The Calgary Flames fired head coach Darryl Sutter, the club announced Monday.
"On behalf of ownership and all Calgary Flames fans, we want to thank Darryl for his cumulative years of service to the Calgary Flames and to the community at large," Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation CEO John Bean said.
Sutter just completed the third season of his second stint as the Flames' bench boss. The team signed him to a two-year contract extension this past October that was set to take effect on July 1, according to Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli.
The new contract is expected to pay Sutter around $4 million per season following his dismissal, reports The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.
The Flames had a disappointing 2022-23 campaign, finishing with a 38-27-17 record to miss the playoffs for the second time in three years.
Flames president of hockey operations and interim general manager Don Maloney said he spoke with Sutter for two-and-a-half hours and interviewed 25 players, coaches, members of the training staff, and player agents. Maloney said it then "became clear" the Flames need a "new voice" behind the bench.
“I think in today's world - he's a firm coach, a hard coach, demanding coach - there's a shelf life to that type of coaching," Maloney said. "Unfortunately for us, I think that obviously I felt his time expired with us."
Calgary also agreed to part ways with general manager Brad Treliving in April after Treliving spent nine years in the role. Maloney said the Flames' next general manager will choose the new head coach.
Sutter won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL's top head coach last season after leading Calgary to a 50-21-11 record and a Pacific Division title. He finishes his second Flames stint with a 102-63-28 record.
The 64-year-old ranks ninth all time among NHL head coaches with 737 career regular-season victories.
