In this edition of the hotstove, we share our thoughts on which coach should be most on the hotseat.
Todd Cordell
Jeff Blashill.
I know he hasn’t had a great roster to work with during his Detroit tenure but the results they’ve garnered are amazingly bad. Since the beginning of the 2017-18 season, the Red Wings are dead last in regulation + overtime wins and 30th in points. At 5v5, they sit 29th in Goals For% and 30th in Expected Goals For%. Not great!
They’ve yet to make any real progress under Blashill and it doesn’t appear any is coming this season – the Wings have won five of 18 games and been out-scored by a league-worst 31 goals in that span.
Though the Red Wings’ struggles are not all on Blashill – again, there’s not a ton of talent on the team – the results suggest he hasn’t done a great job of maximizing what they do have.
This is a rebuilding year, so the Wings may led Blashill ride things out, but I’m not sure he’s the guy to lead the charge when the time comes to really make strides.
James Tanner
The coach on the biggest hotseat is Mike Babcock. He has the most talented team in the NHL and acts like he's stuck with 20 grinders. His power play and penalty killing is brutal, and the team has underperformed for over a year. He also has the problem of not being hired by the current GM and has a history of trolling his GM in the media. The Leafs recently went 2/32 on the power play, and he's done bizarre things like lose in overtime to the Blue Jackets while trying to get Auston Matthews away from Seth Jones. He over coaches and doesn't have a strategy that works with the team he has. He clearly isn't on the same page as his GM. He's one losing streak away from being canned.
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