Has John Hynes improved?

[Deep Blue Metallic]

He's been fired twice in recent years, by NJD and then the Predators. See these search results for a sample of what his adoring HFB fans thought of his coaching ability.

At the quarter-pole of the season his Wild team has been surprisingly successful, trailing only the Jets in point percentage league-wide. He's certainly a Jack Adams candidate at this point.

One could argue that Hynes is merely the beneficiary of great goaltending from Gustavsson and a Hart-level performance from Kaprizov. Otoh he has this team near the very top of the league, when last season's quite similar roster missed the playoffs. If the coach is the scapegoat when a team disappoints, then he gets credit when they exceed expectations; that's just the way it works.

So, has Hynes finally found his stride as an NHL coach or will we see the Wild slide back to mediocrity with him at the helm?

Click to read more...

 

[JianYang]

Coaches are tough to Guage especially for fans as we can't see the day to day dynamics.

At the end of the day, fans will have a certain win loss expectation for a season, and if the team meets or succeeds that, then the coach who happens to be behind the bench for it is deemed to be good, and vice versa.

You can look around the league and see other examples of coaches who were deemed idiots at one point that are highly acclaimed now, and the opposite holds true as well.

Does this mean a certain coach is becoming significantly smarter or dumber overnight? Unlikely. The truth is probably that it has more to do with being at the right place at the right time.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

Many said that Maurice was bad until he won a cup , so ...

 

[SladeWilson23]

I've always felt he was a great players coach. I've only been critical of his system.

 

[thestonedkoala]

If they trade Rossi...

 

[Armourboy]

The truth with Hynes will be when they hit a rough patch. His only solution when the team started struggling was to change the lines every two seconds. Brunette has the exact same issue, and neither of them liked to play younger players unless they are forced too.

 

[SirKillalot]

Does this mean a certain coach is becoming significantly smarter or dumber overnight? Unlikely. The truth is probably that it has more to do with being at the right place at the right time.

The truth is a lot of fans are too polarized when it comes to lashing out their opinion about just "superficial results" without thinking too much about what kind of position of strength the coach is working from when it comes to the roster quality and composition.

 

[MNRube]

It’s also not the same team. Spurgeon missed the whole year. This year they have Faber, Brodin & Spurgeon all healthy - you can count the teams with a Top 3 like that on one hand.

That depth on the blueline plus Kap, Boldy, JEE, Rossi up front is a clear playoff core. The question, as always, is can they win a couple rounds this spring

 

[serp]

Many said that Maurice was bad until he won a cup , so ...

Maurice already had 2 finals appearances as coach and multiple other deep runs before he won the Cup last year. John Hynes has yet to win a playoff series.

Important part will be playoff success . Wild are off to a very good start and i'll give them credit for that but the season is very long. Let's see if they can keep it up.

 

[Circulartheory]

The truth with Hynes will be when they hit a rough patch. His only solution when the team started struggling was to change the lines every two seconds. Brunette has the exact same issue, and neither of them liked to play younger players unless they are forced too.

It's a welcome change. Evason was the polar opposite and lost in the 1st round of playoffs 3 times in a row because of his inability to change lines that weren't working. He also missed the playoffs because of it.

With the Wild, Hynes isn't really changing lines too much. The games still have fairly similar line combos to start off the game. He will change them in-game when the team isn't performing, which is generally when you do want to change up the lines in-game.

And the team has the versatility to handle the change. Kaprizov has the notable chemisty with Zuccarello but was also dominant with Eriksson-Ek/Boldy combo. Rossi has played well as center plays well with skilled and checking lines. JEE also can work on all 3 lines. Hartman plays center and wing, played for Kaprizov's center previously but now a good part of the checking line. So alot of pieces to work with.

 

[mphmiles]

He found a roster that’s perfect for him as a conservative, low-event coach.

The Wild have a phenomenal blue line, good goaltending, and limited forward talent other than a couple high-skilled forwards. It’s a perfect fit for his style.