Rumor: Friedman: Vellucci not coming back

[bleedgreen]

I mean even still, if his goal is to be an NHL head coach, why would he not take an NHL head coaching job of one is available?

I'm not getting you. Of course he should take whatever is best for him, I'm saying we should offer whatever we can to keep him. We're very caught up in the now, we still have years of this shit in front of us and this guy is an obvious asset. Do whatever you can to entice him to stay. If he goes because they offer him the big gig so be it, but make a large effort instead of assuming we can find some young hungry guy who will do it for nearly free.

 

[NotOpie]

Well, I'm not so sure I'd take Friedman's take on this team. He's not exactly plugged in here and recently he's not seemingly plugged in anywhere. That said, things change....the rumor that he wanted to coach more than sit in the GM's chair is a little long in the tooth now and a season behind the bench in Charlotte, watching where the big club is going could change some of that.

In the end, who knows, but if the Buffalo job is the only head coaching gig open, I'm not sure they'd chase Vellucci anyway. Word on the street is that they want a guy with NHL head coaching experience.

 

[Unsustainable]

He's mentioned at one point before that he prefers coaching, so if that still holds true, he may not want the GM position. It's not ideal, but it means we're doing something right to have a guy that is wanted. We just gotta find the next Vellucci if he does leave. I'll be interested to see what type of success he has if he moves into an NHL head coaching position. He seems like a good coach in Charlotte, but he does have a pretty talented team, and we haven't seen much of the high end talent in Charlotte develop into much at the NHL level yet. I love what he's done, but I do think the jury is still out on him a bit at this point.

Scotty Walker should be next

 

[NotOpie]

Scotty Walker should be next

I, for one, would love that....maybe our man Rod can have some influence. At one point in time a while back, I believe his wife was fighting cancer (or it might have been his mother). There was some talk that impacted his original decision to leave coaching.

 

[CanesFanBudMan]

I think Jwilly may someday be a good coach for young talent. Hope he stays with the org after he retires. I think he's still got a good year or two left in him, tho. Hope they can get him to extend his services. It's like having an on ice coach for this young crew.

The Williams' moved to NC (Cary) in 2016 before Williams signed with the Canes. So I would imagine he is planning on staying in NC after he retires.

 

[Cane mutiny]

Yeh, I know that, but I meant actually continue to work within the org, not just live here. He's such an inspirational guy for young guys to be around.

 

[Chrispy]

If he gets a head coaching or even NHL assistant coaching opportunity you can't blame him in the slightest.

But if not, I'd be disappointed if he moved laterally. He's super for this franchise.

I'd blame Carolina if he leaves for an assistant job in the NHL.

Head coach? Yeah, Rod worked out better than I could have imagined, so that's not happening anytime soon. It's time for Vellucci to take a shot if he gets one. Even if he crashes and burns in Buffalo, he would then have NHL head coaching experience, which gives him a leg up in this league for another job.

Stinks for us, but I can't see any offer Carolina can make that would dwarf finally getting an NHL head coaching job. Maybe GM if he wants that, but if he wants to coach we can't match that opportunity, even with $$.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

I'd blame Carolina if he leaves for an assistant job in the NHL..

Why? Maybe he didn’t initially want an assistant job last year and now it’s hard to remove the guys in place.

 

[emptyNedder]

They were going through a few names, and when Vellucci's was brought up he said: "The word is that he is not going to be back there."

This has been bothering me for two days. It isn't specifically saying that Vellucci is going to be in the NHL. I understand that things have worked out, but TD was also fairly clear that he didn't want to pay certain people, whether players (Hanifin and Lindhlom) or staff (Kaiton). Charlotte has an excellent roster, but some of the success is due to Vellucci. I think he has made the case that he should be well remunerated. If he is not with the organization but not a head coach in the NHL, that is problematic.

 

[MinJaBen]

This has been bothering me for two days. It isn't specifically saying that Vellucci is going to be in the NHL. I understand that things have worked out, but TD was also fairly clear that he didn't want to pay certain people, whether players (Hanifin and Lindhlom) or staff (Kaiton). Charlotte has an excellent roster, but some of the success is due to Vellucci. I think he has made the case that he should be well remunerated. If he is not with the organization but not a head coach in the NHL, that is problematic.

Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same. The “he’s not going to be back there” comment seems to imply that it is not dependent on if he gets another position.

 

[Hulkacaniac]

Yeah, I’ve been thinking the same. The “he’s not going to be back there” comment seems to imply that it is not dependent on if he gets another position.

Honestly who the hell knows what the comment means. It’s so vague, we’ll just have to wait and see.

 

[Unsustainable]

I reached out to a friend with the Checkers, he was shocked when I asked him. He hadn’t heard anything

 

[NotOpie]

I reached out to a friend with the Checkers, he was shocked when I asked him. He hadn’t heard anything

I repeat, Freidman is the least plugged in "insider" in recent years. I'd take this news item with a huge grain of salt.

 

[Chainshot]

First off, congrats on the Checkers season. That team is a machine.

The weird thing is Elliotte reporting that "the word is he is not going to be back there." How many HC positions are even open, just Buffalo? So if Buffalo doesn't hire him, what happens?

It's one thing to say something like he's an enticing candidate around the league. Another to say he's not going to be back. Where would he go if not an NHL HC position?

