NHL Coaching Tracker: Rangers land BU’s Quinn as next head coach

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The NHL’s offseason is always active on the coaching front, impacting jobs at all levels of hockey. This tracker will be updated and reported by The Athletic’s Craig Custance, bookmark it to stay up to date with all the latest news on coaching changes.

May 19

New York Rangers: According to The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello, the Rangers are hiring Boston University’s David Quinn as the next head coach of the Rangers. ESPN’s John Buccigross first reported that the deal is a 5-year deal worth $12 million and that BU’s athletic director has already been notified of the decision. Rangers GM Jeff Gorton was in Denmark scouting the World Championships so an official announcement isn’t expected until he returns. Quinn has also been tabbed to coach Team USA in next year’s world junior championship, but a source confirmed with The Athletic that USA Hockey will just pivot to a Plan B on that front.

May 2

Dallas Stars: According to The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro, the Dallas Stars will introduce University of Denver coach Jim Montgomery as Ken Hitchcock’s replacement later this week. A Stars source says that Montgomery stood out among several conversations that GM Jim Nill had about the opening in Dallas and it became apparent that he would be a great fit. The New York Rangers were believed to be interested, which might have upped the Dallas timeline in hiring Montgomery. SBN College Hockey’s Chris Dilks was the first to report that Montgomery was emerging as a “strong possibility” to be the next coach of the Stars. Shapiro recently broke down what the detail-oriented Montgomery would bring to the table as the coach for the Stars. Montgomery is the first NHL head coach hired directly from college since the Flyers hired Dave Hakstol in 2015, but New Jersey’s John Hynes and Detroit’s Jeff Blashill both have college stops on their resumes.

April 29

Ottawa Senators: Senators GM Pierre Dorion and coach Guy Boucher will meet on Monday in order to allow the Senators coach an opportunity present his case to return behind the bench for Ottawa next season. Dorion hasn’t committed to bringing Boucher back after the Senators dropped to No. 7 in the Atlantic with 67 points this past season. “What happened at the end of the year, we had really productive meetings. We finished in 30th place and we said that we would evaluate everything; players, support staff, coaching staff,” Dorion told The Athletic’s Arpon Basu and other reporters at the draft lottery on Saturday. “After the meeting, we did most of the talking with the coaching staff, we felt that Guy should have a chance to express his thoughts.”

April 27

Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers announced that coach Todd McLellan will be back as the head coach in Edmonton but there will be a shakeup of his assistants. McLellan’s longtime right-hand man, Jay Woodcroft, has been named the AHL coach in Bakersfield, while assistants Jim Johnson and Ian Herbers have been fired, as have Bakersfield coaches Gerry Fleming and Tony Borgford. That creates some openings on McLellan’s staff.  According to an NHL source, the Oilers have asked the Flames for permission to speak with former Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan. Former Anaheim assistant Trent Yawney has also been connected to the Oilers but TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports that no replacement hirings have been made yet.

Montreal Canadiens: The Canadiens announced the hiring of Dominique Ducharme as an assistant coach under Claude Julien on Friday. The team also announced that assistants Jean-Jacques Daigneault and Dan Lacroix will not be back. Goalie coach Stéphane Waite, who has been with the organization the past five seasons, signed a contract extension to stay with the Canadiens. Ducharme, 45, has been described by his former players as demanding but fair, cultivating a sense of loyalty from his former players. “He sees what his players give and he respects that and if you’re honest with him, he’ll be honest with you. When things aren’t going perfectly, he’s not one to blame other people and he’s not one to panic. It’s that calm side that makes him a good coach along with his competitiveness,” Ryan Falkenham told The Athletic’s Sunaya Sapurji. Falkenham both played and coached with Ducharme, who won gold as Team Canada’s head coach in the WJC and spent the past seven seasons coaching Halifax.

April 23

Calgary Flames: The Flames will be announcing the hiring of Bill Peters as their next head coach, an NHL source confirmed with The Athletic. Calgary has scheduled a press conference for 1 p.m. EST to announce the news. Peters walked away from his job with the Carolina Hurricanes (and $1.6 million salary) for the opportunity to work for the Flames, who fired coach Glen Gulutzan last week. In four seasons with the Hurricanes, Peters was 137-138-53.

