The Rangers' coaching vacancy, the sole opening left in the NHL, appears to have spun back to a prior candidate.
David Quinn of BU, who originally was on the short-list, then appeared to be staying at BU, now maybe is the primary candidate, per Elliotte Friedman.
To add further intrigue to the mix, James Mirtle reports that Sheldon Keefe, the head coach of the Marlies, likely is staying with Toronto.
A little more than a week ago, Larry Brooks reported this:
David Quinn staying at BU:
Here is what I wrote then:
Quinn, named to coach the 2019 US World Junior team, remains in college. When that appointment was announced, the question was immediately raised if this takes him out of the coaching search because why would Team US name a coach who might be leaving. Quinn has yet to inform the Rangers of his decision. Maybe he is using this strategy as leverage to force an answer, but he could wait to see how the process pans out before formally announcing he no longer is a candidate, despite having told friends he is staying at BU.
The criticisms of Quinn are that he never won a National Title despite his strong recruiting record, implying teams appear to have not maximized their apparent talent. In addition, he may have a Tortorella-like angry streak, which shouldn’t be a precluding factor but interesting dynamic in New York. But, both of those arguments are to a certain extent hearsay and we honestly don't know how he would pan out.
The one salient argument is if that GM Jeff Gorton had Jim Montgomery as the top man on their list, he maybe should have sold the job harder and closed the deal. But if Montgomery wasn't fully on board with the team's future direction, then little could have been done to change his mind. My one concern with Quinn is to make sure he is fully committed to the job. Not halfway, but all the way in. If he was telling everyone he wanted to go back to college but the change of heart is sincere, then we have to trust Gorton etc. to hire the right candidate.
Quinn will need a strong assistant coach, someone who has either been in the league for years in that role or a former head coach. Dave Tippett could be a name to consider. If Quinn is the man, then Washington assistant coach Todd Reirden, rumored to a be a candidate, is now also out of the mix.
Stay tuned for the next episode of "As the Rangers' coaching search spins."
New York Rangers Blogger • 
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