Tipsheet: More NHL coaching upheaval creates more opportunity for Berube

Mike Sullivan's status remains unclear in Pittsburgh, where the Penguins just cleaned house with their AHL franchise. That team remans invested in legacy stars Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, but it has fallen far from Stanley Cup contention,

The Columbus Blue Jackets are shopping for their new general manager, and it would surprise nobody if that new hire wanted a new coach given the team's spectacular failure this season.

Only one coaching scenario has been resolved during this offseason, with the Buffalo Sabres making the curious decision to reunite with tread-worn Lindy Ruff after they missed the playoffs yet again.

The similarly disappointing Ottawa Senators are well into their hiring process, having already interviewed candidates. Former Blues coach Jacques Martin served as interim coach to close out their disappointing campaign and we're guessing that he'll give some input on what happens next.

This league-wide upheaval put former Blues coach Craig Berube in a great spot. Tipsheet expects him to get offers and have choices about where he will coach next.

If Blues interim coach Drew Bannister doesn't get the job on a more permanent basis in the STL, he should also get a look from other organizations for an NHL or AHL post looking for somebody with player development chops.

Here is what folks have been writing about the NHL coaching marketplace:

Ryan S. Clark, ESPN.com: "Questions again surfaced after Seattle opened this season with four straight losses before another eight-game slide from late November into early December, but the club went on a 13-game points streak that saw them win nine in a row, including a win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in the Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park on New Year's Day. The offense, which buoyed them with consistency in 2022-23, led to them capsizing in 2023-24 -- the Kraken went 13-16-3 after the All-Star break -- as they finished 18th on the power play and 29th in both shooting percentage and goals scored. Ultimately, those offensive struggles -- along with a run of inconsistent performances -- led to the Kraken finishing 34-35-13 and 17 points behind the Golden Knights for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference."

Jonathan Tovell, The Hockey News: "There's a lot of speculation on what happens to Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe with the team losing 3-1 in its first-round series against the Boston Bruins. There are also ponderings about whether the Columbus Blue Jackets would part with Pascal Vincent after going 27-43-12, but the team is still searching for a new GM, and that will reportedly be their decision. Hakstol joins a list of available coaches with past NHL coaching experience, including Berube, (Don) Granato, (Jay) Woodcroft, (Todd) McLellan, Gerard Gallant, Dean Evason, and Bruce Boudreau. Other up-and-coming coaches could get a chance, such as David Carle at the University of Denver and John Gruden, whose season just finished with the AHL's Toronto Marlies. The Kraken may look for a coach who can address the team's offensive issues at 5-on-5 and on the special teams . . . the team was shut out seven times this season and only scored once in 19 other games. They finished fourth-last in goals-for, a stark difference from last season, when they ranked fourth. They also ranked just 17th in power-play percentage and 20th in penalty-killing this season."

Bruce Garrioch, Ottawa Sun: "The sources say the Senators received permission to interview former Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason and already have had at least one meeting about the club's vacant coaching job with him recently. Another source confirmed the Senators either met with former St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube earlier this week or plan to sit down with him. The belief in league circles is the Senators have also held talks with former Los Angeles Kings head coach Todd McLellan, but that hasn't been confirmed. Postmedia has reported McLellan is a top candidate for the job along with Evason and Berube . . . (President of hockey operations Steve) Staios has been tight-lipped about his search since he fired D.J. Smith on Dec. 18 in Arizona and replaced him with Jacques Martin on an interim basis. Since then, the club has been keeping its options open, but the fact Staios has met with Evason means the process has advanced."

