Potential Replacements for Patrick Roy as Colorado Avalanche Coach
Patrick Roy’s surprising resignation from the Colorado Avalanche on Thursday leaves the NHL team in a bit of a pickle.
Normally, a summer coaching vacancy is the easiest kind to fill. There’s always a long list of candidates from the NHL assistant and AHL head coaching ranks, to say nothing of the candidates in college, junior or European hockey. This close to the season, however, most coaches have made commitments for next year and the available pool is likely to be significantly smaller.
With Avs general manager Joe Sakic telling Bleacher Report’s Adrian Dater that the team would "look outside the organization for a new coach," this slideshow is an attempt to get a grasp on the options available to the club.
We have included a few top AHL coaches and NHL assistants, though not as many as would normally be on a list of this type. If Colorado does indeed hire a head coach from one of these positions, there are a number of good candidates not named here.
Instead, we’ve made every effort to include names likely to be available even if Colorado is blocked from hiring someone in such a position currently. Read on to see what the field looks like.
Kevin Dineen
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Who He Is: Kevin Dineen, 52, moved directly into hockey operations once his 1,000-plus-game NHL career came to an end in Columbus. After two years in an executive role with the Blue Jackets, he spent six years as an AHL head coach and then three more as the bench boss in Florida. He has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach in Chicago.
His Availability: Dineen remains on the Blackhawks staff. Would Chicago allow him to leave so close to the start of the season to run the bench of a division rival?
Bottom Line: Dineen is going to get a second chance at running an NHL bench at some point in the near future. He’d be a very respectable hire and has at least one in with the organization, having previously worked with current Avs assistant general manager Chris MacFarland.
Travis Green
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Who He Is: Travis Green, 45, is the head coach of Vancouver’s AHL affiliate—a position he has held for three seasons now. The high water mark of his professional coaching career to date was a loss in the Calder Cup final in 2014-15. Previously, he was a longtime NHL player and guided the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks to a WHL Championship as coach in 2013.
His Availability: The trouble with Green is that he’s still under contract as the Canucks’ farm coach. There are at least a half-dozen AHL head coaches who under other circumstances Colorado might consider, but one wonders whether Vancouver would let him exit so close to the start of the season.
Bottom Line: Green’s name has come up a lot lately whenever there is a coaching vacancy, but it is worth noting he’s only been a head coach for less than five seasons.
Bob Hartley
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Who He Is: Bob Hartley, 55, is a veteran of the coaching game. He previously ran the bench for Calgary, Atlanta, and, yes, Colorado, winning a Stanley Cup with the latter team in 2001. He won the Jack Adams Trophy as the NHL’s top coach in 2014-15 with the Flames, but was dismissed following a disappointing 2015-16 campaign.
His Availability: Hartley may be the world’s best unemployed hockey coach at the moment. He hasn’t taken on any other work following his departure from Calgary, which makes him one of the few coaches on the market Joe Sakic could literally call up tomorrow and interview.
Bottom Line: Hartley is both a credible hire and an obvious candidate, but his existing ties to Colorado may hurt him. B/R’s Adrian Dater doesn’t believe the Avs will revisit him.
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Dale Hunter
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Who He Is: Dale Hunter, 56, is the owner, president and head coach of the ridiculously successful London Knights—a team that has won two Memorial Cups and three OHL championships under his guidance (they won both titles in 2015-16). He previously spent more than 1,400 games as an NHL player and was the Washington Capitals' head coach in 2012-13.
His Availability: Because he works for himself, Hunter can do whatever he wants. If he’s interested in getting back to the NHL, he’d certainly be free to accept an offer from Colorado.
Bottom Line: The three-time OHL Coach of the Year has an unimpeachable record over more than a decade at the helm of the Knights. He also has ties to the Avalanche organization, starting his career as a Nordiques draft pick and ending it as a trade-deadline rental in Colorado in 1999.
Mike Keenan
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Who He Is: Mike Keenan, 66, is a polarizing figure known for his abrasive and aggressive personality. He ranks eighth on the all-time NHL wins list and has run the bench for eight different major league teams, with the highlight of that run being a Stanley Cup win with the New York Rangers in 1994. Most recently, he was the head coach of the KHL’s Metallurg Magnitogorsk, winning the Gagarin Cup and being named KHL Coach of the Year with that club in 2014.
His Availability: Keenan isn’t under contract to any NHL team at the moment and told Yahoo’s Sean Leahy in April that he was still interested in coaching.
