James Guillory-Imagn Images
No matter the month, there’s always at least a couple of NHL coaches on the hot seat.
And this season is no different in that regard. Which current NHL bench boss is most at risk of being fired? Let’s examine the coaches dealing with the hottest hot seat right now. In order of hottest seat:
1. Mike Sullivan, Pittsburgh Penguins
As the Penguins continue to languish near the bottom of the Metropolitan Division standings, the pressure on Sullivan continues to mount. Pittsburgh’s defense is abysmal – they currently have the league’s second-worst goals-against average (3.83) – and their offense is 21st in the NHL at 2.72 goals-for per game. At some point, Sullivan has to bear full responsibility for the Pens’ all-around struggles, and that time could be fast approaching.
Sullivan’s job isn’t getting any easier. Not with GM Kyle Dubas beginning the inevitable fire sale by trading away Lars Eller earlier this week. Reports suggest that everyone not named Sidney Crosby could be available. That includes Sullivan, who’s in his 10th year on the job since getting hired midway through 2015-16 and could use a fresh start.
If so, expect him to be quickly snapped up once he is on the open market.
Related: Are More Trades Coming For The Pittsburgh Penguins?
2. Derek Lalonde, Detroit Red Wings
Lalonde has been running things with the Red Wings for nearly two-and-a-half seasons, and Detroit doesn’t have a single playoff game to show for it. While they might have been transitioning out of a rebuild, the way they added veterans put the team in compete-now mode.
This season, the Wings are off to a mediocre start – they’re currently seventh in the Atlantic Division with a 7-7-1 record. In a market that grew accustomed to success in its glory years, a .500 team performance will not cut it for Lalonde to keep his job.
As Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman feels an increasing amount of pressure, the easiest fix would be to change coaches. Detroit’s offense has been subpar. The Red Wings’ offense is currently the fourth-worst in the NHL (2.47 goals per game), and while their defense has been better, their penalty kill is third-worst (66.7 percent success rate). That lack of success in such a key special-teams metric speaks to Lalonde’s inability to provide sufficient structure for his charges.
While Yzerman bears a lot of blame, it could be Lalonde who is paying for the team’s struggles.
Related: NHL Power Rankings: One Youngster Who Can Push Each Team To The Next Level
3. Andrew Brunette, Nashville Predators
Brunette has the least amount of term of any coach on this list, but the way the Predators have looked this season, the coach has to be feeling major heat to turn things around.
After all, look at who Nashville brought in last summer. From Steven Stamkos to Jonathan Marchessault to Brady Skjei, the Preds went all-in. And yet, you wouldn’t know it based on where they are in the standings.
For quite some time, Brunette was regarded as a can’t-miss coach at hockey’s highest level, and he’s now had a year-and-a-half to get the Predators where their lineup suggests they ought to be.
The changes need to start in Nashville with their offense – they’re currently tied as the third-worst team in goals-for, at an average of just 2.47 per game – but their defense is tied for seventh-worst in the NHL at 3.29 goals against per game.
All things considered, something notable has to happen to alter the Preds’ current course, and Brunette wouldn’t be the first bench boss to have his time on the job cut short far earlier than he expected. Just ask former Edmonton Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft. Nothing short of a considerable turnaround is going to solidify Brunette’s hold on the Predators’ job.
4. Jim Montgomery, Boston Bruins
He’s just two years removed from winning the NHL’s Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s top coach, but Montgomery has been dealing with calls for his job since the Bruins staggered out to a brutal 4-6-1 record this season. They’re now 8-8-1, which is still a .500 points percentage that’s not good enough.
Some of that can be chalked up to Boston’s new players adjusting to a different team and a different system, but the Bruins currently have the sixth-worst offense (2.50 goals-for per game), and their defense is the league’s seventh-worst (3.39 goals against per game). That’s an all-encompassing failure, and Montgomery has had no sufficient solutions to end his team’s woes — despite benching David Pastrnak and dressing down captain Brad Marchand.
Related: As Bruins’ Marchand Defends Coach For Spat, Not Every Argument Creates Bad Blood
Montgomery must identify a way to get Boston to win more than two straight games this year – something that hasn’t happened yet in 18 games – and because the Bruins are built to win now, GM Don Sweeney will be pressured to change up the chemistry. The easiest way to do that is to move on from Montgomery and bring in an experienced hand like Joel Quenneville or Gerard Gallant with the hope of infusing Boston’s players with more confidence than they’ve shown thus far.
Dismissing Montgomery would be a cold move, but this is a zero-sum industry, and Montgomery simply hasn’t produced enough wins to keep his job 100-percent safe.
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