In about a month, people are going to get fired. Those people are NHL coaches. Some will lose their jobs for objectively fair reasons. Others will be dismissed through almost no fault of their own. And then there are the coaches who will keep their jobs despite deserving the pink slip.
Half the teams in the NHL have coaches that should at least be worried about their jobs to some degree. I thought that seemed high, but going through the list, it’s not unthinkable that a whole mess of coaches won’t be back next season. Some are interim coaches with ties to the front office and others could be the fall guy for bad general managers.
Full disclosure: I originally had this as a list of 16 with some bad Sweet 16 puns to go with the NCAA Tournament starting Thursday. But that 16th coach would have to be Mike Babcock, and not even I was willing to stretch that far for a pun.
So here are the 15 coaches that could be fired after the season.
15. Jon Cooper, Tampa Bay Lightning
Should he be fired? God, no.
Will he be fired? This was sort of a thing people discussed before the Lightning got hot over the past month. There’s no way it happens now, even if they fall short of the postseason.
14. Darryl Sutter, Los Angeles Kings
Should he be fired? Not really.
Will he be fired? Hard to say. Not if the Kings get to the playoffs. Even if they don’t, GM Dean Lombardi claims to be a very loyal person, so if anything, Sutter will get caught with illegal drugs (that absolutely were NOT planted by Lombardi) in his truck when crossing the border to Canada over the summer and that will void his contract.
13. Lindy Ruff, Dallas Stars
Should he be fired? Nah.
Will he be fired? I don’t think so. Ruff is GM Jim Nill’s guy, and if anything, Nill was the one who signed Antti Niemi and didn’t fortify his blue line over the summer. It’s not impossible, but it wouldn’t be fair to Ruff.
12. Dave Tippett, Arizona Coyotes
Should he be fired? Maybe.
Will he be fired? The Coyotes just restructured the front office to give Tippett more power, so firing him now would be odd.
11. Dan Bylsma, Buffalo Sabres
Should he be fired? Kinda.
Will he be fired? Tough to say. Personally, I think Bylsma should get another season with this group, but if GM Tim Murray sees this year as a step back, he could be gone. It makes sense to fire Bylsma in the middle of next season if the results aren’t there.
10. John Hynes, New Jersey Devils
Should he be fired? No way.
Will he be fired? GM Ray Shero brought him over from the Penguins organization two years ago and has given him next to zero help with a very bad roster. And that’s not even Shero’s fault — Lou Lamoriello scorched the earth before leaving. No one is coming to New Jersey next year and getting a playoff spot out of this roster.
9. Jared Bednar, Colorado Avalanche
Should he be fired? No.
Will he be fired? It sort of depends on what happens with GM Joe Sakic, who should and will likely be let go after the season. If a new GM doesn’t like Bednar, who got a late start after Patrick Roy quit as coach in August, he’s out. But canning Bednar would be about as unfair as it gets.
8. Jeff Blashill, Detroit Red Wings
Should he be fired? Nope.
Will he be fired? It feels possible, even though this season was lost the moment Pavel Datsyuk left to play in Russia. He deserves one more season, or at least the first half of the next one.
7. Dave Hakstol, Philadelphia Flyers
Should he be fired? Yes.
Will he be fired? Everyone seems to think it’s a crazy idea, but his usage of key players and scratching of young, talented players screams that he’s overmatched. If I get to run the Flyers, he’s gone. Otherwise, 50-50.
6. Bill Peters, Carolina Hurricanes
Should he be fired? Not at all.
Will he be fired? It’s possible considering that GM Ron Francis probably needs to go. But Francis could use the firing of Peters as the final bullet in his gun to save himself. Unless Peters was lobbying for Cam Ward to be his goaltender, he should be safe.
5. Tom Rowe, Florida Panthers
Should he be fired? No.
Will he be fired? No. Tom Rowe the GM would have to fire Tom Rowe the coach, and that’s unlikely. Maybe Tom Rowe the coach steps down so Tom Rowe the GM can hire a new coach, but that’s not the same thing.
4. Doug Weight, New York Islanders
Should he be fired? Of course not.
Will he be fired? Even if the Islanders miss the postseason, they should extend him. But Weight is also an assistant GM, so he may go the Rowe route and step down as coach.
3. Mike Yeo, St. Louis Blues
Should he be fired? No.
Will he be fired? The coach in waiting doesn’t get fired after only a few months on the job.
2. Paul Maurice, Winnipeg Jets
Should he be fired? Yes.
Will he be fired? I think it happens. The Jets added Patrik Laine in the draft, finally got Ondrej Pavelec out of the goaltending mix (at least, they tried) and the team is nearly identical to the one that missed the playoffs last year. They’ve had some injury issues, sure, but this isn’t working.
1. Willie Desjardins, Vancouver Canucks
Should he be fired? Yeah.
Will he be fired? The fact that he made it through this season is the 2016-17 NHL season’s greatest accomplishment. It’s more amazing than all those Laine and Filip Forsberg hat tricks. But he’s gone. It’s not exactly his fault, as Jim Benning might be the worst GM over the past three years, but Desjardins will pay for it with his job.
