With the first quarter of the 2016-17 NHL regular season in the books we already have a pretty good idea of what to expect around the league this season. While John Tortorella has earned the trust of management and ownership with a 12-5-4 start in Columbus, there are a number of coaches who are on the hot seat because their teams have underachieved to this point in the season. Here is a look at four NHL head coaches that are on the hot seat right now.
Jack Capuano, New York Islanders
It’s actually surprising that Capuano hasn’t already been fired following the Islanders terrible start to the season. New York is buried at the bottom of the Eastern Conference with an 8-10-4 record and that is only after back-to-back wins over the Calgary Flames and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Islanders rank just 17th in the NHL with 2.5 goals per game and they have been even worse when it comes to keeping the puck out of their net with a 3.0 goals allowed per game mark that ranks 24th in the NHL. New York ranks in the bottom-third of the league in both powerplay percentage and penalty kill percentage and even after their last two wins the overall outlook isn’t optimistic. With John Tavares set to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of this season, something will have to give soon as the Islanders might want to shake things up and replace Capuano.
Willie Desjardins, Vancouver Canucks
Unlike the Islanders, Vancouver wasn’t expected to be a playoff contender this season. However, even if they aren’t ready to contend this year the Canucks probably want to see more from a team that owns a 10-11-2 record. Vancouver ranks in the bottom-five in both goals per game and goals allowed per game and there really hasn’t been any reason to expect them to improve in either area. The Canucks are stuck between sticking with the veterans on the club and making a full youth movement and the results have been terrible on and off the ice. The pressure is building for Desjardins to figure it out and if Vancouver doesn’t turn things around soon then it could result in a coaching change.
Jared Bednar, Colorado Avalanche
Patrick Roy’s controversial resignation was met with mixed reviews but based on the early results his successor has produced in Colorado the fans of the team might regret the coaching change made in the summer. The Avalanche is tied with the Arizona Coyotes for the worst point total in the NHL this season and there isn’t much to like at all about the direction this team is headed in. Colorado ranks 29th in the NHL with an average of 2.2 goals per game and 23rd in goals allowed per game with an average of 3.0 against per game. It hasn’t helped that the Avalanche also rank in the bottom third of the league in both powerplay and penalty kill percentage, especially since poor special teams numbers are usually an indictment against the coaching staff. Colorado isn’t as deep as it was in previous years but there is enough talent on the roster to expect this team to be better than 30th in the NHL this season. Bednar might have a little longer of a leash since it’s his first season with the club but his seat is getting hotter every day.
Lindy Ruff, Dallas Stars
Dallas has been hit hard by the injury bug early on this season but at the end of the day the expectations for this club are higher than .500 hockey. The Stars are 9-9-2 this season and dealing with some of the same issues that have plagued the team in past years as they rank 30th in the NHL in goals allowed per game with an average of 3.3 against. Part of the problem is the league’s 29th-ranked penalty kill and part of the problem is that the tandem of Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi hasn’t been very good but in the end it will be Ruff held responsible for how his team performs. Dallas has too much talent in place to miss out on the playoff picture in the Western Conference so all eyes will be on Ruff to see if he can turn things around this season before it is too late.
