Friedman: Possible Bylsma waits to see how everything goes next year before taking a job

After twisting in the wind for three weeks, former Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma was fired last week. The moment he became available, he became the hottest name on the NHL head coaching market.

The U.S. Olympic coach and 2009 Stanley Cup winner was promptly contacted by Dale Tallon and the Florida Panthers, and is reportedly set to interview this week for the head coaching vacancy in Broward County. He was also described as "interesting" by Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning, although he doesn't appear to be a leading candidate for the Canucks job. 

So Bylsma has been tied to two of the three available NHL head coaching jobs in the week since he was let go by the Penguins, but just generating interest and actually landing a job are very different things. Or to frame it another way: Bylsma's candidacy is burning brightly at the moment, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he'll strike an agreement with a club while that fire is hot.

CBC's Elliotte Friedman, in an appearance on "The Scott Rintoul Show" on Monday night, suggested that Bylsma may decide not to take a new job this summer at all:

I'm sure the Canucks will contact him, I think just about every team has, and I know [he'll interview] in Florida. 

I'm not so sure Carolina is going to interview him, I've heard mixed [signals] about whether or not they're interested, but I'm sure there will be contact. I've heard it's not necessarily something he wants. 

I think it's very possible [that] he waits and sees how maybe everything goes next year before he takes a job. Everybody who was looking for a coach knew he was probably going to be available, and I'm not sure it changed a lot when he finally was.

Bylsma was signed to a two-year contract extension in June of 2013, and his contract with the Penguins runs through the 2015-16 season. If he doesn't take another job, then he'll still be getting paid, so it would make sense that he could afford to be selective.