Speculation: Todd McLellan to be hired as head coach?

[CBJx614]

Kings fan chiming in here with Cold notes on TMac a.k.a. “Koala” Great X’s and O’s coach. Structured. In game coaching adjustments are non existent and he’s not fond of playing the younger guys in the lineup.

Hope he works out for you.

Well he's not gonna have much choice here because every is young

 

[CBJWerenski8]

Kings fan chiming in here with Cold notes on TMac a.k.a. “Koala” Great X’s and O’s coach. Structured. In game coaching adjustments are non existent and he’s not fond of playing the younger guys in the lineup.

Hope he works out for you.

Tough luck for him, as of right now that’s the only types of players we have lol.

 

[CBJx614]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1805762217083551880

 

[ViD]

Let him cook

And we will judge

 

[Viqsi]

Kings fan chiming in here with Cold notes on TMac a.k.a. “Koala” Great X’s and O’s coach. Structured. In game coaching adjustments are non existent and he’s not fond of playing the younger guys in the lineup.

Hope he works out for you.

Appreciate the report, but to be frank at this point I am legit convinced I have never, not once, ever seen an evaluation of literally any coach on HF that has not included these two complaints. Ever. Each and every single one.

 

[Cyclones Rock]

I don't have a strong opinion about his coaching, but I do about his hair.

Hard NO.

 

[MoeBartoli]

Kings fan chiming in here with Cold notes on TMac a.k.a. “Koala” Great X’s and O’s coach. Structured. In game coaching adjustments are non existent and he’s not fond of playing the younger guys in the lineup.

Hope he works out for you.

At first I thought I was reading a post on Gallant.

 

[GoJackets1]

Appreciate the report, but to be frank at this point I am legit convinced I have never, not once, ever seen an evaluation of literally any coach on HF that has not included these two complaints. Ever. Each and every single one.

Yeah I’m certainly guilty of this myself. lol

If McLellan does rely heavily on vets- he certainly did in LA- It will be interesting to see how that plays out here.

 

[Ice9]

I think he looks like the cartoon character, Pogo...
If you're old you get it, if not...look it up...

 

[squashmaple]

Yeah I’m certainly guilty of this myself. lol

If McLellan does rely heavily on vets- he certainly did in LA- It will be interesting to see how that plays out here.

Boone’s poor back.

 

[koteka]

I think he looks like the cartoon character, Pogo...
If you're old you get it, if not...look it up...

“We have met the enemy and he is us” certainly applies to the CBJ.

 

[CoachWithNoTeam]

Boone’s poor back.

Other than the obvious example of Boone, it seems like we’d need to bring in actual weighty veterans for “a coach who plays veterans too much” to be a problem.

 

[Viqsi]

Other than the obvious example of Boone, it seems like we’d need to bring in actual weighty veterans for “a coach who plays veterans too much” to be a problem.

Kinda think we need another one or two of 'em already.

I wonder if that means I can take that alleged preference and thereby breathlessly declare that that means Waddell will be active in getting the sorts of players I think are necessary. I mean, I assume that's how it works...

 

[MAHJ71]

preferred Evason but not mad at all if it’s TM

 

[I3LI3]

Todd’s teams have made the playoffs 9 out of his 14 full seasons of coaching in the NHL… that’s nearly 70 percent.

overall, dating back to the AHL… a team head coached by todd has made the playoffs 14 out of 19 seasons.

impressive to say the least.

not a OMG WOW hire. but a safe one at the very least.

 

[stevo61]

Kings fan chiming in here with Cold notes on TMac a.k.a. “Koala” Great X’s and O’s coach. Structured. In game coaching adjustments are non existent and he’s not fond of playing the younger guys in the lineup.

Hope he works out for you.

We just had a younger worse version of that. Good times

 

[Seedtype]

I mean, sheesh look how long it took Maurice to get a Cup.
Todd seems solid.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

We just had a younger worse version of that. Good times

Did I miss when we had a younger coach that was great with X's and O's?

 

[Xoggz22]

Why do people not like McLellan for the job?

Simple answer...people simply like to complain. It won't matter who is ultimately hired. It could be Al Arbour in his prime and we'd still have the same complaints. Just the nature of the beast that is HF

 

[DarkandStormy]

There were worse options.

Not very many

Mike Babcock?

 

[Viqsi]

So Porty also shared this:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5562047/2024/06/21/nhl-blue-jackets-mclellan/

The commentary on PLD's effect on the Kings drew particular interest when I looked.

There are a number of candidates for the last open NHL coaching job — the Columbus Blue Jackets — but my wish is that Todd McLellan gets it. He’s a candidate, according to my colleague Aaron Portzline, and based on McLellan’s track record and the way he coaches — stressing a structured defensive approach — he is probably just what the Blue Jackets need. The only other times they’ve had it — under John Tortorella, Ken Hitchcock and maybe way back at the beginning, with Dave King — was when they were most relevant.

Also, if McLellan is the choice, then, for possibly the first time in history, a Washington-Columbus game is going to be must-see TV when teams meet for the first time in the 2024-25 NHL season.

That’s largely because the game would feature the return of Pierre-Luc Dubois to Columbus, the team he originally spurned — and on the opposing bench would be McLellan, who probably lost his previous job with the Los Angeles Kings in part because of Dubois’s indifferent play.

Dubois was the classic square peg in the round hole in Los Angeles — and McLellan, like a lot of coaches before him, couldn’t find the right buttons to push to get Dubois engaged. Good luck to Washington’s Spencer Carbery. He seems an able man, but rehabilitating Dubois is going to take real coaching sleight-of-hand. New Blue Jackets general manager Don Waddell made it clear he wants a coach with experience, who will instill structure, and given that those are the two main priorities, it’s hard to imagine anyone being a better fit than McLellan, among the coaches still looking for work.

Gerard Gallant is probably the next-best option, as he began his coaching career in Columbus in 2003. A lot has changed since then, but would hiring Gallant be too much of a back-to-the-future move? Maybe. McLellan was a candidate in Toronto, a team that eventually hired Craig Berube as its coach.

McLellan’s best work has been done in making teams better. Probably the biggest knock against him, compared to Berube, is that he has yet to get a team over the finish line, although one could argue he hasn’t had the players to do that anywhere he’s coached (San Jose, Edmonton, L.A.).

In Columbus, the finish line is a long way off. If the goal is to see the team gradually climb the NHL standings, that’s right up McLellan’s alley.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

 

[Cyclones Rock]

In his last 9 full seasons, only one of his teams has advanced beyond round 1 in the playoffs. Very similar to Babcock in that respect.

Todd McLellan Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics and Records of Todd McLellan, a hockey player and coach from Melville, SASK born Oct 3 1967 who was active from 1983 to 1992.

www.hockeydb.com

Mike Babcock (b.1963) Hockey Stats and Profile at hockeydb.com

Statistics and Records of Mike Babcock, a hockey player and coach from Saskatoon, SASK born Apr 29 1963 who was active from 1980 to 1988.

www.hockeydb.com

 

[Dumais]

Just glad Waddell is bringing in a coach (experienced, more please!) before he does any tinkering with the roster. It would be nice if Waddell / McLellan had some time to get to know the players before making any serious decisions. but.

Thank goodness JD waited a couple months to hold off on anymore changes. Who knows, who we might have ended up with.

 

[Sdrawkcab321]

So Porty also shared this:

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5562047/2024/06/21/nhl-blue-jackets-mclellan/

The commentary on PLD's effect on the Kings drew particular interest when I looked.

How much did McClellan have to pay to have this article written for him?