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Rod Brind'Amour

Maple Leafs Among Teams Monitoring Rod Brind’Amour’s Availability

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After blowing a 3-1 third-period lead and being eliminated in Round 2 at the hands of the Rangers last night, there’s now an immediate focus on what the Hurricanes opt to do with pending free-agent coach Rod Brind’Amour. Among other teams, expect the Maple Leafs to delay their head coaching decision until gaining clarity into whether he’ll hit the market, reports Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun.

The Hurricanes had offered Brind’Amour an extension earlier in the season, but a report from TSN’s Darren Dreger before the second round indicated the team rescinded it. His report seemed to spur some momentum between the two sides, as within 24 hours, Dreger issued a follow-up saying talks between Brind’Amour and Carolina ownership had advanced.

However, no deal has been made for either Brind’Amour or his assistants. Losing in such a dramatic fashion could very well influence the Canes to turn elsewhere.

Toronto, meanwhile, is on the hunt for a new head coach on the heels of a similarly familiar playoff disappointment. They fired five-year veteran Sheldon Keefe last week and have already interviewed former Blues coach Craig Berube and ex-Kings bench boss Todd McLellan for the vacancy, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Berube is widely viewed as their preferred candidate, but they’re not the only team heavily considering him – the Jets interviewed him for their vacancy this week. If they wait too long to see if Carolina decides to part ways with Brind’Amour, Berube may not be available as a Plan B.

Outside of Toronto and Winnipeg, the Devils, Kings, Kraken and Sharks still need to fill coaching vacancies. New Jersey (link) and Seattle (link) appear to be in the final stages of their searches, while the Sharks’ cast net is a tad wider. But all three would likely have interest in Brind’Amour if he became available, especially the Devils and Kraken, who have playoff aspirations next season.

Brind’Amour has made the playoffs in all six years behind the Hurricanes bench and won the Jack Adams Award in 2021, overseeing perhaps the best possession team in the NHL over that time. However, the Hurricanes haven’t won a game past the second round in his tenure. They were swept by the Bruins (2019) and Panthers (2023) in their two Eastern Conference Finals appearances under their 2006 Stanley Cup-winning captain to date.

Overall, Brind’Amour has a 278-130-44 (.664) regular season record and a 38-35 (.521) playoff mark as Carolina’s head coach.

Latest On Rod Brind’Amour

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May 2: Talks between Brind’Amour and the Hurricanes have advanced since yesterday’s report, Dreger said in a follow-up Thursday. The two sides have had additional contract talks in the last 24 hours while Carolina preps for its second-round series against the Rangers, and signs are “encouraging” that an extension will get across the finish line.

May 1: The Hurricanes have pulled an extension offer previously on the table for head coach Rod Brind’Amour, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports Wednesday.

Brind’Amour’s current deal expires after this season. There have been extension talks throughout the year, but they did not discuss the framework of a deal last summer, Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and TSN reported in September. Other reporting over the past few months indicated Brind’Amour was waiting until extensions were also in place for assistants Jeff Daniels and Tim Gleason before putting pen to paper on his own deal, but it’s unclear whether that’s the reason the offer has been taken off the table.

After eliminating the Islanders last night, the Hurricanes have now won a series in all six years of the 53-year-old’s tenure behind the bench. Brind’Amour is the second head coach in NHL history to have a career-opening six-year playoff series win streak, joining three-time Jack Adams Award winner Pat Burns.

Since replacing Bill Peters behind the Carolina bench ahead of the 2018-19 season, Brind’Amour has accumulated a 278-130-44 record, good enough for a .664 points percentage. He’s already second in wins in Hurricanes/Whalers franchise history, trailing Paul Maurice’s 384 in 920 games coached.

The 2021 Jack Adams winner has been a part of the Hurricanes organization for 24 years as both a player and coach. He racked up 473 points in 694 games for the Canes after they picked him up from the Flyers in a blockbuster 2000 trade, with Keith Primeau headed the other way. His Carolina tenure included collecting back-to-back Selke Trophies in 2006 and 2007 and captaining the team to its only Stanley Cup in 2006.

Immediately upon retiring in the 2010 offseason, Brind’Amour joined the Hurricanes’ front office as their director of player development. He was named an assistant coach ahead of the 2011-12 campaign and remained there until his promotion in 2018.

