Claude Julien and the 9 NHL Coaches with the Most on the Line This Season
The Stanley Cup isn’t the only thing on the line for Claude Julien and other NHL coaches this season.
Early playoff exits, poor regular-season performances or the weight of expectations have put jobs in jeopardy for several bench-callers heading into the 2014-15 seasons. Julien, Jack Capuano and Todd McLellan are just a few feeling the burn of the proverbial hot seat.
Here are the coaches who have the most on the line leading into this season.
Honorable Mentions
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Not every coach could make our list of 10. Here are some coaches who just barely missed the cut:
Mike Johnston—Pittsburgh Penguins
Johnston failed to make the list simply because his job isn’t anywhere close to being in jeopardy. That doesn’t mean the first-year coach doesn’t have a lot to prove.
Expectations are high in Pittsburgh. A perennial Stanley Cup favorite, the team showcases the best talents in the world in Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby.
How Johnston handles his superstars and the high expectations of his team in his first season will determine his longevity with the organization.
Ted Nolan—Buffalo Sabres
Simply put, the Sabres are bad. In fact, fans hope the team is the worst in the league. That way, the franchise can draft the next big thing in Connor McDavid in next year’s draft.
That’s what puts Nolan in a Catch-22 of sorts. He must balance fan expectations and ownership pressure at the risk losing his players to “McDavid Mania.” That’s quite a lot to deal with in Nolan’s first full season coaching the team.
Still, job security certainly shouldn’t be an issue for Nolan, so he fails to crack the top 10.
10. Paul MacLean, Ottawa Senators
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Background: Ottawa took a step backward last year, missing out on the playoffs for the first time in two seasons with a fifth-place finish (37-31-14, 88 points) in the Metropolitan Division. The team lost longtime forward Daniel Alfredsson to the Detroit Red Wings last season and Jason Spezza this offseason in a trade with the Dallas Stars.
What’s on the Line?: For the past few years, the Senators have been rebuilding while still competing. However, the subtractions of franchise cornerstones Spezza and Alfredsson makes this season an interesting one in terms of expectations for Ottawa.
The team has a young nucleus of talent in Erik Karlsson, Bobby Ryan and Jared Cowen, to name a few.
If this group can’t jell and develop this season, owner Eugene Melnyk may look in another direction with the care of his young team and may relieve MacLean of his services.
However, MacLean has been successful with the rebuild of his team in past seasons. He may be given a longer leash than most coaches on this list.
9. Dallas Eakins, Edmonton Oilers
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Background: For the eighth straight season the Oilers failed to make the postseason, finishing last in the Western Conference with a 29-44-8 record and 66 points.
What’s on the Line?: With all these high first-round draft picks (Nail Yakupov, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, Taylor Hall), success should seem imminent for a team packed with so much potential and talent.
That talent has been more flair than substance, showing the inconsistency and immaturity of a young team unwilling to do the hard things to win hockey games.
What Eakins ultimately must prove is if he can get the unit playing as a team with better results in the standings during the regular season to prove it. He won’t have much time to accomplish that goal. Eakins is the fourth coach of the Oilers since 2009.
It’s the unforgiving window to prove oneself to the Edmonton brass that puts Eakins on this list.
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8. Bob Hartley, Calgary Flames
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Background: The Flames placed 13th (35-40-7, 77 points) in the Western Conference for the second time in the past two years. Last season was the first the club began without former captain Jarome Iginla, who was traded to Pittsburgh two seasons ago and then signed with the Boston Bruins. He recently signed in free agency with the Colorado Avalanche.
What’s on the Line?: There’s nothing worse than being a “lame duck” coach. That’s the situation Hartley finds himself in without a contract extension in the third and final year of his contract. There hasn’t been much to write home about with the Flames and their 54-65-11 record in Hartley’s two seasons behind the helm.
There doesn’t seem to be much in the way of help either. The signing of average players like Deryk Engelland, Jonas Hiller and Mason Raymond won’t do much to improve the team overall.
Unless Hartley can rally his bleak-looking team to a better record, his dismissal at the end of the season seems more formality at this point.
Hartley has much to prove and much work to do, but the meagerness of his situation drops him low on this list.
7. Mike Babcock, Detroit Red Wings
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Background: The Red Wings moved to the Eastern Conference last season, but it was much of the same—another playoff appearance. However, the team finished eighth in the conference (39-28-15, 93 points), getting trounced by the Bruins in five games in the first round.
What’s on the Line?: Babcock’s coaching performance through injuries earned him a runner-up finish for the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year last season. There’s no doubt Babcock is one of the best coaches in the league, with his multiple Stanley Cup victories and his most recent gold medal with Team Canada at the Olympics last year.
It’s that fact that puts a lot on the line for Babcock this season.
Babcock is in the final year of his contract with the team and has yet to come to terms with an extension as the new season begins. If Detroit doesn’t improve, the price to re-sign the legendary coach might be too high for the results it yields. The Red Wings may choose to promote up-and-comer coach Jeff Blashill from their AHL affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins.
