With just one series left in the first round of the National Hockey League playoffs, the Head Coach free agent market is starting to take shape.
Bruce Boudreau could still be in trouble if his Anaheim Ducks lose in Game 7 tomorrow night but other than that, it looks like everyone is safe. Ken Hitchcock saved his job with last night’s win over the Blackhawks and the recently eliminated Alain Vigneault is apparently sticking around in New York.
Depending on the result of the Ducks/Predators, it’s safe to assume that Pierre Dorion will not be adding any names to his list of candidates.
Now it’s up to the Sens GM to narrow the search a little bit.
According to Elliotte Friedman, Ottawa started with an initial list of close to 30 guys. It’s not clear how serious each of those candidates was but the Senators obviously wanted to cast a wide net in their search. Based on what I heard yesterday, the list is now down to nine candidates.
It’s safe to assume that two of those options come from recently eliminated Stanley Cup contenders. Chicago Blackhawks Assistant and former Ottawa Senator Kevin Dineen is expected to be in the mix as is Los Angeles Kings Assistant John Stevens. Guy Boucher, Marc Crawford and Randy Carlyle are also being considered. Mike Yeo, who already interviewed for the position and apparently impressed during that interview, is probably the odds on favourite at this point.
So there’s six of the nine finalists.
Beyond that, it’s a bit of a guessing game. I’ve heard Kirk Muller might be someone they’re interested in but he’s still busy with the NHL playoffs. The Dallas Eakins rumour I posted last week was quickly dismissed by a couple people in the know. One interesting name that I’ve heard loosely linked to the search- Erkka Westerlund. Former Head Coach of the Finnish National team. Although I suspect he comes from that original list of 30 candidates.
Actually come to think of it, I’m pretty sure I was on that original list of 30.
Still no timelines associated with the hire but it’s clear that Dorion is closing in on his guy.
-In last week’s rumour round-up, we talked a little bit about the possibility of the Senators exploring a new home for their AHL affiliate. And yesterday, Bruce Garrioch confirmed those rumours. The Senators are currently in what I’ve heard are fairly advanced talks to move their affiliate to Belleville. It’s not a move the organization was desperate to make because they do like their current situation in Binghamton, New York. With that said, Belleville would be a better fit for the organization. The Yardmen Arena in Belleville would need some pretty significant renovations to meet AHL standards including resizing the ice surface, which is currently Olympic sized ice.
