NHL Coaches Most Likely to Be Fired During the 2015-16 Season

With National Hockey League teams bound to their players more tightly than ever under the terms of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement, the coaching carousel seems to be spinning faster and faster. It's one area where teams can still make changes—and write big cheques—without having to worry about salary-cap implications.

Since the beginning of 2014-15, eight NHL teams have replaced their head coaches—three of them more than once.

During the season, there were four firings, which all took place over the course of a month. The Ottawa Senators fired Paul MacLean on December 8, the Edmonton Oilers fired Dallas Eakins on December 15, the New Jersey Devils parted ways with Peter DeBoer on December 27 and the Toronto Maple Leafs terminated Randy Carlyle on January 6. All but Ottawa used interim arrangements to finish out the year before installing new permanent head coaches over the summer—and all but Ottawa missed the playoffs.

After the regular season wrapped up, the Buffalo Sabres fired Ted Nolan and the Philadelphia Flyers said goodbye to Craig Berube, while Todd McLellan left the San Jose Sharks by mutual agreement and Mike Babcock chose not to re-up with the Detroit Red Wings.

Even after all those changes, more coaches are skating on thin ice heading into the new campaign.

Some will get a chance to guide their team through at least one more playoff run before a decision is made on their future. These are the coaches whose jobs are most in jeopardy during the 2015-16 regular season.

6. Patrick Roy: Colorado Avalanche

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Date of Hiring: May 23, 2013

Record with the Colorado Avalanche (from Hockey Reference):

• two seasons, 164 games, 91-53-20, 2013-14 Jack Adams winner
• one playoff appearance

2014-15 Results: 39-31-12, 90 points, seventh in Central Division, missed playoffs by seven points

Why He's on the Hot Seat: After a brilliant debut campaign in which Patrick Roy defied expectations to lead the Colorado Avalanche from three years out of the playoffs right to the top of the Central Division, a 22-point slide down the standings last season left the Avs pretty much right where they'd been before he took over.

By setting the bar so high in his first season behind an NHL bench, Roy raised expectations and could leave fans and media feeling restless if the Avs don't get off to a better start in 2015-16.

Roy's ace in the hole is his position within the organization. As well as being head coach, he's also vice president of hockey operations in Colorado. Roy consults closely with his old teammate Joe Sakic, who's now the Avalanche's general manager, on all player personnel decisions, per NHL.com.

Sakic and Roy hope they've improved their team by adding veterans Carl Soderberg and Francois Beauchemin over the summer. The Avs also made a big move when they traded Ryan O'Reilly to the Buffalo Sabres for a package that includes promising youngsters Nikita Zadorov and Mikhail Grigorenko, who played junior hockey for Roy when he coached the Quebec Remparts in the QMJHL.

Roy may have the most built-in job security of any coach on this list, but what will Sakic do if the Avalanche find themselves near the bottom of the Western Conference standings once again in 2015-16?

5. Michel Therrien: Montreal Canadiens

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Date of Hiring: June 5, 2012; also coached the Canadiens between 2000 and 2003.

Record with the Montreal Canadiens (from Hockey Reference, including both periods):

• six seasons, 402 games, 202-141-23-36
• four playoff appearances

2014-15 Results: 50-22-10, 110 points, first in Atlantic Division, defeated in second round of the playoffs by Tampa Bay Lightning

Why He's on the Hot Seat: Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price captured the Vezina, Hart and Ted Lindsay trophies at this year's NHL Awards, as well as earned a share of the William M. Jennings Trophy as part of one of the teams that gave up the fewest goals over the course of the regular season.

That's an unprecedented achievement for a goaltender—and a reminder to the Canadiens organization that the time is now to break the 22-year drought and bring a Stanley Cup back to Montreal.

Michel Therrien has been a successful commander during the Habs' resurgence since 2012, guiding the team back to both regular-season and playoff respectability. But many believe that it's Price, not Therrien, who is responsible for the team's success—and it doesn't help that the Canadiens took a step backward in the postseason in 2015 after their rousing win over the rival Boston Bruins to reach the Eastern Conference Final one year previously.

Therrien lasted two-and-a-half seasons during his first tour of duty for Montreal and made the playoffs just once, losing out to the Carolina Hurricanes in the second round in 2001-02. That underwhelming tenure may play into fans' current distrust of the coach, who has delivered playoff games in all three years since his return but has yet to unlock the championship formula.

Though tight to the salary cap, the Habs have tweaked their lineup going into the new season, hoping to pump up their scoring with the enigmatic Alexander Semin and Zack Kassian.

The real test will come at playoff time, but Therrien might not get that far if Montreal stumbles out of the gate.

