1. Bruce Boudreau, Washington Capitals
Seems like an unlikely name to top this list given that Boudreau’s Caps went 54-15-13 with 121 points and the franchise’s first-ever Presidents’ Trophy as the best team in the 2009-10 regular season, but that’s exactly the problem.
The Caps have been a good-to-great regular season team ever since Boudreau stepped behind the bench and ownership — already having signed much of the core of the team to long-term pacts — is anxious to move to the next level. General manager George McPhee seemingly upped the pressure this off-season when he said: "You can’t take anything for granted. You only get so many opportunities."
With the core group signed, either Boudreau gets them to the next level or someone else will likely get the chance.
2. Ron Wilson, Toronto Maple Leafs
Wilson’s a good coach, a career coach, with a resume that screams player development and improved results, but Wilson has an abrasive personality that doesn’t normally win him friends in the locker room or in the media (and Toronto is a media-sensitive town).
He’s won just 64 games in his two full seasons behind the Leafs bench, the team hasn’t shown a hint of playoff possibilities with him at the helm and the pressure, especially in light of Toronto not having won the Stanley Cup since 1967, is building. Wilson would seem protected in that he has this season and next on his contract, but money is rarely an issue for Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment, and if the Leafs don’t show marked improvement early this season — especially in the two areas Wilson is said to be good at (power plays and penalty killing), it’s possible that even his friend and one-time college teammate, general manager Brian Burke, won’t be able to save him.
3. Scott Gordon, New York Islanders
One could argue that God couldn’t have done any better than Gordon in his two seasons with the hapless Islanders, but two last-place finishes in the less-than-powerhouse Atlantic Division is evidence that the clock is ticking. Given that Gordon was hired by a newbie general manager, Garth Snow, who has the ear of ownership despite the team likely still years away from a breakthrough in part because few players want to play there. And with goaltending centered around the always iffy Rick DiPietro, Gordon is definitely in the "we need to go in a new direction," crosshairs. The standards are not high on Long Island, but another last-place finish would be a low point that could prompt Snow to consider making a change.
4. Brent Sutter, Calgary Flames
In fairness, we should be typing general manager Darryl Sutter’s name into this slot as his chances of holding onto his job are somewhere between slim and non-existent if the Flames don’t make something of the 2010-11 season (You don’t think former Tampa GM Jay Feaster was brought on board for smirks and giggles do you?)
Still, when a GM is faced with a situation like "win or else," even a brother is fair game. It’s not that Brent can’t coach, but he’s been handed a team on the decline with a patchwork of old and overrated players. Couple that with having few prospects in the system and genuine salary cap problems and there’s not much room for creativity, let alone improvement. Besides, Sutter wouldn’t be the first NHL coach done in by his brother; just ask Terry Murray how it all went down with brother Bryan in Florida.
5. Tie: Paul Maurice in Carolina and Todd Richards in Minnesota
Maurice is in trouble because he and the ‘Canes have a history of up-and-down seasons and Maurice is scheduled for a downer, which won’t sit well in Carolina when management is already grooming franchise hero Ron Francis for a turn behind the bench.
Richards has the distinct misfortune of trying to reinvent a dormant attack for a lackluster team while trying to overthrow the defensive yoke put on the franchise by former head coach Jacques Lemaire. It’s a difficult task, especially with scoring star Marian Gaborik gone (New York Rangers) and no true franchise player in waiting to take his place. Both men also have to face demanding ownership. Hurricanes owner Peter Karmanos is a stickler for performance and is not above overruling general manager Jim Rutherford in Carolina. Meanwhile, Craig Leipold has spent real money in Minnesota and is expecting some real results.
After all, he’s not in Nashville anymore.
The hot seat doesn’t always mean a coach is going to be fired, but there will be pressure on some others around the league, notably Marc Crawford in Dallas, where a poor start and fan apathy can drive down the sale price of an owner who is desperate to sell.
John MacLean finally gets his crack behind the New Jersey Devils bench, but it’s a given that general manager Lou Lamoriello can pull a coaching plug faster than any GM alive, even when it’s least expected.
Craig Ramsay, perhaps the longest-serving head-coach-in-waiting candidate in the history of the NHL has a loyal backer in Atlanta general manager Rick Dudley going back to the time they were teammates in Buffalo in the early 1970s, but ownership in Atlanta is hardly stable and that could cause problems for both Dudley and Ramsay if the Thrashers stumble.
And let’s not forget Randy Carlyle, who missed the playoffs with Anaheim last season and is in the tenuous position of being a holdover coach hired by a former GM (Brian Burke, since replaced by Bob Murray).
