided Tortorella at all costs. Which is sad because I think he’s a great coach and someone I would have loved to play for.

It’ll be interesting to see when the coaching logjam breaks. I can’t imagine it drags on past the Stanley Cup final. Or even into July. Teams need to have their staff in place well before NHL free agency opens at noon ET on July 13.

The players are paying attention. They need time to digest the coaching moves that will be made around the NHL. It’s up to the teams to make the right decisions. For now. And for the future.

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Coaching dominoes: Where they go will influence where players go

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