Why do NHL teams make so many in-season coaching changes?
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Ryan S. Clark, NHL reporter
Lindy Ruff is no longer the coach of the New Jersey Devils, becoming the seventh NHL head coach to be fired during the 2023-24 season.
He is also the latest example that being behind an NHL bench might be the most disposable position in all of sports. In the last five years, there have been 25 head coaches who have been fired during the NHL season.
How does that compare to other sports? Major League Baseball, the NBA and the NFL have had a total of 32 in-season coaching/managerial changes combined in that same amount of time, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. The NFL has had the most with 13. The NBA is second with 10 while Major League Baseball has had nine.
“Actually, I thought the number would have been a little bit higher to be honest with you,” former Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma said. “I know it’s been a lot in the last 16-to-18 months. It’s a lot. But, it happens.”
Several items have been attributed as to why NHL organizations burn through head coaches at a rate that’s rapidly higher compared to its MLB, NBA and NFL counterparts.
Each situation has its nuances. The common denominator that nearly every in-season coaching change shares is management has reached a breaking point. The seven teams that have fired coaches this season all entered the season with playoff aspirations ranging from a preseason Stanley Cup front runner in the Edmonton Oilers to a team such as the Ottawa Senators that had one of the more active offseasons in the league.
That eventual point of separation came either because of a slow start or a team was going through a free fall. Getting off to a poor start is what prompted the Oilers to make a change by mid-November after losing 10 of their first 12 games. The Senators did the same after losing five of six games in mid-December for an 11-15 start that saw them gradually fall out of the playoff discussion.
Free fall is what happened with the Los Angeles Kings and New York Islanders. The Kings were another potential Stanley Cup challenger and started 20-7-4 only to lose 14 of their next 17 games before making a change at the All-Star Break. The Islanders were 17-9-9 when they lost nine of their next 11 contests before replacing Lane Lambert with Patrick Roy.
Of the six teams that made coaching changes before Ruff was fired, the Kings and Oilers are the only ones who entered Tuesday in a playoff spot. The Blues, Islanders and Minnesota Wild were more than five points shy of the wild-card while the Senators were adrift by 19 points. The Devils were eight points behind the leading teams in the wild-card race.
There’s also the notion that a coach might be the easiest change to make considering the challenges teams constantly face to move players because of a salary cap that’s become even more constricting in recent years.
“If a team has certain expectations from ownership and management, it’s either going to be a GM who is let go or a coach who is let go,” said Lindsay Pennal, the executive director for the NHL Coaches Association. “We can see who falls on the chopping block. … In the NHL, if you have lost a few games over a few weeks, teams are ready to make a decision.”
Pennal said it’s encouraging that the NHL’s three longest tenured coaches — the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Jon Cooper, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Mike Sullivan and the Colorado Avalanche’s Jared Bednar — prove that longevity can lead to success.
After all, those three coaches have won five of the eight most recent Stanley Cups.
But there have been coaches who were fired this season who were proof that longevity and success can only go so far. Craig Berube won a Stanley Cup and led the St. Louis Blues to four straight playoff appearances in his five-plus seasons. Dean Evason led the Wild to the postseason in four straight seasons.
Even they got fired. Their firings also came with a sense of symmetry that further emphasizes a team’s expectations. Berube, Evason and Jay Woodcroft, who was fired after parts of three seasons in Edmonton, were also in-season hires who were added when their respective teams decided a change was needed.
This is why the phrase “hired to be fired” is one that is commonly heard about NHL coaches.
“I can only surmise what coaches tell me, which is that this comes with the territory,” Pennal said. “They have a short life span with a team but there’s a lot of circular movement. Even though they are being fired, they can be hired by another team. They can have a long tenure with coaching in the NHL.”
To Pennal’s point, four of the seven teams that fired their coach replaced them with someone who had previously been an NHL head coach elsewhere. The NHL currently has 15 coaches with previous head coaching experience for another team.
Bylsma, now the coach of the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, said the NHL’s current playoff format could also play a role in why teams quickly move on from coaches. He said 16 teams or half the NHL makes the playoffs which creates the belief for enough franchises that they could get into the postseason.
“So, there’s an added pressure on the coach and the manager when you don’t meet those expectations but 16 other teams do,” Bylsma said. “You can go around the league and see what the Sabres were saying, the Red Wings were saying, the Blue Jackets, the Senators and a lot of those teams were talking about playoff expectations. The facts are when you look at the East … you are fighting for a slim, narrow margin of maybe making the playoffs.”
As an agent who represents NFL and NHL coaches, Ian Greengross, offered insight into why the shelf lives for coaches in those leagues are different.
Greengross said the perception around how coaches are valued in either league goes back to the nature of each sport. He said the NFL and football as a whole is more methodical in nature when it comes to details such as clock control, lengthy drives and scripted plays. The NHL and hockey, while it allows for coaches to also run systems and script some plays, remains more free-flowing in nature with items such as line combinations or defensive pairings that can be shuffled multiple times throughout a game.
The mentality in those leagues and sports is something Greengross said plays a role in how coaching contracts are handled. He said NFL coaches often sign contracts that are between four and five years in length while an NHL coach is getting three years, and he pointed out that NFL coaches are making around $7 or $8 million annually while the average NHL coach makes $2.5 million.
Greengross also mentioned an NFL player can keep the same agent when they transition to coaching. In the NHL, an agent cannot represent coaches and players, which means they must choose one over the other.
