Speculation: The search for a new Head Coach - Rumors and Speculation

If Carle isn’t interested and we are open to young blood who can relate to our young roster, how about Mitch Love who is working for the Caps, specifically developing defensemen under Carbery? He seems well spoken and analytical and mentioned on Dailyfaceoff as a candidate. If the Caps win the Cup I can see him being poached. Apparently he lives in Arizona too, so it would be closer to home. But if Verbeek wants to hire quickly he might not be patient to wait for the season to end to interview him.




But it appears Verbeek is leaning towards a veteran coach. I like Hakstol and Tocchet (out of our budget though) over Q or Woodcroft… but all rumors are pointing to Q who is turning 67 soon… maybe Verbeek is his offering his buddy a favor and this is a short term arraignment giving Q the best shot at proving his abilities getting the Ducks into the playoffs before retiring on his own terms.
 
Friedman says on 32 Thoughts this morning he thinks we’ll know how serious Q and Anaheim are this week. Around 10 minutes left in the podcast between Kings and Canucks talk.

Maybe it’s just me but this time he seems a bit skeptical. Said something to the effect of “we’ll see if they end up going their separate ways”
 
Friedman says on 32 Thoughts this morning he thinks we’ll know how serious Q and Anaheim are this week. Around 10 minutes left in the podcast between Kings and Canucks talk.

Maybe it’s just me but this time he seems a bit skeptical. Said something to the effect of “we’ll see if they end up going their separate ways
I'm more inclined to agree than not, cause he's usually fairly deliberate in his wording.

We'll see....
 
I'm more inclined to agree than not, cause he's usually fairly deliberate in his wording.

We'll see....
I didn’t know if I was reaching for what I wanted to hear or if that’s actually how I heard it. So I listened again and to me, reading between the lines and having listened to him a ton, I do indeed think he’s skeptical this happens.
 
Friedman says on 32 Thoughts this morning he thinks we’ll know how serious Q and Anaheim are this week. Around 10 minutes left in the podcast between Kings and Canucks talk.

Maybe it’s just me but this time he seems a bit skeptical. Said something to the effect of “we’ll see if they end up going their separate ways”

I wonder if the displeasure of the fanbase has gotten through to the organization.
 
I'm skeptical that fan protests will make (or have made) a huge difference. The trial balloon already happened last year with Bowman in Edmonton. That showed - in a market where people would likely care more than Anaheim - that they might see a slight dip in support due to boycotts, but it would be minimal. I also don't buy that Samueli told Verbeek no. To even interview a guy like Q, Verbeek would probably need to clear it with Samueli. My take is that if Q is Verbeek's guy, and Q wants to come here, he'll be the guy. If he's more of a slight favorite over another option (or anything less than that), I think they go another direction.
 
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I'm skeptical that fan protests will make (or have made) a huge difference. The trial balloon already happened last year with Bowman in Edmonton. That showed - in a market where people would likely care more than Anaheim - that they might see a slight dip in support due to boycotts, but it would be minimal. I also don't buy that Samueli told Verbeek no. To even interview a guy like Q, Verbeek would probably need to clear it with Samueli. My take is that if Q is Verbeek's guy, and Q wants to come here, he'll be the guy. If he's more of a slight favorite over another option (or anything less than that), I think they go another direction.
In a way, Edmonton had more to lose than we do. We're bad, so the casual fans don't come to games. If we start winning, those fans will be back and most don't know who the coach is or what he's done.
 
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I'm skeptical that fan protests will make (or have made) a huge difference. The trial balloon already happened last year with Bowman in Edmonton. That showed - in a market where people would likely care more than Anaheim - that they might see a slight dip in support due to boycotts, but it would be minimal. I also don't buy that Samueli told Verbeek no. To even interview a guy like Q, Verbeek would probably need to clear it with Samueli. My take is that if Q is Verbeek's guy, and Q wants to come here, he'll be the guy. If he's more of a slight favorite over another option (or anything less than that), I think they go another direction.
In a way, Edmonton had more to lose than we do. We're bad, so the casual fans don't come to games. If we start winning, those fans will be back and most don't know who the coach is or what he's done.
I actually feel it's the opposite. Edmonton is crazy about hockey, they'll show up no matter who's there or how bad they're doing.

I also don't buy that Verbeek would need to clear an interview with the Samuelis, at least not the initial interview. It seems pretty clear at this point that our ownership is very hands off.
 
In a way, Edmonton had more to lose than we do. We're bad, so the casual fans don't come to games. If we start winning, those fans will be back and most don't know who the coach is or what he's done.
It could very well be the opposite, though.

It's a lot harder to "boycott" a Cup contender with McDavid and Draisaitl than it is to walk away from a team that's been in the lottery (and towards the top) for closing in on a decade. Edmonton is also the only game in town. If I want to stop paying attention to the Ducks (or hockey in general) during the fall, winter, and spring, I have the Rams, Chargers, Lakers, Clippers, Angels, and Dodgers (even before going into USC and UCLA athletics).

