The Anaheim Ducks are still without a head coach for the 2019-20 season, but we now know a little bit more about the search. Scott Sandelin interviewed for the job last week but instead took a long-term extension with his Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs, and now The Athletic’s Eric Stephens (subscription required) is reporting that Todd Nelson will also be staying in his current job. Nelson is no longer in the running for the Ducks’ role, though Stephens actually includes a note about Sandelin not necessarily being completely out of the picture, even though it looks that way.
The final candidates now seem to be New York Islanders assistant Lane Lambert (UPDATE: Stephens is now reporting that Lambert is also no longer a candidate) and San Diego Gulls head coach Dallas Eakins, though Rick Bowness also may remain in the running. Eakins, the presumptive favorite after the Ducks fired Randy Carlyle, last coached in the NHL with the Edmonton Oilers in 2015 but has compiled an impressive 154-95-23 record through four years with San Diego.
- The Toronto Maple Leafs minor league system has found a ton of success over the last few years, including a Kelly Cup championship this season for the Newfoundland Growlers. The Growlers only entered the ECHL this season, but went all the way and took home the title in their inaugural season. Why not then reward the man who led them there? The Maple Leafs today announced a two-year extension for head coach John Snowden, who took over for Ryane Clowe during the season when he was forced to resign due to medical issues.
- The Carolina Hurricanes will start a search for a new goaltending coach after Mike Bales resigned his position with the team. Bales had been with the organization for two seasons, but is now being linked to the Buffalo Sabres by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. That would make sense, given that Bales served as goalie coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins while Buffalo GM Jason Botterill was still working there. The 47-year old Bales had a long professional playing career, including 23 appearances in the NHL.
Would be pretty funny for Eakins to take over after randy got fired considering he was supposed to be the next head coach of the leafs when they hired randy
Eakins may not end up being fit for the job, after being chain-jerked since Randy was punted out. “You’re in – No, you’re not, you’re in – No, we’re talking to fifty other guys, You’re in – just kidding, we giving the job to somebody else, anybody else. We need you to rot in San Diego, for the *good* of the organization.”
Hey, Trader Bob, you are definitely not fit to be bench boss and you probably should give the gig to Dallas Eakins. Enough of the high drama, already!