Friedman has had some interesting tidbits around the Sabres situation even if the local reporters cast aspersions his way. He suggested it would be Krueger getting the HC job and he's mentioned Vellucci as a possible member of Krueger's staff after the hiring.

I repeat, Freidman is the least plugged in "insider" in recent years. I'd take this news item with a huge grain of salt.

We used to think that about him for the Sabres, then he started getting successive things right so either he is regressing to the mean or it turned out he has something over there. I'm not sure it's so much that he's clued in on Canes happenings as he has an ear for some of the Buffalo inner workings.

I was hoping he and Keefe were in the running for the HC position due to their successes in the AHL. It seems like he's close to breaking through if anyone bothers to pay attention to the sort of teams he's running in Charlotte.

 

[Navin R Slavin]

If Vellucci were content to be an assistant, I imagine he'd stay with the Canes org and all the kids he just coached to an AHL title. It doesn't make sense for him to move for anything less than a HC gig.

 

[MinJaBen]

If Vellucci were content to be an assistant, I imagine he'd stay with the Canes org and all the kids he just coached to an AHL title. It doesn't make sense for him to move for anything less than a HC gig.

Well, he is one of the last high profile holdovers from the Karmanos/Francis guys...maybe he is just doesn't want to be underpaid or some other thing.

 

[GoldiFox]

I'd wager Velucci is more likely to want a GM job. If he isn't able to find something this year then spending another year leading a powerhouse Charlotte to back-to-back dominant seasons would further progress towards that goal. Maybe Seattle sees his success and bring him in to run their expansion draft.

 

[DougieSmash]

Replace Waddell with Vellucci but keep DW. He's good.

 

[My Special Purpose]

There's no telling what Friedman's source is on the Vellucci thing. It could be Vellucci himself. It could be Kruger. I have no idea who Friedman's friends are. There are lots of ways to get a story. It doesn't have to be through the Canes org.

Having said that, I'd be shocked if Vellucci is back as Charlotte HC, only because, as a coach, he doesn't belong there. And if he wants to be a coach, he's gonna have to move on.

As an aside, I'm convinced the most plugged-in guy in NHL circles is John Forslund. He simply knows *everybody* and everybody likes and respects him. I'm not going to get into a lot of detail, but I've been there when he let calls from a veritable who's who of NHL elites go to voicemail.

John is a great play-by-play guy, one of the best around, but if he ever decided to go into any other position in hockey, up to and including GM or media insider, he'd be so good at it. Honestly, I hope he writes a book someday, but I don't think he will.

 

[Boom Boom Apathy]

There's no telling what Friedman's source is on the Vellucci thing. It could be Vellucci himself. It could be Kruger. I have no idea who Friedman's friends are. There are lots of ways to get a story. It doesn't have to be through the Canes org.

Having said that, I'd be shocked if Vellucci is back as Charlotte HC, only because, as a coach, he doesn't belong there. And if he wants to be a coach, he's gonna have to move on.

That would be odd. This news from Friedman came out on Apr 25th. Krueger wasn't hired until mid may. I agree though that there are lots of sources in and out of the Canes that could know.

I also think Vellucci won't be back in Charlotte as HC. Hopefully we can keep him within the org somehow though (GM/AGM role, assistant coach role, etc...), but I imagine some other teams may provide him with a better opportunity.

 

[DaveG]

It comes down to this: does he want to be a GM, a HC, or does it not matter to him which and he just wants to be at the highest level?

If it's option 1 he's staying. Shy of Seattle offering him the GM position this is about as good a situation as he could hope to be in at the moment since Don doesn't want to do it long term.

If it's 2 or 3 he's gone and we will know about it soon.

FWIW I think Francis will end up being the GM in Seattle.

 

[Joe McGrath]

It comes down to this: does he want to be a GM, a HC, or does it not matter to him which and he just wants to be at the highest level?

If it's option 1 he's staying. Shy of Seattle offering him the GM position this is about as good a situation as he could hope to be in at the moment since Don doesn't want to do it long term.

If it's 2 or 3 he's gone and we will know about it soon.

FWIW I think Francis will end up being the GM in Seattle.

Francis is just waiting out JR in Pittsburgh.

 

[Svechhammer]

Francis would be a good GM for a brand new franchise. Steady, methodical, and will quickly load up the pipeline for long term success. He would do well in Seattle, and they'd be smart to hire him.

Vellucci leaving Charlotte should surprise nobody. He has literally nothing more to prove there, and its time for him to take that next step in his career. Whether that is with a position with the Canes or elsewhere, he has absolutely earned the opportunity to maximize his gains, and he'd do very well to use it. Selfishly, I hope its with us, but I hold no grudges if he finds something elsewhere.

 

[Anton Dubinchuk]

I don’t have insight into the inner workings of the NHL so maybe I’m missing something, but in what world is Vellucci a GM candidate? He just won the Calder Cup as a head coach. I get that he’s also in some official position with the Canes, but I’ve never heard his name come up once in any potential GM search. I’m not sure winning the Calder Cup as a HC moves the needle much on his front office resume, but also what do I know?

 

[DaveG]

The only thing that gives me a good bit of hope with keeping him is that even dating back to his time in Plymouth he was more management oriented. In fact the only reason he stepped back behind the bench the first time there is that the team went from dominant to dumpster fire under I think it was Greg Stefan.