3 coaches who should be worried this summer
Letdown seasons across the hockey landscape could soon lead to sweeping changes.
While the easiest and often most impactful move is to orchestrate a change behind the bench, these three coaches should be cautious of the hot seat:
Lindy Ruff
A coach is only as good as what he's given, and Ruff hasn't been provided with much in Dallas, particularly in goal.
The Dallas bench boss returned with a coin toss between the pipes this year, rotating between Kari Lehtonen and Antti Niemi, neither of which has provided stability and own the second-worst save percentage. The Stars' inability to keep pucks out of their own net is the biggest reason for a major step back after capturing the Central Division last season.
Also working against Ruff is the fact that he doesn't have a contract through next season, making it easier for general manager Jim Nill to facilitate a change.
Willie Desjardins
The Vancouver Canucks coach has spent the year under the gun, but with the team's season soon coming to a disappointing close, Desjardins may not avoid the ax much longer.
Desjardins is in his third season with the Canucks, with one playoff appearance to his credit. This year, the expectation in Vancouver was a return to the postseason, but that won't happen. The Canucks are already eliminated from the playoff chase, having collected 69 points in 76 games.
With the Sedins now staring down the back nine and the team inching close to a traditional teardown, the Canucks will continue to rework their roster, and could seek out a new voice behind the bench to boot.
Darryl Sutter
Will two Stanley Cups be enough to save Sutter? The Los Angeles Kings coach arrived in Hollywood in 2012 and guided the franchise to its first Stanley Cup, and then repeated the feat two years later. But the winning ways have been few and far between ever since, with just one playoff series appearance since 2014, as the Kings fell to the San Jose Sharks.
General manager Dean Lombardi opted to build a team to fit Sutter's grinding style, equipping his team with the likes of Dustin Brown, Jake Muzzin, and the recently acquired Jarome Iginla. But that hasn't paid off for Los Angeles this year, with the Kings on the verge of missing the postseason.
Sutter signed a multi-year extension with the club last May, after much deliberation, but the added term may not stop the Kings from changing course, particularly with a viable candidate in assistant John Stevens already in place.