The New Jersey Devils have a major decision to make sometime before next season after firing head coach John Hynes. There are a ton of different directions they may go in, so we’ll take a look at different men they could hire that are already in the NHL.
On Monday, the Nashville Predators fired head coach Peter Laviolette. The former Stanley Cup winner was not getting it done for a team with Stanley Cup aspirations, but some New Jersey Devils fans believe Laviolette is the answer for their coaching woes. Alain Nasreddine has done a fine job since taking over as interim coach, but he needs to do a lot more to take over the job full time.
We will have pieces looking into whether this is a good or bad idea coming up in the next couple days, but for now we want to look into other current NHL coaches the Devils should be paying close attention to. These are head coaches that could become available by the end of the year, and assistant coaches that could be looking for a promotion.
There are a ton of options out there, even if you’re looking at current NHL coaches. Laviolette became the sixth coach to get fired mid-season. This season, there are seven head coaches in the first year with a new team. There are going to be more teams looking to move on from their head coach, especially with experienced coaches hitting the market.
So, where can the Devils take advantage of the market? There are a lot of places that coaches could be on the hot seat, and some of these names the Devils should jump at the chance.