Dallas Stars: The Stars also talked to Peters about their head coaching job but those conversations never really got substantial. “It was a big draw for him to get back to Calgary,” said one NHL source. The Stars haven’t yet zeroed in on any specific candidates with a list that’s still in the 10-15 range. The hope in Dallas is for that to get narrowed down to 5-8 in the coming weeks. Part of the reason for the patience is to wait out AHL coaches competing in the playoffs and it’s also possible other candidates emerge from NHL playoff teams.

April 21

Calgary Flames: It doesn’t look like Bill Peters is going to remain unemployed for too long. According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, the Dallas Stars spoke with Peters about their head opening but indications suggest that doesn’t appear to be a fit and that the Calgary Flames are the front-runner to hire Peters. Peters resigned from the Hurricanes on Friday, walking away from $1.6 million in guaranteed money, a decision people don’t typically make unless they’re confident they’ve got something else coming.

New York Rangers: On Friday, USA Hockey announced that Boston University’s David Quinn will be the head coach for the 2019 U.S. National junior team. The job comes with high expectations as Quinn pointed out in the release of the announcement. “The United States has medaled in this tournament three straight years, which is a real testament to the growth and depth of talent across the country. We have a great coaching staff put together and we have one goal, and that is to win the gold medal,” Quinn said. The Rangers are looking hard at the college coaching ranks for their job opening and this announcement raised speculation as to whether or not Quinn was still a candidate in New York. According to an NHL source, the Rangers remain interested in Quinn and this news doesn’t prevent hiring him. According to The Athletic’s Rick Carpiniello, the Rangers are expected to talk to Marlies coach Sheldon Keefe if they haven’t already but Carpiniello characterized Keefe as a longshot.

April 20

Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes announced that Bill Peters has resigned as the head coach, creating another opening in the head coach market. Peters walks away from a deal worth $1.6 million next season, adding fuel to the speculation that he’s a top candidate in Calgary and Dallas. According to The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun, Calgary called Carolina on Thursday to request permission to speak with Peters and the Hurricanes had no issues granted it. Peters’ resignation means Carolina has an opening both at GM and head coach, which was part of the reason Peters gave in the team release for leaving. “I feel the incoming general manager should have the ability to hire his own head coach,” Peters said in the release. The Hurricanes have options internally if they want to stay in-house, with both assistant coach Rod Brind’Amour and AHL coach Mike Vellucci quality candidates. Vellucci is also an assistant GM in the organization but according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, Vellucci’s long-term preference is to stay in coaching. “I think Mike Vellucci has done a really good job,” one AHL coach told The Athletic. “If they have success, he should be in the conversation.” Charlotte opens the first round of its playoff series against Wilkes-Barre/Scranton tonight.

April 19

New York Rangers: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, the New York Rangers have prominent college coaches in the mix for their head coach opening, including University of Denver’s Jim Montgomery, Boston University’s David Quinn and Minnesota-Duluth’s Scott Sandelin. An NHL source confirmed with The Athletic that college coaches are in play for the Rangers job but also described the search as “very open.” Montgomery had multiple interviews with the Florida Panthers last year before removing himself from consideration to stay at Denver, telling the Denver Post at the time via text: “My family and I are very happy here.”

Candidate update: According to an NHL source, former Stars and Coyotes coach Dave Tippett had a couple feelers during the regular season about potential openings but took complete advantage of his time off away from the grind of the regular season. The result, according to a source close to Tippett, is that he feels “rejuvenated” and ready to get back at it. Calgary Flames GM Brad Treliving mentioned NHL experience as an important ingredient in his coach search to replace Glen Gulutzan. Treliving and Tippett still have a good relationship from their time together with the Coyotes organization where Treliving was an assistant GM.