“Coaches have gone agentless which has led to a system where they feel fungible and take the first offer,” Greengross said. “It’s not because they are not smart people or not deserving but it’s because nobody has been there to guide them. They’re coaches, they’re not agents. They’re not negotiators per se. They’ve been made to feel that if they don’t accept a team’s offer, the team will go get their second choice or someone else instead.”
While the number of coaching agents is growing, Greengross added that there are coaches who are starting to understand that they don’t have to take the first offer and that they can ask for more money.
“They’re not going to hang up and never call again,” Greengross said. “They may say ‘No.’ But at least you asked for it.”
Bylsma remarked how his expiration date was something that did come up during his time with the Penguins. He had heard about how coaches in Pittsburgh were usually gone after three seasons with Bylsma making it to a sixth season where he reached the playoffs in every one but was eventually dismissed.
So what would make someone want to go back for more after getting fired the first time?
“I’m slapping myself with the word ‘arrogance’ here,’ Bylsma laughed. “I think you have to have a belief that as a coach, the way your team plays, the way you can get your team to play and with the players you have, that you can be a winner.”
The 2025 MLB All-Star Home Run Derby is fast approaching — and the field is starting to take shape.
Braves hometown hero Ronald Acuna Jr. become the first player to commit to the event, which will be held at Truist Park in Atlanta on July 14 (8 p.m. ET on ESPN). He has since been followed by MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh of the Seattle Mariners, James Wood of the Washington Nationals and Byron Buxton of the Minnesota Twins.
As the entrants are announced, we’ll add them to the running list below — and break down their chances at taking home this year’s Derby prize.
Full All-Star Game coverage: How to watch, schedule, rosters, more
2025 home runs: 9 | Longest: 467 feet
Why he could win: Acuna has been crushing it since he returned to the lineup May 23 after knee surgery. Indeed, his numbers are even better than during his MVP season in 2023. It should help that he’ll be hitting in front of his home fans in Atlanta: Todd Frazier in Cincinnati in 2015 and Bryce Harper with the Nationals in 2018 rode the loud support to Derby titles. Acuna’s raw power should also translate well to the Derby: Among players with at least 500 at-bats since 2023, he has the longest average home run distance in the majors.
Why he might not: Will he run into Pete Alonso again? Acuna competed in the 2019 and 2022 contests, losing both times to Alonso by a single home run (in the semifinals in 2019 and in the first round in 2022). The home-field advantage can also perhaps be a detriment if a player gets too hyped up in the first round. See Julio Rodriguez in Seattle in 2023, when he had a monster first with 41 home runs but then tired out in the second round.
2025 home runs: 35 | Longest: 440 feet
Why he could win: It’s the season of Cal! The Mariners’ catcher is having one of the greatest slugging first halves in MLB history, with 32 home runs, as he’s been crushing mistakes all season . His easy raw power might be tailor-made for the Derby — he ranks in the 87th percentile in average exit velocity and delivers the ball, on average, at the optimal home run launch angle of 23 degrees. His calm demeanor might also be perfect for the contest as he won’t get too amped up.
Why he might not: He’s a catcher — and one who has carried a heavy workload, playing in all but one game this season. This contest is as much about stamina as anything, and whether Raleigh can carry his power through three rounds would be a concern. No catcher has ever won the Derby, with only Ivan Rodriguez back in 2005 even reaching the finals.
2025 home runs: 23 | Longest: 451 feet
Why he could win: He’s big, he’s strong, he’s young, he’s awesome, he might or might not be able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. This is the perfect opportunity for Wood to show his talent on the national stage, and he wouldn’t be the first young player to star in the Derby. He ranks in the 97th percentile in average exit velocity and 99th percentile in hard-hit rate, so he can still muscle the ball out in BP even if he slightly mishits it. His long arms might be viewed as a detriment, but remember the similarly tall Aaron Judge won in 2017.
Why he might not: His natural swing isn’t a pure uppercut — he has a pretty low average launch angle of just 6.2 degrees — so we’ll see how that plays in a rapid-fire session. In real games, his power is primarily to the opposite field, but in a Home Run Derby you can get more cheapies pulling the ball down the line.
2025 home runs: 20 | Longest: 479 feet
Why he can win: Buxton’s raw power remains as impressive as nearly any hitter in the game. He crushed a 479-foot home run earlier this season and has four others of at least 425 feet. Indeed, his “no doubter” percentage — home runs that would be out of all 30 parks based on distance — is 75%, the highest in the majors among players with more than a dozen home runs. His bat speed ranks in the 89th percentile. In other words, two tools that could translate to a BP lightning show.
Why he won’t: Buxton is 31 and the Home Run Derby feels a little more like a younger man’s competition. Teoscar Hernandez did win last year at age 31, but before that, the last winner older than 29 was David Ortiz in 2010, and that was under much different rules than are used now.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Pittsburgh Pirates are back on the board after Tommy Pham‘s two-run home run in the third inning at Kansas City on Monday night ended a 30-inning scoreless streak.
The Pirates had been shut out in all three games at Seattle during their previous series.
However, they tallied another loss against the Royals, losing 9-3.
The scoreless streak included Sunday’s 1-0 loss to the Mariners in which Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes threw 10 strikeouts in five scoreless innings before the Pirates gave up a run in the bottom of the sixth.
Before beginning this nine-game trip with the sweep by the Mariners, the Pirates had blanked the St. Louis Cardinals in three consecutive home games. Their streak of playing in six straight shutouts matched the longest in major league history.
Pham, a 12-year veteran who is in his first season with the Pirates, bookended the scoreless skid with RBIs. He drove in a seventh-inning run with a groundout Wednesday during the 5-0 victory over the Cardinals.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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