Mailbag: Islanders coaching candidates, Ruff's future will Devils
NHL.com's Dan Rosen answers weekly questions
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Any potential names come to mind when you think of the New York Islanders replacing Barry Trotz? Do you think they hire from within (Lane Lambert) or look elsewhere? -- @cbentivenga1472
It's impossible for anyone to say they know where the Islanders might turn for their next coach after firing Barry Trotz on Monday because general manager Lou Lamoriello does not allow for leaks of information. There can only be speculation, including as to the full scope of why Trotz was fired. Lamoriello said it was because he feels the Islanders need a new voice. There could be more to it than that, but he wasn't going there Monday. OK, so let's stick with what Lamoriello said. A new voice. Who has it?
You bring up Lambert. He's been an associate under Trotz the past three seasons. His voice wouldn't be new because the players know him well, but Lambert has also been long considered a future NHL coach. Maybe Lamoriello and the Islanders would feel his voice is new enough because it would be coming from Lambert the coach instead of Lambert the associate. The role matters. My speculation is that Lambert is a candidate. I hesitate to call him a favorite at this point because we just don't know.
Lamoriello worked with Mike Babcock when they were with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lamoriello was named the Maple Leafs general manager on July 23, 2015, more than two months after Babcock was hired as coach (May 10, 2015). Babcock hasn't coached in the NHL since getting fired by Toronto on Nov. 20, 2019, 18 months after Lamoriello left the Maple Leafs and came to the Islanders. But he raves about Lamoriello and the relationship they had in Toronto and still have. Again, pure speculation, but Babcock is likely a candidate.
What about Brent Thompson, who is in his ninth season coaching Bridgeport, New York's American Hockey League affiliate? Bridgeport is in the second round of the Calder Cup Playoffs. Thompson has had success with a lot of players who have graduated to the Islanders and other NHL teams. It wouldn't be shocking if Lamoriello thought enough of Thompson to make him an NHL coach.
There are certainly other veteran NHL coaches to consider, including Paul Maurice, John Tortorella, Alain Vigneault and potentially Bruce Boudreau, depending on what happens between him and the Vancouver Canucks. I wonder if Lamoriello would look at former Rangers coach David Quinn as a candidate. Quinn is set to coach the United States in the 2022 IIHF World Championship after coaching Team USA at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
There are a lot of coaches to consider, some of whom I'm not even mentioning here, but don't expect any leaks for which way the Islanders might be leaning.
Will Barry Trotz be the new coach of the Florida Panthers? -- @Dragons_Quest
Can we wait to see what happens with Andrew Brunette first? Brunette is the Panthers coach, albeit with the interim tag since Oct. 29, when he took over for Joel Quenneville. The Panthers went 51-18-6 in 75 games under Brunette and won the Presidents' Trophy. He did a terrific job in the regular season. They're tied 2-2 with the Washington Capitals in their best-of-7 series going into Game 5 at FLA Live Arena on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN2, BSFL, NBCSWA). But if the Panthers end up choosing to go in a different direction of course they will look at Trotz as a candidate. But they will have competition.
Assuming Trotz wants to coach next season, my guess is he will play a waiting game until at least the end of the first round to get a better lay of the land on the potential job openings. the Winnipeg Jets, Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers have openings right now. It's certainly possible there will be more to come. For example, what if the Toronto Maple Leafs lose in the first round again? Does that put coach Sheldon Keefe on the chopping block? Are the Vegas Golden Knights keeping Peter DeBoer? What happens with Boudreau in Vancouver? Is Derek King going to move from becoming the interim coach to the full-time coach of the Chicago Blackhawks? Will the new general manager of the San Jose Sharks want to bring in a new coach or retain Bob Boughner? There could be possibilities in various markets and Trotz, if he wants to coach, should be a candidate for all of them. I just wonder how much the pull to coach in his home province will matter to him. Trotz is from Dauphin, Manitoba, which is approximately 200 miles from Winnipeg. If the Jets are interested, I have to think he would be too.
If the New York Rangers don't find a way out of the first round this year is it a successful season and what do they do in the offseason? -- @jreinitzesq
In the big picture I think it would still be viewed as a successful season based on how far the Rangers have come from the past few years. It's no small feat to win 52 games and get 110 points. But the disappointment of missing out on a grand opportunity in the Eastern Conference First Round against the Pittsburgh Penguins would put a black mark on the season. If they lose this series, it would be to a team playing its No. 3 goalie who played in two NHL games this season. Louis Domingue and his ability to take over as the Penguins' starter with Tristan Jarry and Casey DeSmith each out because of injuries has been a fun story to watch, but the Rangers have the likely Vezina Trophy winner in their net and that advantage with Igor Shesterkin should put them over the top in the series. It hasn't come close yet, with Shesterkin getting pulled from Games 3 and 4 and the Rangers down 3-1 in the best-of-7 series going into Game 5 at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, CBC, SN, TVAS, MSG, ATTSN-PT). But if that advantage starts to come to fruition in Game 5 it could be the difference in the Rangers coming back to win three in a row.
But regardless of what happens, the Rangers have decisions to make in the offseason because of the NHL salary cap. It's unlikely they will re-sign both center Ryan Strome and forward Andrew Copp, who are each pending unrestricted free agents. Strome and Copp could cost $12 million or more combined annually, and I'm sure the Rangers can't fit that under the cap. They'll have to choose one or let both go and acquire a No. 2 center via trade. Forwards Frank Vatrano and Tyler Motte are also pending UFAs. I expect the Rangers will try to trade backup goalie Alexandar Georgiev, a pending restricted free agent, to save on the cap at that position by signing a veteran backup for less than what Georgiev will get. They also have to decide if forward Vitali Kravtsov has a future with them. The Rangers selected Kravtsov with the No. 9 pick in the 2018 NHL Draft, but he has played in 20 NHL games and this season was in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia after not making the NHL roster out of training camp. He's also a pending restricted free agent.
All that said, I don't think what happens in the first round against the Penguins will have any bearing on the decisions the Rangers make in the offseason. Decisions will be made based on the knowledge they had before the series began because they will be cap-based too.
Do we know if Lindy Ruff is staying on as coach of the New Jersey Devils at this time or is that up in the air? Tom Fitzgerald never clarified that. Could we see him step into a front office role while a whole new coaching staff is brought on? -- @P0ly95
At this point we have to assume that Ruff is staying on as coach and that he will have a say in who replaces Alain Nasreddine and Mark Recchi as assistants. Nasreddine and Recchi were fired May 4. Fitzgerald, the Devils general manager, said in his press conference last week that supporting Ruff is something he believes is important because he has seen positives from the players, but that there are areas where the team needs to grow and develop. He also talked about how the Devils players respond to Ruff, saying it's "something I can't ignore." Speaking of that, center Jack Hughes, the No. 1 pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, openly talked about how much Ruff has meant to him and his development and that he wants him to return, a show of support that carries weight and I'm sure did not go unnoticed by the front office. You're right in that Fitzgerald never actually said Ruff would 100 percent return next season so that does cast some doubt, but with the support from the players and the GM saying he needs to support him, too, I would think at this point the plan is to have Ruff back with a new staff around him.