“I wouldn’t mind,” he said then. “I don’t know if it’s in the cards for me.”
Bottom Line: It’s possible that we’ve seen the last of Keenan, but he hasn’t been out of work for all that long, and his performance in the KHL showed both competence behind the bench and a degree of adaptability that might come as a surprise for one of the older names on this list.
Steve Konowalchuk
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Who He Is: Steve Konowalchuk, 43, has spent the last half-decade as head coach of the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds, taking the team to that league’s final last year. Before that, he was an assistant coach in Colorado—the organization he finished his 790-game NHL career with.
His Availability: Konowalchuk is still with the Thunderbirds—a team that begins its preseason schedule in just three weeks. One would speculate that Seattle wouldn’t stand in his way if an NHL job opened up, but that’s awfully short notice.
Bottom Line: Konowalchuk is an up-and-comer who has had success as a junior coach and has ties to the organization. He’s perhaps a touch light on head coaching experience, but not unreasonably so.
Ralph Krueger
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Who He Is: Ralph Krueger, 56, has an unconventional background for an NHL head coach. He spent more than a decade building up the Swiss national team, before signing on as an associate coach with Edmonton. He spent just one season as that team’s head coach, guiding the sad sack Oilers to a respectable 19-22-7 record in 2012-13. He has a long record in international hockey and will coach Team Europe at this summer’s World Cup.
His Availability: Krueger is the chairman of the Southampton Football Club, but according to Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province, he was considered as a replacement for Bob Hartley in Calgary this summer. He also told NHL.com’s Tim Wharnsby last November that he "didn’t think his hockey days were over."
Bottom Line: Krueger is well-respected for his work internationally, and given how other coaches have fared in Edmonton, his work with the Oilers looks pretty solid in retrospect. He would be an intriguing hire.
Nate Leaman
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Who He Is: Nate Leaman, 43, is the head coach of Providence College and guided that team to an NCAA national championship in 2015. He previously spent nearly a decade as head coach of the Union Dutchman and has been coaching in one capacity or other at the college level since 1998.
His Availability: Leaman is currently slated to be back with Providence in 2016-17, and as with a lot of the names on this list, his availability consequently gets put down as a question mark. However, it certainly wouldn't hurt the Friars' reputation if they were to produce an NHL head coach.
Bottom Line: Dave Hakstol’s success with Philadelphia last season may have cracked open the door for more college coaches to be considered for NHL positions. Leaman is simultaneously young, experienced and successful and would be an interesting gamble for the Avs.
Paul MacLean
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Who He Is: A former NHL player, the 58-year-old Paul MacLean is a long-serving coach who has been behind the bench in one capacity or other since 1993. He is presently the assistant coach of the Anaheim Ducks. He was previously the head coach of the Ottawa Senators, and before that he was a longtime assistant to Mike Babcock in both Anaheim and Detroit. He was named the NHL’s Coach of the Year in 2013.
His Availability: MacLean, like Kevin Dineen and countless others not listed here, is part of an NHL coaching staff getting ready for the 2016-17 season. It’s fair to ask whether or not his present employer would allow him to leave at this juncture.
Bottom Line: MacLean would be a very respectable coaching hire, but his availability is in question.
Todd Nelson
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Who He Is: A former minor league journeyman, the 47-year-old Todd Nelson has worked his way up the coaching ladder after starting out as a player-assistant with the now-defunct Muskegon Fury of the now-defunct United Hockey League. He won two UHL championships as a head coach and has spent time as both an assistant and head coach at the AHL and NHL levels. He is presently the head coach of Detroit’s AHL affiliate in Grand Rapids.
His Availability: As with Travis Green (and again, others not listed here), Nelson’s job as an AHL head coach might plausibly make him unavailable to Colorado.
Bottom Line: Like Ralph Krueger, Nelson’s record over a short run of games in Edmonton looks pretty good in comparison to what came before and after. He’s a top AHL coach and is knocking on the door of full-time NHL employment.
Brent Sutter
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Who He Is: Brent Sutter, 54, is the owner, president, general manager and head coach of the very successful Red Deer Rebels of the WHL. He is a former NHL head coach, having spent two years as the bench boss in New Jersey and three in the same position in Calgary. He also played more than 1,000 games in the NHL.
His Availability: Availability isn’t the question here so much as interest is. Sutter can obviously give himself five minutes’ worth of notice if he wants to get back into NHL hockey.
Bottom Line: An experienced coach with a formidable resume, Sutter would be a legitimate hire for pretty much any NHL team.
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