If Brind’Amour and the Canes’ extension talks continue to fall apart, he would immediately become the top coaching candidate available. Six teams – the Blues, Devils, Kings, Kraken Senators and Sharks – do not have a full-time head coach in place for 2024-25. The Sabres were the seventh team on the list after firing Don Granato last month but promptly replaced him with franchise wins leader Lindy Ruff for his second go-around with the club.

Before Dreger’s report Wednesday, Carolina general manager Don Waddell told reporters that Brind’Amour “wants to be a Hurricane for life” and that “there’s going to be a solution here very quickly” (via the team’s Walt Ruff). Whether that solution involves the Canes making a more acceptable offer to Brind’Amour or extending his assistants remains to be seen.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Snapshots: Brind’Amour, Pelletier, Edmundson

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The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun recently broke down what coaches are on expiring deals, and what fans can expect them to do next. He most notably broke down Rod Brind’Amour’s next contract, expressing confidence that the long-running head coach will stick to his word of wanting to stay behind the Carolina Hurricanes bench. This is despite Brind’Amour only making around $2MM in salary, a number that would certainly go up if he became a free agent.

Even though his priorities are focused on the ice, there’s no doubt that Brind’Amour is deserving of a raise. Per CapFriendly’s tracking of coaching salaries, $2MM would rank among the lowest-known salaries in the league – on par with Toronto’s Sheldon Keefe and Chicago’s Luke Richardson. Brind’Amour falls in this category despite recording a fantastic 226-107-37 record in his five years as Carolina’s head coach. He’s also walked the team closer and closer to the Stanley Cup Finals, as the Canes worked their way to the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals before being swept by the Florida Panthers.

Brind’Amour has spent 22 years with the Hurricanes franchise, including the final 10 seasons of his playing career and now 12 seasons on their coaching staff. It’s clear he’s found a home in Raleigh and isn’t expected to be moving on any time soon.

More notes from around the league:

NHL Notes: Zucker, Drury, Andersen

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Seth Rorabaugh of Trib Live Sports is reporting that free agent winger Jason Zucker has made it clear that he wants to remain a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Zucker was able to remain healthy this season for the first time since the 2018-19 season when he was a member of the Minnesota Wild. Zucker flourished in a top six role for the Penguins this year, which was a pleasant, albeit unexpected surprise. Zucker spent much of last summer as a possible trade or buyout candidate, but the Penguins never found a suitor for the California native and elected to hang onto him.

Zucker rewarded Pittsburgh with his best season as a Penguin. He tallied 27 goals and 48 points in 78 games while playing on a second line with Evgeni Malkin. Zucker was also one of the few Penguins who showed an emotional pulse as the team was free falling out of a playoff position in the dying weeks of the regular season. There were many nights in which Pittsburgh appeared to be sleepwalking through the game only to be awakened by a huge hit by the small forward.

Zucker will have suitors and could very well fetch a contract that exceeds his previous cap hit of $5.5MM. Zucker is just 31 years old, and while injuries are certainly a concern given his track record, the lack of game breaking forwards on the free agent market should allow Zucker to cash in on his bounce back season.

In other notes from around the NHL:

  • Chip Alexander of Raleigh News & Observer is reporting that Rod Brind’Amour said that Jack Drury is feeling better today. This comes on the heels of Drury leaving game four yesterday after taking a hard hit into the boards in the first period. The center is in the midst of a 14-game goalless drought and played just 1:20 in the Hurricanes 5-2 win over the New York Islanders. Drury had just eight points in 38 games in the regular season, but with the Hurricanes battling through various injuries the 23-year-old played over 15 minutes in both games two and three of Carolina’s first round series.
  • Alexander also tweeted that Brind’Amour said goaltender Frederik Andersen is good to go for the Carolina Hurricanes. Andersen will likely be relegated to a backup role as Antti Raanta has backstopped the Hurricanes to a 3-1 series lead against the Islanders. Raanta has posted a solid .915 save percentage for Carolina after going 19-3-3 in the regular season. While it seems likely that Andersen won’t see action until the second round, he could get into a game should Raanta stumble in any of the next few games.

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