4. Darryl Sutter: Los Angeles Kings

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Date of Hiring: December 20, 2012

Record with the Los Angeles Kings (from Hockey Reference):

• four seasons, 261 games, 138-84-39, 2008-09 Jack Adams winner
• three playoff appearances, 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup champions 

2014-15 Results: 40-27-15, 95 points, fourth in Pacific Division, missed playoffs by two points

Why He's on the Hot Seat: The Los Angeles Kings have enjoyed their greatest period of prosperity since Darryl Sutter took over the team midway through the 2011-12 season and promptly marched it to the Stanley Cup.

Last season, the Kings missed the playoffs for the first time in Sutter's regime. L.A. was hampered by defenseman Slava Voynov's suspension just two weeks into the season, per NHL.com, but also struggled to score, finishing the year ranked 20th in the league on offense.

Darryl Sutter's coaching style can be abrasive. Larry Brooks of the New York Post reported in April that the Kings players went as far as to lock Sutter out of their dressing room during a road game near the end of the season—not wanting to hear what they expected would be one of his trademark tirades.

If the coach truly has lost the room and the Kings don't start the 2015-16 season strongly, the organization might have little choice but to bring in a new coach in an effort to salvage the season.

3. Mike Yeo: Minnesota Wild

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Date of Hiring: June 17, 2011

Record with the Minnesota Wild (from Hockey Reference):

• four seasons, 294 games, 150-110-34
• three playoff appearances, reached second round in 2013-14 and 2014-15

2014-15 Results: 46-28-8, 100 points, fourth in Central Division, defeated in second round of playoffs by Chicago Blackhawks for second straight year

Why He's on the Hot Seat: Jeremy Roenick of NBC Sports was one of many voices suggesting that it was time to fire Minnesota Wild coach Mike Yeo last January, per Ryan Dadoun of Pro Hockey Talk.

Instead, general manager Chuck Fletcher swung a trade that saved Yeo's job. On January 14, Minnesota acquired goaltender Devan Dubnyk in exchange for a third-round pick.

Thanks to Dubnyk's superhuman goaltending through the second half of the season, the Wild played their way back into playoff contention before being swept by the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round of the postseason.

It was a superb recovery, but Minnesota is a team that's built to win and has yet to break through to be considered among the league's elite.

If the Wild take a step backward this season, expect the doubters to start questioning Yeo's coaching once again. Minnesota may need to change things up behind the bench before the team can take the next step toward contending for a championship.

2. Ken Hitchcock: St. Louis Blues

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Date of Hiring: November 6, 2011

Record with the St. Louis Blues (from Hockey Reference):

• four seasons, 281 games, 175-79-27, 2011-12 Jack Adams winner
• four playoff appearances, reached second round in 2011-12

2014-15 Results: 51-24-7, 109 points, first in Central Division, defeated in first round of playoffs by Minnesota Wild

Why He's on the Hot Seat: Since Ken Hitchcock joined the St. Louis Blues nearly four seasons ago, the team has been a regular-season dream—regularly ranked among the top teams in the Western Conference and widely projected to do well in the postseason.

Execution, however, has been an issue. The Blues have yet to win a Stanley Cup in the franchise's 48-year history and have have played past the second round of the playoffs only twice since 1971. In 1985-86 St. Louis lost the Campbell Conference Final to the Calgary Flames in seven games, and in 2000-01 the Blues went down in five games to the Colorado Avalanche in the Western Conference Final.

Like those before him, Hitch has had no success changing St. Louis' bad playoff luck. Under his watch, the team became cannon fodder for the Los Angeles Kings in his first season behind the bench, then has gone down to three straight first-round defeats—while holding home-ice advantage each time.

Last May, Hitchcock was signed to a one-year contract extension according to NHL.com—not exactly a vote of confidence.

With basically the same cast of characters returning on the ice, the coach will be expected to at least match last year's strong regular-season performance if he hopes to get a chance to take one more kick at the can in the playoffs. That's a tall order.

1. Claude Julien: Boston Bruins

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Date of Hiring: June 21, 2007

Record with the Bruins (from Hockey Reference):

• eight seasons, 622 games, 351-192-79, 2008-09 Jack Adams winner
• seven playoff appearances, 2011 Stanley Cup champions, 2013 Eastern Conference champions 

2014-15 Results: 41-27-14, 96 points, fifth in Atlantic Division, missed playoffs by two points

Why He's on the Hot Seat: For the first time in Claude Julien's eight seasons behind the bench, the Boston Bruins were spectators when the playoffs began last season.

The Bruins faced challenges in 2014-15, most notably with salary-cap restrictions and injuries to key players like Zdeno Chara and David Krejci. But the team made bold player personnel moves, including shipping out key players like Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton to announce the beginning of a new regime.

Julien will need to get the new-look Bruins off to a solid start in 2015-16 in order to preserve his job. If Boston's not on the high side of the playoff cut line at the end of November, his head could be one of the first to roll.