Randy Carlyle Named Ducks Head Coach: Latest Contract Details and Reaction

The Anaheim Ducks announced Tuesday they hired Randy Carlyle as head coach. 

"A proven winner and motivator, Randy has expertly managed the bench throughout his coaching career," said Ducks general manager Bob Murray. "Our expectations are extremely high, and I believe Randy is the coach who can lead us to playoff success and our ultimate goal, the Stanley Cup."

Carlyle previously coached the Ducks from 2005 to 2012, leading the team to a Stanley Cup in the 2006-07 season.

His 273 wins are the most in franchise history, and the Ducks posted a .588 points percentage during his first run with the team. Ducks legend Teemu Selanne is on board with the hiring:

Following his departure in the middle of the 2011-12 campaign, Carlyle moved on to the Toronto Maple Leafs, where he coached for four different seasons. The Leafs had a 91-78-19 overall record before his firing in 2014-15.

The hiring comes as a surprise given Carlyle appeared to have worn out his welcome in Anaheim the first time around. Helene Elliott reported for the Los Angeles Times that his demanding style had turned the team against him:

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Carlyle was fired and replaced by former Washington Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau about 40 minutes after the Ducks ended a seven-game losing streak and won for only the third time in 19 games. Carlyle’s voice had become too familiar, his barked threats empty and his motivational tactics flat. Boudreau was fired by the Capitals on Monday for similar reasons, to a degree an occupational hazard. [...]

Players tune coaches out after a while. Carlyle, gruff and old-school and able to get a lot out of not much raw material for a while, ultimately was tuned out too.

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Of course, this is largely a new group of players, but two key stars—Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry—were members of the 2007 Stanley Cup-winning team. Getzlaf told TSN's Gary Lawless he'd be more than open to the idea of Carlyle returning:

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Randy's great at running a bench. To me that was his niche. He was great at being involved in the game and knowing what matchups he wanted and keeping them. I've been away from him for a while. When I was young, he did a great job at keeping us accountable. He taught me a lot when I was young.

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Speaking with the Orange County Register's Eric Stephens, Dave Farrish, a former assistant under Carlyle also talked about how the coach has altered his approach to player relations: "He has softened a lot too. I noticed a change in him when he went to Toronto as far as millennial players coming along. He's much more receptive to a lot of these players."

That will be important for Carlyle as the core of the Ducks team is a little younger than the one he coached the first time around. Rickard Rakell, Sami Vatanen, Jakob Silfverberg, Hampus Lindholm and Cam Fowler were all 25 or younger last year.

He'll be expected to deliver immediate results. Anaheim made the playoffs in each of Bruce Boudreau's four full seasons on the bench, and it was a game away from the Stanley Cup Final in 2014-15.

Anything less than a postseason appearance will be a disappointment for Carlyle in his first season back.