What NHL Coaches Are Available?

After another disappointing season, the Oilers have decided to clean house. Who are the best coaching candidates out there?

Coaches that were recently fired

Adam Oates, Bruce Boudreau, and Dallas Eakins are all NHL coaches that were recently fired. While getting fired may not be a positive thing, it does open up opportunities for other coaches. Let’s take a look at some of the other NHL coaches that are available.

Bruce Boudreau- Anaheim Ducks

Boudreau was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, the team announced.

The Ducks are in the midst of a disappointing season and are currently third in the Pacific Division with a 17-18-9 record. Boudreau had been at the helm of the team since 2011, leading them to six consecutive playoff appearances.

In his seven seasons with the Ducks, Boudreau has compiled a 353-208-68 record. He is one of only four coaches in NHL history to win 200 games with three different teams, and he has also coached the Washington Capitals and Minnesota Wild.

Gerard Gallant- Florida Panthers

Gerard Gallant was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Florida Panthers on November 27, 2016. He was replaced by general manager Tom Rowe.

Claude Julien- Boston Bruins

Claude Julien was relieved of his duties as head coach of the Boston Bruins on February 7, 2017, after 10 seasons with the team. He led the Bruins to a Stanley Cup Championship in 2011 and a Presidents’ Trophy in 2014. He ranks first in Bruins history in both regular season wins (379) and playoff wins (59).

Julien was hired by the Montreal Canadiens on February 14, 2017, becoming only the second head coach in NHL history to be fired and then hired by another team in the same season.

Coaches that resigned

After such an intense Stanley Cup Playoffs, it is no surprise that some NHL coaches have decided to resign from their positions. Effective immediately, these are the coaches that have resigned from their NHL teams.

Mike Yeo- St. Louis Blues

Head coach Mike Yeo of the St. Louis Blues looks on from the bench during the game against the Philadelphia Flyers at Enterprise Center on February 27, 2020 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images)

On Monday afternoon, the St. Louis Blues announced that they had relieved head coach Mike Yeo of his duties, effective immediately.

The move comes on the heels of a 5-2 loss to the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday night, which gave the Blues their fifth straight defeat and fourth straight loss at home. They currently sit in seventh place in the Central Division with a 28-17-6 record.

Assistant coach Craig Berube will take over as interim head coach for the remainder of the season.

John Stevens- Los Angeles Kings

On April 10, 2019, John Stevens resigned as head of the Los Angeles Kings after the team failed to qualify for the playoffs.

Stevens had a 127-92-26 record in his two-plus seasons with Los Angeles, guiding the Kings to the playoffs in his first season before missing out the past two years.

His replacement has not yet been announced.

Coaches that are available

As the NHL season comes to a close, there are many questions about what coaches will be available for next season. Some coaches have been fired, while others have resigned. Here is a list of all the coaches that are available for next season.

Joel Quenneville

Joel Norman Quenneville (born September 15, 1958) is a Canadian professional ice hockey coach. He is currently the head coach of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also coached the Colorado Avalanche, with whom he won the Stanley Cup in 1996, and the Chicago Blackhawks, with whom he won three Stanley Cups.

Guy Boucher

Guy Boucher is a French-Canadian professional ice hockey head coach who is currently the head coach of the Ly

Alain Vigneault

Alain Vigneault (born May 14, 1961) is a Canadian professional ice hockey head coach for the Philadelphia Flyers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He has also served as head coach of the Montreal Canadiens, Vancouver Canucks and New York Rangers. In his 20 seasons as an NHL head coach, Vigneault has won six division championships and one conference championship. He led the Canucks to consecutive Presidents’ Trophy victories as the NHL’s top regular season team in 2010–11 and 2011–12, and has twice been a runner-up for the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year.

During his playing career, Vigneault was drafted in the third round, 56th overall, by the St. Louis Blues at the 1981 NHL Entry Draft. He played junior hockey with Trois-Rivières Draveurs of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) before joining St. Louis’ farm team, the Sherbrooke Beavers, for two seasons. Unable to crack the Blues lineup, Vigneault was traded to the Hartford Whalers in 1983 and spent four seasons with Hartford’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, spending most of his time with Binghamton Whalers. He made his NHL debut late in the 1985–86 season but only played three games over parts of two seasons before being claimed off waivers by Chicago Blackhawks in 1988. After only a handful of NHL games spread out over three seasons with Chicago between 1988 and 1991, he retired from professional play due to injuries.