Offseason Firings

[zumpano21]

Although not officially offseason for the Devils, they already let their head coach go.

Which other head coaches around the league should be nervous for their job?

I'll go with Glen Hanlon in Washington.

[MAK]

brian murray , jim playfair.

you could see GMs like macclean and wadell looking for new jobs.

Edited April 4, 2007 by marky_and_komi

[JMMR]

Yeah should the Thrashers head out in the first round I would not be suprised if Wadell was gone. Although I thought he was be gone after last years gaurentee failed.

[RobRock]

I don't think Hanlon is going anywhere just yet. Besides Ovechkin and Kolzig, he doesn't have much to work with in DC, the players seem to respect him and play for him. Unless there's a change at the GM post, Hanlon is safe.

I have heard media outlets recently say that Coyotes GM Mike Barnett could be promoted (read: fired) up the food chain, with Pat Quinn the top candidate to step into that role, but no mention of the dual coach/GM role he once heald in TO.

If Ottawa gets eliminated early, Murray may not be the only one out the door in Ottawa. Muckler may get the boot as well.

And then there's always the constantly-fired, if not officially, John Ferguson, Jr. Leafs no make playoffs, Fergie no keep job, Maurice no keep job.

[shortcat1]

I don't think Hanlon is going anywhere just yet. Besides Ovechkin and Kolzig, he doesn't have much to work with in DC, the players seem to respect him and play for him. Unless there's a change at the GM post, Hanlon is safe.

I have heard media outlets recently say that Coyotes GM Mike Barnett could be promoted (read: fired) up the food chain, with Pat Quinn the top candidate to step into that role, but no mention of the dual coach/GM role he once heald in TO.

If Ottawa gets eliminated early, Murray may not be the only one out the door in Ottawa. Muckler may get the boot as well.

And then there's always the constantly-fired, if not officially, John Ferguson, Jr. Leafs no make playoffs, Fergie no keep job, Maurice no keep job.

you think so?

ferguson maybe... maurice unlikely...

GO :hlogo: GO!

[smon]

Ferguson in Toronto, Barnett in Phoenix, MacLean in Columbus, Playfair in Calgary and possibly Murray & Muckler in Ottawa

[RobRock]

you think so?

ferguson maybe... maurice unlikely...

GO :hlogo: GO!

Well, new GM usually means new coach. I think Maurice is a good coach. It wouldn't surprise me if he stayed on, but it wouldn't if he were let go either.

[Fanpuck33]

MacLean in Columbus

I feel bad for Doug. He made a lot of seemingly good signings and they've done well in the draft. I don't really think he can be blamed for so many of his UFA signings ending up sucking. Foote was always regarded as a great player on the Avs, but he's been terrible and oft-injured in Columbus. Berard played Souray-like hockey, but only for about 40 games over two years. The Anson Carter signing was praised by many at the time, and he ended up proving last season was a result of him playing with the Sedin twins. Plus, this is a team that has been decimated by injuries the last two years. Like right now, the team is playing with 7 AHLers in the lineup. Almost all experts agree that the team MacLean put together this year should make the playoffs. If they hadn't gotten off to such a bad start under Gallant and had so many injuries, they just might have done it. About the only thing I fault MacLean for is keeping Gallant after last season.

[Electron]

I dont think playfair is going to get fired.

[markierung]

Mclean is Gone

Traded for an old Fedorov who wasn't producing.

Resigned Zherdev for too much money after one good year

Anson Carter was a bust

Pouliot was a bust

And finally: Minnesota. They came in the leaugue at the same time and they managed to get an amazing coach, got to the playoffs two or three times and are a contender this year.

Maybe not all the moves are all Mclean's fault, but someone has to get blamed.

[Fanpuck33]

Traded for an old Fedorov who wasn't producing.

Resigned Zherdev for too much money after one good year

Anson Carter was a bust

Pouliot was a bust

And finally: Minnesota. They came in the leaugue at the same time and they managed to get an amazing coach, got to the playoffs two or three times and are a contender this year.

- Fedorov is one of the team's most important players. Sure, he's not what he used to be, but he brings a lot of experience to a young team and does nothing to hurt the team. Without Sergei, this team would be vying for the #1 overall pick.

- Given that Zherdev was asking for nearly twice that and almost stayed in Russia over it, it was worth it. Zherdev has a whole of talent, no matter what stats he put up this year. In fact, I think part of the reason Zherdev struggled this year was because of his holdout. He bounced around lines, was benched after good games, wasn't given the same shots as other players. Heck, even the announcers were constantly berating his play. If you listend to the Columbus media, Nik was the only guy on the team who ever made mistakes. Plus, Gallant never made Zherdev play defence, so he obviously did not adjust quickly to Hitchcock hockey.

- Carter was signed in case Zherdev wasn't signed. He's always been a strong two-way player and he was coming off a career year. At the time, people around the league were praising Carter's signing. Is it MacLean's fault that he was a bust? Are the Habs gonna fire Gainey because Samsonov was a bust?

- Huh? The Jackets have nobody named Pouliot.

- Your point? Atlanta has been in the league longer than the Jackets and are just now making the playoffs. Waddell is still around.

[smon]

Well, Fedorov is a gigantic albatross in terms of the cap. It's just puzzling to see a team that throws out some money to old veterans and still sucks again and again every year. You can't always blame the coach, eventually the GM has to pay the price for bad signings/trades.

I realize a coach plays a big difference especially on a young team led by guys like Zherdev and Nash, but when the veterans brought in to lead the way don't do the job eventually you have to wonder about whether the GM's doing a good job.

[Fanpuck33]

Well, Fedorov is a gigantic albatross in terms of the cap. It's just puzzling to see a team that throws out some money to old veterans and still sucks again and again every year. You can't always blame the coach, eventually the GM has to pay the price for bad signings/trades.

The Jackets are still sitting 10 million below the cap, Fedorov's 6 million isn't hurting them. MacLean knew that when he got him. He knew that 6 million number wasn't going to affect how he did his job. I mean, MacLean traded Tyler Wright and Francois Beauchemin for him. Wright is now retired and Beauchemin was a recent waiver grab who had played all of 12 NHL games. I don't think anyone saw him doing quite as well in Anaheim as he has. (Playing with Neidermeyer was a big part of it, though.)

Based solely on talent going into the season, the Jackets and Habs weren't that far apart. The experts were picking both for low playoff spots. That tells me that MacLean put together a team that was capable of making the playoffs. I mean, they've lost nearly 300 man-games due to injury by my quick estimation. That includes three of their top four defencemen and their #1a goaltender. Heck, the only reason they came close to reaching the franchise's highest win total was because MacLean traded Marc Denis for Fredrik Modin and Fredrik Norrena, the latter turned out to play solid hockey most of the year while LeClaire was hurt.

Btw, I'm not saying he won't get fired, just that I don't think he deserves it.

P.S. Check out my Zherdev thread, some interesting stuff there that I hadn't heard about.