The status of Babcock makes this one of the most interesting coaching situations to watch in the league.
6. Dave Tippett, Arizona Coyotes
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Background: The Coyotes failed to make the playoffs (37-30-15, 89 points) for the second time in as many seasons last year.
What’s on the Line: Similar to coaches who will appear later in this countdown, Tippett’s career is highlighted by poor playoff performances.
Sure, in 2011-12 he led the team to its first division championship in franchise history. Sure, Arizona (then Phoenix) went to its first conference finals that same year.
However, since then it’s been a whole lot of nothing for a franchise seemingly on the rise. Two seasons missing the playoffs has flat-lined the organization, putting doubt to the contract extension it gave to Tippett following a terrible 2012-13 season. Another poor performance this season could lose Tippett his job.
Pressure to succeed in a highly contested Pacific Division and the prospects of losing his job put a lot on the line for the Coyotes’ bench leader.
5. Craig Berube, Philadelphia Flyers
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Background: The Flyers roared to a playoff berth last year (42-30-10, 94 points) after starting the season losing seven of their first eight games. Philadelphia bowed out to the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal in seven games.
What’s on the Line?: When Ron Hextall was named the new general manager of the team in May, it effectively put Berube on notice. If the Flyers experience another slow start like last year, Hextall may be inclined to bring in his own coaching staff for his new regime.
Philadelphia should remain competitive for a playoff berth with R.J. Umberger rejoining the team after a stint in Columbus and MVP-candidate Claude Giroux as a fixture on the first line.
If Berube fails to find last season’s late magic early, his position on the team will be in doubt. For an organization used to success, what’s on the line for Berube is worthy of a high ranking on this list.
4. Randy Carlyle, Toronto Maple Leafs
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Background: Toronto ended its season early, missing the playoffs with a 37-31-8 record and 84 points for fifth in the Atlantic Division.
What’s on the Line?: The Maple Leafs have one of the most rabid fanbases in the league. Expectations for success are high, especially for a team eager to win its first Stanley Cup since 1967, the longest drought in the NHL.
Carlyle won a Stanley Cup with the Anaheim Ducks in 2006-07 but has struggled in his time with Toronto, missing the playoffs twice and losing a disastrous series to the Boston Bruins two years ago in which they blew a three-goal lead in the final four minutes of Game 7.
After missing the playoffs last season, the club acquired Stephane Robidas to secure the back end and Leo Komarov and Mike Santorelli for forward depth.
Poor regular-season performances and a total meltdown in his only playoff appearance, Carlyle is definitely feeling the burn of the fans and ownership heading into the season. The lack of production for such a premier franchise leaves Carlyle with a high ranking on our list.
3. Todd McLellan, San Jose Sharks
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Background: The Sharks topped 50 wins during the regular season (55-22-9, 111 points) to finish second in the Pacific Division. San Jose’s disappointing playoff performance was one for the ages. After winning the first three games of a first-round series with the Los Angeles Kings, the Sharks dropped the next four to be eliminated.
What’s on the Line?: If the Sharks don’t perform in the playoffs, McLellan is as good as gone. McLellan’s team has failed to get past the second round despite excellent regular-season showings since 2010-11. San Jose made it to the conference finals in both years prior, not making it past five games.
With the loss to the Kings still fresh, McLellan will have a lot to get right this season in order to keep his position with the club.
2. Jack Capuano, New York Islanders
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Background: New York finished last (21-51-10, 79 points) in the Metropolitan Division in 2013-14 after coming off a surprising playoff appearance and performance against the Penguins in a first-round exit the year before.
What’s on the Line?: With arguably the best lineup the team has fielded in years, anything but a playoff berth for the second time in three seasons will be a failure. The big addition of goalie Jaroslav Halak should bolster a unit that allowed the third-most goals against per game (3.18) last season.
New York struggled to start last year and found itself 12 points out of a playoff spot by the Olympic break. Another slow start with such a talented team could mean Capuano’s job, which puts him very high on this list.
1. Claude Julien, Boston Bruins
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Background: Boston finished with the best record in the league last season (54-19-9, 117 points), earning the Presidents’ Trophy with it. The Bruins disappointed in the playoffs, losing to the Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference Semifinal in seven games.
What’s on the Line?: Disappointing playoff performances have been a common theme for Boston since Julien and the team hoisted the cup in 2011. Last season’s loss to the rival Canadiens was a step back for a team that reached the Cup Final a year prior.
With cap issues and aging veterans like Zdeno Chara, the Bruins are definitely in a win-now mode. Expectations for playoff success are too high in Boston for ownership to not get too comfortable with Julien’s performance, a similar situation that got Dan Bylsma fired from the Penguins at the end of last year.
If the Bruins fail to find playoff success, Julien might share the same fate. That easily makes him the coach with the most on the line this season.
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