Trending ▲, Trending ▼: Yeo steps up, rough waters for Rowe
Each week, theScore looks at the teams, players, and other hockey figures trending upward and taking a step back. This week, we're examining the NHL's most recent replacement head coaches.
▲ Mike Yeo
Ken Hitchcock's firing means Yeo takes over the St. Louis Blues a little earlier than he - or anyone else - was expecting, and he'll do so with the club in relative free fall.
It wasn't Hitchcock's fault that the Blues had the worst goaltending in the NHL, nor will it be Yeo's, but it will be the new bench boss' responsibility to right the ship until and unless general manager Doug Armstrong is willing to make a move to improve the team's netminding woes.
Yeo has enough previous head coaching experience with the Minnesota Wild and associate coaching time learning under Hitchcock to be fully prepared for this role.
He's expected to lead the Blues for three more seasons after this one, so while there's certainly pressure to make the playoffs and match last season's Western Conference Final run, Yeo can take comfort in knowing he was hand-picked and groomed for this opportunity.
▼ Tom Rowe
Coaching changes often rouse teams regardless of whether it's a necessary move, but that awakening simply hasn't happened in Florida.
When the Panthers fired Gerard Gallant and named general manager Tom Rowe the interim head coach for the rest of the season, it was a puzzling move, not only because of Gallant's abrupt departure but also because his replacement occupied a desk in the front office.
Rowe isn't without coaching experience, but the skepticism appears to have been warranted. The Panthers have reeled off two straight wins, but they're 11-10-9 in the 30 games since he took the reins. For those scoring at home, that's really 11-19, or eight games below .500.
The defending Atlantic Division champions find themselves on the outside of the playoff picture looking in - two points back of the Philadelphia Flyers for the second wild-card spot in the East, and one point behind the Toronto Maple Leafs, who have three games in hand.
▲ Doug Weight
The New York Islanders look like an entirely new team under Weight, who was elevated to the head coaching position when Jack Capuano was fired last month.
They're 5-0-1 with Weight behind the bench, rising from last place to within three points of the Flyers for that final playoff position in the parity-riddled Eastern Conference.
The Islanders have outscored opponents 19-10 in the first six games of the Weight era. Like Yeo, he was groomed for the job, but, unlike his Blues counterpart, his tutelage came as an assistant coach. Either way, he's proving that experience paid off.