Welcome to another edition of the Hockeybuzz hotstove.
With the parity in today's NHL, if you don't find success early and often behind the bench you'll be replaced, or are treading on thin water if you haven't been already.
A couple of coaches currently on the hot seat include Randy Carlyle and Dallas Eakins. Which coach will be gone first, or will another coach be replaced first?
The hotstove shares their thoughts...
Todd Cordell: Randy Carlyle The Leafs are off to a decent start, but I think it's only a matter of time before he's replaced in Toronto. Carlyle likes physical, in your face teams and the Leafs certainly don't play that way. The Leafs are built to play an up-tempo possession game and they won't be truly successful until they have a coach that fits that style of play.
I don't think Carlyle will be able to get the most out of this group, and traditionally the analytics committee doesn't like Carlyle-coached teams. Considering half that committee now works for the Leafs I don't think he'll last too long.
Michael Stuart: Dallas Eakins Edmonton hasn’t shied away from firing coaches before, so I’m going to go with Dallas Eakins. Since taking a big step forward under Ralph Krueger (why was he fired?) two seasons ago, the Oilers have regressed in a very noticeable way under Eakins.
From this observer’s point of view, Eakins looks like he’s out of answers. Instead of starting fresh after last year’s debacle, the Oilers have picked up right where they left off. It’s not pretty. Instead of being able to look to their coach for guidance, the Oilers’s young players are staring at a coach who hasn’t had any more success at the NHL level than they have. As Ray Ferraro said on TSN Radio yesterday: “Would they be better served with a more experienced coach? They can’t be less served……
Unless the Oilers generate some confidence out of thin air, the losses will likely continue to pile up. That’s bad news for Dallas Eakins.
Matt Henderson: Randy Carlyle I think it’s a dead sprint to the unemployment office for both Dallas Eakins and Randy Carlyle. If all things were equal it would be neck at neck between the two of them but the Oilers have been on the coaching carousel for so long that the thought of making another Head Coaching change churns the stomach. Eakins has made several costly decisions already and its only 4 games into the season for the Oilers but at the end of the day the biggest problem with the Oilers has been the terrible play of their goaltenders. It’s an excuse that might save Eakins his job at the expense of goaltenders coach Freddie Chabot.
Carlyle, on the other hand, was under the gun before the games even started to matter for the Leafs. There have been management changes that point to a change in philosophy, and that philosophy has been pointing at Carlyle as a problem for some time now. Between that and the fact that he has been sitting a player that just recently signed a long term deal it all points to a showdown between him and the Organization that just NEVER goes the coach’s way. Carlyle is a lame duck coach if there ever was one. This isn’t Nonis’ team, it’s Shanahan’s team and I don’t believe for a second that Randy is Shanahan’s guy.
Eakins will be let go if this slide continues into November, but Carlyle is pretty much already out of a job. Both him and the Leafs are just going through the motions.
Ryan Wilson: Randy Carlyle To me this shouldn't even be close. Toronto should have parted ways with Carlyle halfway through last year. He has a dinosaur mindset and the on ice product speaks for itself. Regardless of the lip service he is putting out there now he dismissed analytics and it bit his team in the tail end. The Hockey Ops in Toronto is loading up on analytical types and the next logical step for them is to find a coach that isn't stuck in the 70's.
Making Jake Gardiner a healthy scratch back to back nights early on in the season is such a Carlyle move.
The Leafs will never turn the corner while Randy Carlyle is coach.
Tim Chiasson: Randy Carlyle I think coaches could last longer this year than they have in the past. At this point it's only really Eakins and Carlyle that appear to be on the hot seat early and, luckily for them, they have two very patient GM's. I don't think Lowe has any issues with Eakins, I think the heat under Eakins is more fan/media generated and he makes it through the entire season. Players are the issue in Edmonton.
My bet is Randy Carlyle is the first to go. He's been a part of two gigantic collapses for the Leafs and his leash is definitely shorter. He could make it all the way to January if the Leafs can avoid an extended stumble; Nonis doesn't make rash decisions, but there is a certain Red Wings staff member currently without a contract beyond this year that would satisfy the thirst of an angry fanbase and Toronto's new owners are all about positive PR.
Sleeper Hot Seat: Todd McLellan. If the Sharks find themselves a little tired in mid-November after a significant road to home ratio and slip for a few games it could bring open old wounds in the media. With the hot seat awaiting both Wilson and McLellan for the upcoming playoffs it might lead to irrational decisions in the season.
Adam French: Paul Maurice Well to spare my friends in Oilerland I would like to say Eakins...but that seems unrealistic. He IS the face of the new Oilers as chosen by the NEW face of the Oilers MacT. He has only had one year, both a defense and a vilification, and there seems no way that he will be fired, even if they lose every game of this season. They've had what? 4 coaches in 5 years? Even if Eakins is the worst coach in the world, it's a PR nightmare and is basically a sign that this story doesn't have a happy ending. I would love changes for the Oilers...but don't expect it from the coaching group...also the SWARM! Ha.
Paul Maurice. I know nobody expects it, but the Jets are the most inoffensively mediocre franchise in the entire NHL. They are so frighteningly mediocre, it's scary. They have putrid starting goaltending, a defensive core that is ace on paper and a nightmare in execution and a forward group that is good enough, but not great. I don't get the Jets and I don't get them going forward in the Western Conference. The entire franchise seems to be more nostalgic hype than actual substance...and it shows in the on-ice product. The Jets need a new GM first and foremost and a vision next...this would include a new coach. If they don't get results soon, heads will roll, the bliss period of "Thrashets" is over, it's time to put quality on the ice for a fanbase dying for it.
James Tanner: Claude Julien I think the first coach to get fired will end up being a surprise. Everyone probably says Eakins, but the Oilers could easily be 2-2 with a little luck. I think a team like Boston, if they were to continue to lose a lot early, but who consider themselves a contender, would be the ones to make a quick move to avoid losing a season.
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Agree or disagree with the choices? As always, we'd love to hear your thoughts.