NHL Coaching Rumors

There has been a lot of speculation regarding the destination of certain coaches within the NHL ahead of next season. Here are the latest rumors:
St Louis - The Blues will turn back to a familiar face and voice. The way general manager Doug Armstrong spoke Tuesday to announce that the Blues signed Ken Hitchcock to a one-year contract, there never seemed to be a doubt whether the 63-year-old would return to coach St. Louis for a fifth season. Hitchcock's contract was set to expire June 30. He and Armstrong took time after the season to reflect on certain issues, but each is comfortable with the other and seems fine with a one-year extension. Aside from the shortened 2012-13 season, the Blues finished with 100-plus points in each of Hitchcock's four seasons, including 109 this season. Hitchcock is 175-79-27 in the regular season with the Blues and fourth on the NHL's all-time wins list with 708, but he's 10-17 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with St. Louis, including three straight first-round exits with home-ice advantage. The Blues have lost four consecutive playoff series since 2012, when they defeated the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Quarterfinal. St. Louis' entire coaching staff will also return.
Hitchcock's status has been in limbo since the Blues were eliminated from the Western Conference First Round in six games by the Minnesota Wild. The Blues have lost in the first round in six games in each of the past three seasons.
The Blues were granted permission by the Detroit Red Wings to talk to Mike Babcock, whose contract was set to expire June 30, but Babcock signed an eight-year contract worth a reported $50 million on May 20 to coach the Toronto Maple Leafs. After the season, Hitchcock said he needed time to reflect and decide whether he would return. He is comfortable going on a year-by-year basis. Hitchcock was named Blues coach on Nov. 7, 2011, replacing Davis Payne, who is currently an assistant on Darryl Sutter's staff with the Los Angeles Kings. Hitchcock coached the Dallas Stars to a Stanley Cup championship in 1999 and returned to the Cup Final in 2000. He also coached the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets for four seasons each.
Doug Armstrong: "I just had to make sure that the passion level that's going to be necessary in November, December, January, February ... the dog days of the season, that Ken still had that passion. I didn't want him to come back and feel that he was coming back out of anger and disappointment. I wanted him to come back out of excitement and energy. When we talked, I felt that. I felt that talking to him and I felt that talking to members of his staff that there's a real excitement in getting back to work here."
Ken Hitchcock: "This was a long process for me, ...It was very disappointing in losing, especially the lead-up to it when we were on top of our game, and having the ability to process that and go through it here in the last three weeks, it's given me some time to detox. Today was the first day we started preparing for next season. It was an exciting day for me. I'm really proud to be able to coach this hockey club again. I'm really proud the staff is back together. This is unfinished business for me. I don't want to coach to coach. I want to coach to win. From a friendship standpoint and a coaching standpoint, from a relationship with players, this has been a great place for me. I just don't want to cheat them. I don't want to be signing on for a bunch of years that I know I can't answer the bell for. So for me, this is a perfect scenario. I want to take this group to the next level and Doug gets to decide the stewardship moving forward. Doug and I have been together for a very long period of time, We've got great communication and the ability to get this team back to the playoffs and back into that hunt again is first and foremost in both of our minds."


Hitchcock and Babcock are close friends.
"You can't help but not do that," Hitchcock said when asked about following the reports on Babcock. To which Armstrong joked, "I was sending them to him."
"I don't care," Hitchcock said. "The reason I don't care is that we have a relationship where we can tell each other pretty much anything, and there's no consequences. I know one thing: [Armstrong] keeps me informed on everything. Some of it I don't want to hear sometimes, but it's information that's necessary."

Buffalo - The Sabres have an agreement in place to hire Dan Bylsma as coach pending compensation to the Pittsburgh Penguins, the Associated Press reported Today. Bylsma interviewed with the Sabres about their coaching vacancy for a second straight day Thursday, according to the AP, which stated the meeting Wednesday took place in Buffalo and included Sabres owners Terry Pegula and Kim Pegula, and general manager Tim Murray. After losing out on Mike Babcock, who became coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs on May 20, the Sabres received permission to interview Bylsma to replace Ted Nolan, who was fired last month.
Bylsma was fired as Penguins coach following the 2013-14 season. His contract with the Penguins runs through the 2015-16 season but he has permission to interview with other teams. The 44-year-old went 252-117-32 in 401 regular-season games with the Penguins and 43-45 in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2009 and won the Jack Adams Award in 2011. He coached Pittsburgh to four 100-point seasons and finished no worse than second in its division in all six seasons. Bylsma recently served as an assistant coach for the United States at the 2015 IIHF World Championship, where he coached Boston University center Jack Eichel, likely to be selected by the Sabres with the No. 2 pick of the 2015 NHL Draft on June 26. The New Jersey Devils are believed to have permission to talk to Bylsma about their coaching position, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported Sunday.


Detroit - Jeff Blashill, the leading candidate to replace Mike Babcock as coach of the Red Wings, will meet with general manager Ken Holland sometime this week to discuss the job, the Detroit Free Press reported Tuesday. Holland said Blashill, 41, is his only candidate at the moment. Blashill is coaching the Red Wings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Grand Rapids Griffins, in the Western Conference Finals; the best-of-7 series against the Utica Comets is tied 1-1 and resumes Thursday. Blashill would not discuss his future on Wednesday, or say whether he has met with Holland, according to The Detroit News. Blashill has been coach of Grand Rapids since June 2012 and has made the playoffs in each of the past three seasons, including winning the 2013 Calder Cup.
Ken Holland: "I've had some people reach out to me, but as of right now, I haven't expanded the list."
Jeff Blashill: "I owe it to our players to make sure my sole focus is on trying to win this series. It's not difficult for me, and that's why I choose not to comment right now because it's real easy for me to focus on the [playoffs]. These are great, great opportunities. You only get so many of them in life. So let's really cherish this and enjoy the journey."
New Jersey - Could be the last remaining NHL team without a coach if three openings are filled soon, as expected. The San Jose Sharks reportedly are about to hire Peter DeBoer same with the Buffalo Sabres and Dan Bylsma. The Detroit Red Wings are likely to promote Grand Rapids coach Jeff Blashill, according to reports (see above). Shero would not reveal, who the Devils' candidates might be, but speculation includes Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach John Hynes, Capitals assistant Todd Reirden and former Ottawa coach Paul MacLean. Reirden and Hynes worked together with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pittsburgh's American Hockey League affiliate. DeBoer was fired by the Devils 36 games into this season, replaced by co-coaches Lou Lamoriello, Adam Oates and Scott Stevens. Shero was hired as general manager May 8, replacing Lamoriello, who remained as president of hockey operations. The Flyers (Dave Hakstol), Oilers (Todd McLellan) and Maple Leafs (Mike Babcock) have filled coaching vacancies in the past two weeks, and Ken Hitchcock will return to the St. Louis Blues for a fifth season after he agreed to a one-year contract Tuesday.