Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

With Laviolette gone, here’s the NHL’s coaching vacancy landscape

Peter Laviolette

Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette looks on in the first period of a preseason NHL hockey game with the Detroit Red Wings, Friday, Sept. 23, 2011, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Tony Ding)

AP

Considering how in-demand Peter Laviolette appeared to be prior to getting scooped up by Nashville -- online oddsmaker Bovada had him as the 3-to-1 favorite to land the Washington gig, for example -- it’s likely that his hire will shift the NHL’s coaching vacancy landscape.

As of today, there are openings in Vancouver, Washington, Florida and Carolina. Questions remain about Randy Carlyle’s future in Toronto and Todd McLellan’s in San Jose, so there could be as many as six potential jobs available -- but, if Carlyle and McLellan hit the open market, that’s two more viable candidates added to the mix.

Speaking of that mix, names currently in it include Barry Trotz, John Stevens, Kevin Dineen, Jeff Blashill, Mike Haviland, Guy Boucher, Willie Desjardins and Brad Shaw (to name a few.) You can also throw the four recently dismissed bench bosses in the mix -- John Tortorella, Peter Horachek, Kirk Muller and Adam Oates -- though the bloom is definitely off the rose to a varying degree for all of them.

Here are some things to consider regarding the Laviolette hire:

One of the better offense-minded candidates is gone

In today’s release, Nashville cited Laviolette’s “offensive-minded philosophy” as one of the key reasons for his hire. Six times in eight seasons Laviolette’s teams finished in the NHL’s top-10 in goals scored; he was also credited for the maturation and development of Claude Giroux, James van Riemsdyk, Wayne Simmonds and Matt Read in Philadelphia (Nashville GM David Poile also praised Laviolette for developing Eric Staal in Carolina). The Preds probably weren’t the only team looking for an offensive punch, either -- Carolina finished 22nd in the NHL in goals last year, Vancouver 28th and Florida 29th.

One of the most experienced candidates is gone

Experience often matters when looking for a new coach, and Laviolette has plenty of it. He has nearly 400 career wins, won a Cup in Carolina in 2006 and, four years later, took the Flyers all the way to the final before losing to Chicago. That’s big. In Florida, GM Dale Tallon said he wants an experienced bench boss this time around -- after his last three were rookie head coaches -- and Laviolette’s name had come up with regards to the vacancy.

He was actually available to interview

One of the problems facing teams right now is that several prime candidates are busy, y’know, coaching their teams. Stevens, the assistant in Los Angeles, is in the midst of the Stanley Cup playoffs; Blashill (AHL Grand Rapids) and Desjardins (AHL Texas) are currently up against one another in the Calder Cup Western Conference semifinal. It also stands to reason that a number of GMs are waiting to see what happens with Carlyle and McLellan, both of whom are still under contract. According to whispers, the McLellan watch is already on in Vancouver.