April 17

Calgary Flames: The Calgary Flames announced that they’ve fired coach Glen Gulutzan along with assistant coaches Dave Cameron and Paul Jerrard, bringing the number of NHL head coach openings to three (Dallas, New York and Calgary). Gulutzan was hired by GM Brad Treliving in 2016 after a very thorough interview process, with Gulutzan’s ability to communicate with and motivate players cited as the driving force behind the hire. He lasted just two seasons after the Flames missed the playoffs this year with 84 points. “The shortcomings of our season are not solely placed on the three coaches today,” Treliving said during a Tuesday press conference. “There is lots of blame to go around.” Treliving declined to say whether or not the availability of certain coaches influenced his decision but Carolina coach Bill Peters, who has a window to talk to other teams, would be a strong early candidate to replace Gulutzan. Sportsnet’s John Shannon suggested that Darryl Sutter’s strong relationship with Calgary ownership could result in a look. Treliving said he’s still building his candidate list. “I think having experience in this league is critical. I think knowing the league is an important aspect,” he said. “There’s candidates that have coached in the league. There’s lots of candidates, some that may still be working.”

Detroit Red Wings: The Red Wings and assistant coach John Torchetti are going separate ways following the conclusion of his two-year contract, signed in 2016. Multiple sources told The Athletic that the Red Wings have notified NHL teams via e-mail of the decision to part ways with Torchetti. Torchetti was brought to Detroit in 2016 after his stint as the interim head coach of the Minnesota Wild. “I’m looking forward to another challenge,” Torchetti told The Athletic on Tuesday. “I wish I could have done more with the team here.”

Candidate update: For teams looking to dip into the college ranks for coaching candidates, Boston University’s David Quinn is often a name near the top of the list. Widely considered one of the top coaches in college hockey, Quinn has led his team to four consecutive appearances in the NCAA tournament. But as of right now, teams with openings haven’t reached out yet. “I haven’t heard anything,” Quinn told The Athletic’s Max Bultman. “And people know how I feel about coaching at BU and the job I have and how fortunate I am. So it’s humbling to have your name mentioned from time to time, but I love being the head coach at BU. I hope they’ll have me here for a long time.”

April 16

Carolina Hurricanes: An NHL source confirmed with The Athletic that Carolina head coach Bill Peters still has the freedom to talk to other teams about coaching openings outside of Carolina. It was believed that Peters had a seven-day window following the conclusion of the Hurricanes’ season, but the window remains open. Peters earns $1.6 million per season on his deal with the Hurricanes and has connections to general managers who are either currently hiring or might be hiring a new head coach. Peters, an assistant under Mike Babcock with the Red Wings, worked with Dallas Stars GM Jim Nill in Detroit before Nill left to take the job in Dallas. Peters also worked with Calgary GM Brad Treliving, who may have a decision to make with coach Glen Gulutzan, during the World Championships for Hockey Canada.

Candidate update: Grand Rapids Griffins coach Todd Nelson is expected to get a long look again this offseason for a promotion to a head NHL job after a strong finish in Grand Rapids. As pointed out by Edmonton radio analyst Bob Stauffer, Nelson had another 40-win season in the AHL — his sixth in seven full seasons, this time overcoming a slow start following a Calder Cup to get the Griffins back into the playoffs with a second-place finish. More importantly for the rebuilding Red Wings, Nelson helped defenseman Filip Hronek take a major step forward in his development with a strong rookie season in the AHL. Nelson was a finalist for the Arizona Coyotes job last summer and is expected to get consideration in at least Dallas.

April 13

Dallas Stars: Veteran coach Ken Hitchcock retired as the Stars coach and moved into an advisor role, opening up a job that will be as good as any available this offseason. According to The Athletic’s Sean Shapiro, GM Jim Nill is entering the job search with an open mind and is willing to go young in replacing Hitchcock. “These coaches are starting young at lower levels, some in Junior A level, some doing a year or two in the East Coast League (ECHL) or American (Hockey) League and they jump right up,” Nill said. One NHL source thought that former Vancouver Canucks coach Willie Desjardins has the inside track on this job. “He has lots of support inside that organization,” said the source.

April 12

Ottawa Senators: GM Pierre Dorion will wait until after the NHL’s draft lottery on April 28 before making a final call on the fate of head coach Guy Boucher, according to The Athletic’s Chris Stevenson. That said, Dorion was critical of Boucher’s handling of practice time on Thursday, taking a shot at Boucher’s oft-used expression that rest is a weapon for his players. “‘Rest is a weapon.’ If I hear that one more time, I’ll go crazy,” Dorion said.