Matt Larkin, Daily Faceoff: "Keefe all but hammered the last nail into his Toronto coaching coffin when, following one of the Leafs' more embarrassing home playoff defeats in years, he claimed he saw 'nothing wrong' with the team's effort level. Whether he couldn't acknowledge the problem or couldn't see it, either line of thinking is worrisome from your bench boss in that scenario. Keefe's regular-season record is undeniably great, but he has repeatedly struggled to outcoach his opponents in the postseason, often waiting to make key lineup changes until it's too late and/or making strange choices when he does, such as placing all-finesse left winger Nick Robertson on the checking line in Game 4. Keefe already got his stay of execution last year. Paying out his extension won't be a problem for MLSE now that previous head coach Mike Babcock's contract is off the books. Keefe's fate is quite obviously sealed if Toronto doesn't rally to win this series in seven games."

Jeff Marek, Sportsnet: "One name to keep your eye on for the vacant head coaching position in San Jose is Marco Sturm, currently coaching the Ontario Reign of the AHL (LA Kings affiliate). It sounds like he's ready and wants to take the next step in his career. His Reign won their AHL opening round playoff series with the Bakersfield Condors 2-0 and will face the winner of Colorado-Abbotsford. Sturm is a former Shark and played with GM Mike Grier in San Jose. We'll see. Speaking of the Sharks, as of now the assistants are still in place and one name should stand out here for people - Brian Wiseman. Even through the most difficult of seasons for the Sharks he still had the power play clicking at 21st in the league. Look, anything better than 32 is news. And if you drill down from Feb. 1 onward, San Jose was tied for seventh with Carolina and LA. I know more than a few teams looking for help on their power play. There is also some talk that Sharks assistant Ryan Warsofsky is ready for the bench boss position. There are a lot of people high on him."

Ryan Lambert, EP Rinkside: "Hard for me to be outraged that David Quinn is no longer the coach in San Jose. I remember when they hired him, one of the things Mike Grier talked about was wanting to be harder to play against, and it's like, 'Yeah, that was never gonna happen.' I think you can argue Quinn helped shepherd at least some of the younger guys along, although one wonders how much of that was just, like, the natural progression of things. But there isn't a coach on earth who could have made that team even vaguely competitive. I saw some criticism of exactly how bad they were (which is to say 'abysmal') and that's tough to argue with. There was a stretch where they won 1 game out of 19. There was another of 1 in 16. They opened the season losing 11 straight. They gave up seven or more goals 10 times. I get all that.  But that was the point! I guess if you're tanking, the ideal scenario is to lose every game all year by one goal. But who was ever gonna get anything close to that out of this roster? And, perhaps more pointedly, who's going to make them look even close to competitive next season, the season after that, and so on.  That always has to be the question when this kind of change gets made at this point in a team's rebuild. Quinn was never going to be the long-term coach. He got two seasons with this group and they went as badly as you'd expect a tank job to go. Is a new coach going to win them 25 games? Get slightly more out of the Sharks' growing list of great prospects? Okay, I can buy that. But it seems to me they're so deep into this tunnel that the light at the end of it is a pinhole. The good news is there are a number of proven coaches with at least some amount of winning track record available — Jay Woodcroft, Dean Evason and Craig Berube stand out among the best candidates. I always say that if you fire your coach or your GM or whoever, you should always be sure that you can hire a replacement who's better. A lateral move, or one where you're hoping someone can show growth in that position, is rarely a good idea. I think there are a handful of coaches available who have clearly better track records than Quinn has forged at the NHL level over the past several years (not that he's ever had anything particularly close to a good roster to work with). So the big question for the Sharks, obviously, is which of those brand-name coaches are signing up for this? And if the Sharks go outside the box with, say, a David Carle or Jay Pandofo-type hire, in what way will they be setting him up for success? Doesn't feel like there's a good answer to either of those questions, but you know what they always say when there's a vacancy: There are only 32 of these jobs, so someone will take the money knowing it's a near-impossible hill to climb."

MEGAPHONE

"What a crazy business we're in. Was reading something, 16 to 17 coaches replaced in the last year or so. We're all big boys, we know what we sign up for. It's just part of what we do."

Former Edmonton Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft, on the "Real Kyper and Bourne" show. 

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