While most teams actively seeking a new head coach are ones with clear vacancies in that position, it seems there is one team exploring the top end of the head coaching market without having officially parted ways with their prior head coach. The President’s Trophy-winning Florida Panthers, who have Jack Adams Award finalist Andrew Brunette as their interim head coach, are reportedly “active” in the head coaching market, interviewing the market’s top candidates such as Barry Trotz, Pete DeBoer, Rick Tocchet, and Travis Green, per Frank Seravalli. Seravalli also adds that the team has “possibly” interviewed former Winnipeg Jets head coach Paul Maurice as well.
The Panthers interviewing head coaching candidates without giving a clear word on Brunette’s future is a somewhat puzzling move. While Brunette has faced his fair share of loud criticism following his team’s swift playoff exit at the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning, pivoting back to Brunette as their permanent coach after interviewing so many other possible candidates would certainly be awkward for the Panthers to do. Lightning series aside, Brunette delivered a President’s Trophy to Florida and their first playoff series victory since 1996. What sort of ground will Brunette be standing on next season if he does ultimately become the Panthers’ full-time head coach? What kind of leash would he be given, knowing that they were “actively,” according to Seravalli, exploring other options? Now, as TSN’s Darren Dreger puts it, Brunette is “in limbo” regarding his future in Florida. It’s a difficult situation and one that likely won’t be solved until we get more clarity from GM Bill Zito and the rest of Panthers management on the direction of the franchise.
Now, for some other notes regarding teams across the NHL:
- Vegas Golden Knights forward Keegan Kolesar has an important summer ahead of him, as the pending restricted free agent has new contract negotiations and a potential arbitration date to focus on in the coming months. Now, you can add injury rehab as well. According to Golden Knights GM Kelly McCrimmon, as relayed by The Athletic’s Jesse Granger, Kolesar underwent surgery recently and is “rehabbing fine.” This injury news comes after a season where Kolesar was one of the few Golden Knights able to stay consistently healthy. Kolesar was one of only seven Golden Knights to cross the 70 games played plateau, and provided physical bottom-six play. The surgery could complicate things a bit, but Kolesar should still earn a decent raise from his $725k cap hit.
- The Edmonton Oilers’ affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, announced five AHL signings yesterday. They are as follows: F Luke Esposito, D Yanni Kaldis, F Dino Kambeitz, D Alex Peters, and D Darien Kielb. All have signed one-year, one-way (AHL) deals, except for Kambeitz, who signed a two-year deal, and Kielb, who signed a two-way, AHL/ECHL deal. None of the five players have NHL experience, altough Peters, 25, was a third-round pick of the Dallas Stars in 2014. Perhaps the most significant name here is Kaldis, who led Condors defensemen in scoring in just his second AHL season. The 26-year-old Montreal native had seven goals and 31 points in 53 games, skating 18:30 time on ice per game.
User 318310488
Rick Tocchet and Travis Green are NOT good candidates. I hope Florida hires Quenneville back.
Monkey’s Uncle
“Yes, we’re interested in interviewing you for our head coaching position that may or may not be currently vacant…”
mario crosby
Why do people think Quenneville is going to be rehired in Florida, or anywhere in the NHL? His role in the coverup in Chicago has ended his career. This is the job Trotz will try to get. It’s a team that is a Cup contender.
afl forever
Trotz to Florida makes the most sense.
AwayMan
No Quenneville no Cup it’s a simple as
Red Wings
Quenville was the coach, not in charge of people hired by management but took the hit. I suspect Panthers would love to have him back, team played much better with him. Trotz would be next choice, team needs more structure and accountability not seen with Brunette. Winning regular season games 7-6 is entertaining but didn’t result in playoff success.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Hiring Trotz to coach the Panthers would be like buying a Ferrari and then removing the tires.
User 318310488
I would agree that this Is perfect for Trotz. He Is the best coach In the universe.
DarkSide830
Why on Earth would Florida take the PR hit of hiring Q back? That’s a uniquely bad look.