If Q succeeds immediately, the prevailing general thought is correct. But if he doesn't, it could be worse for the Ducks. Casual fans won't know who he is (this helps in that they aren't angry) but also doesn't help grow the season ticket sales. Most of that group is already pretty engaged and probably knows the plusses and minuses. I don't think the Ducks have the built in replacements for those turned off by the hire like an Edmonton during a Cup window would. In other words, the amount of people who stop buying tickets immediately wouldn't be replaced by those now interested.

If the team is good right off the bat, then casuals will start going more as the buzz grows. If they don't, then it will be much of the same but without the portion of the fanbase who left. How long is the leash if there's an additional 5% of season seat holders don't renew and they don't make the playoffs? Does he come back for year 2?
 
The SA aside, fan bases for all sports are so fickle. There can be a player who is the most hated in the league and gets traded.

That new team’s fans will be cheering and buying jerseys if he helps them to win.

John
 
It could very well be the opposite, though.

It's a lot harder to "boycott" a Cup contender with McDavid and Draisaitl than it is to walk away from a team that's been in the lottery (and towards the top) for closing in on a decade. Edmonton is also the only game in town. If I want to stop paying attention to the Ducks (or hockey in general) during the fall, winter, and spring, I have the Rams, Chargers, Lakers, Clippers, Angels, and Dodgers (even before going into USC and UCLA athletics).

If Q succeeds immediately, the prevailing general thought is correct. But if he doesn't, it could be worse for the Ducks. Casual fans won't know who he is (this helps in that they aren't angry) but also doesn't help grow the season ticket sales. Most of that group is already pretty engaged and probably knows the plusses and minuses. I don't think the Ducks have the built in replacements for those turned off by the hire like an Edmonton during a Cup window would. In other words, the amount of people who stop buying tickets immediately wouldn't be replaced by those now interested.

If the team is good right off the bat, then casuals will start going more as the buzz grows. If they don't, then it will be much of the same but without the portion of the fanbase who left. How long is the leash if there's an additional 5% of season seat holders don't renew and they don't make the playoffs? Does he come back for year 2?
True, but the GM doesn't hire a guy like that for anything but immediate return. He probably doesn't see this as needing a lot of time.
 
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True, but the GM doesn't hire a guy like that for anything but immediate return. He probably doesn't see this as needing a lot of time.
I agree. I don't think the GM is thinking about the coach not working out, no matter who he picks.

But if I'm the organization, I'm looking at a wide range of outcomes.

Even if they hire Q and he's pretty successful. Let's say there is a little regression from goal tending next year and a decent step up at 5 v 5 and special teams. The team gets 85-90 points. I would say the team is headed in the right direction, but it doesn't make the playoffs. I don't think it gets casuals back to the arena. Maybe it stops the bleeding, but maybe some season seat holders who thought Q was an awesome coach and though it was worth it to make the playoffs are upset because they look bad and didn't even make the playoffs. (This isn't even a worst case scenario where there is the goalie regression without the skater improvement)

Now imagine that same scenario with Carle or Woodcroft at the helm. You aren't losing any season ticket holders right now and none after the 2025-26 season. No one is saying "this was a little disappointing and we compromised for it." I think there's no doubt either of those guys is back, despite Verbeek saying this team should make the playoffs.

How many more coaching hires does PVB get to make before it's his turn to go? This cuts both ways, as he will want to hire the person he knows can do it if he thinks this is his last hire. But it also is the hire with the shortest runway, probably.
 
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Why promote McIlvane? McIlvane hasn't done much the past two seasons in San Diego. I'm kinda bummed about McIlvane b/c I was on that hype train since his first interview being the Gulls head coach.

If you have interest in Carle, then you should have interest in Ferschweiler. Anaheim has two of his kids in their system in Colangelo and Washe. Again, not saying he should be a front runner, but if Verbeek is truthful about casting a wide net, then leave no stone unturned.


I'll push back a little bit here. Sure, they didn't seem to have progressed much in the overall standings but guys like Colangelo, Nesterenko, and Pastujov have definitely taken steps forward in terms of their individual development.
 
Why promote McIlvane? McIlvane hasn't done much the past two seasons in San Diego. I'm kinda bummed about McIlvane b/c I was on that hype train since his first interview being the Gulls head coach.

If you have interest in Carle, then you should have interest in Ferschweiler. Anaheim has two of his kids in their system in Colangelo and Washe. Again, not saying he should be a front runner, but if Verbeek is truthful about casting a wide net, then leave no stone unturned.


-Accolades in both NCAA and as an Assistant Coach
-Good player developer and communicator

🤔

Sounds like a certain head coach that the team just canned, no?
 

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