Who should be the next head coach?

[Cyclones Rock]

Honestly wish we hired Nelson … maybe it comes to that

I have nothing against Nelson but I just think that an established NHL coach is almost a necessity for this team. At least for PR reasons.

 

[Monk]

fine I'll do it

 

[CBJx614]

<<Not trying to be a jerk seriously what is it about Evason that make you think he is what the CBJ needs. He was only an NHL coach 1 time and not for very long. I think he is a mediocre coach at best.>>

I hear you and would say pretty much the same thing about all the candidates I’ve heard of. If not mistaken they all got fired recently and all their teams played better after they were gone.

On the other hand Paul Maurice’s record is long and not impressive. It’s amazing how he keeps getting chances with his record and boom this year he wins the cup. He has done a great job in Florida but people thought Zito was nuts for letting Brunette go and bringing in Maurice.

Who knows, I think hiring coaches is almost as much of a crap shoot as signing goalies.

Some might argue, their fates are intertwined..






Sure part of that is absolutely on the coaches, but if your goalies are letting in softies and your top line isn't producing... And your depth isn't stepping up miraculously what else can you do.

 

[GoJackets1]

Not only did Evason coach the Wild to some very good records, but a good handful of younger Wild players really bloomed under him. Eriksson Ek and Boldy being the two most prominent. He’s also very intense and competitive. Wins, develops young guys, played in the NHL, and has a drive to win. What more could you want in a coach?

Also reading a few articles about him it doesn’t sound like he “lost the room”. Sounds like he still has great relationships with the Wild players and they really liked him. They just got off to a bad start and nothing was really working to get a spark, which usually leads to a coaching casualty. Fleury also dipped in his play a bit this past season and Gustavsson was nowhere near as good as his prior season. Evason’s replacement (Hynes) didn’t improve on his prior seasons winning % in the rest of the season either.

Reading about it and how the rest of their season went, it really seemed like the Wild just went through a bad stretch at the beginning of the season. Also, I can’t be too sure if this was caused by poor defense, but both Wild goaltenders played horribly in the beginning of the season, particularly Gustavsson, so that could’ve been a large reason they started so poorly.

 

[squashmaple]

Sure part of that is absolutely on the coaches, but if your goalies are letting in softies and your top line isn't producing... And your depth isn't stepping up miraculously what else can you do.

The 15 million in dead cap probably also contributed. A stupid person would probably be at least mildly impressed to see a team with a major handicap like that still manage two straight 100+ point seasons.

 

[GoChill]

<<Sure part of that is absolutely on the coaches, but if your goalies are letting in softies and your top line isn't producing>>

Bad goaltending and top line not producing…hmmm…he should feel right at home here.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

Too bad there isn't 32T with Evason.. There's quite a gap in quality with these interviews. Fox interview with two wooden chairs in the middle of an empty room does fit the grumpy old man vibes tho

 

[Tony Quinn]

Not wanting to give a new HC a 5 year contract is all on management.
Any coach that isn’t a 1st timer or trying to comeback from questionable actions and trying redeem himself(Babcock) is going to want a longer term.
Sounds to me like CBJ wanted to give him 2-3 years to get them to be playing contenders and McClellan said it’s a 4/5 year process.
I’m sure Evason will want 5 years too.
You don’t hire a new coach with the intent of being able to fire him after 2 years.

 

[CBJ goalie]

Why do we always default to the worst possible explanation? Isn't it exhausting catastrophizing and leaping to the worst option for everything? The two knuckleheads causing most of the org's problems the past few years are gone. Sometimes things are just boring and mundane.

No detailed news for a few weeks on the hiring process must mean that they're not doing a single thing and ignoring the vacancy, obviously! Couldn't just be that they're working on it and haven't released everything publicly, no way. "Admin issues" crop up in negotiations between McLellan, the Kings, and Jackets so obviously the only explanation is that the McConnells are cheap. Couldn't be something on the Kings side causing problems or simple legal or contractual issues.

No kidding.

A few tweets, and everyone throws on their tinfoil hats and jumps on their keyboards.

'Ownership is cheap '
'Waddell doesn't know how to negotiate '
'Shouldn't be a team in Columbus '

For fux sakes

 

[MoeBartoli]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1811129875656290809

To me this sounds like the FO/Ownership was scared to commit to a long term deal in case it doesn't work out.

I tend to agree term was a key issue here. But if - big if - Hedger’s source is correct Waddell and McClellan have a difference of opinion on the playoff timeline.

I don’t know what term McClellan was seeking, but if it was greater than three years I’d be a hesitant owner, too. And since I’m on ownership, can detractors tell me when in the past ownership hasn’t ponied up the money? (And if someone comes back and says Bob or Bread just save me the effort to read).

 

[ProfessorFink22]

Obviously nobody here knows what really happened, and it's way to complex to oversimplify... But if it was true he wanted 5 years because it would take so long to get back to a competetive position... Would we really want a coach who has already thrown in the towel for at least the next couple seasons anyways?

 

[Sdrawkcab321]

Jimmy haslam needs to buy the team. At least he won’t get scared away with paying 5 coaches at a time

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1811127148520034418

Help me understand how such a fundamental difference in understanding even allowed them to get to a place where there were negotiations.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

A source familiar with the process told The Athletic on Thursday that GM Don Waddell’s first choice for the job, former San Jose, Edmonton and Los Angeles coach Todd McLellan, was no longer considered the leading candidate after contract negotiations between the Jackets, McLellan and his former club, the Kings, fell apart this week.

McLellan’s contract with Los Angeles paid him $5.5 million per season — tops among NHL bench bosses — and extends through the 2024-25 season. That, essentially, made it a three-way negotiation, with the Blue Jackets needing to negotiate with the Kings to decide how much of McLellan’s salary they would pay for the coming season. The Kings fired McLellan in February.

It’s unclear why the contract talks broke off, but one source within the Blue Jackets said it wasn’t out of the question that the club could circle back to McLellan.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1811181448155595006

Nothing else really new here

 

[DarkandStormy]

You don’t hire a new coach with the intent of being able to fire him after 2 years.

You're right, you do it after one.

 

[CalBuckeyeRob]

Just have a "coach of the day" drawing among the fans each home game and let the players do shots of alcohol before each road game to decide the coach. Drunkest player coaches.

 

[DarkandStormy]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1811181448155595006

Nothing else really new here

Gallant was never contacted for an interview.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

Gallant was never contacted for an interview.

Did we think he had been?

 

[majormajor]

Not trying to be a jerk seriously what is it about Evason that make you think he is what the CBJ needs. He was only an NHL coach 1 time and not for very long. I think he is a mediocre coach at best.

View attachment 893947

1. That's a terrific record.

2. It's actually a bit longer than the average NHL coaching tenure.

Not that I’m all in favor of Evason or anything but back to back 100 point seasons isn’t “mediocre” sounding to me.

Not just 2 100 point seasons, his first full season as HC (albeit a 56 game shortened season during the pandemic), Evason had them at a 110 pt pace. 75 pts in 56 games.

So all three of his seasons he is above a 100 pt pace. His average with all games as head coach is well above 100 pts.

<<Not trying to be a jerk seriously what is it about Evason that make you think he is what the CBJ needs. He was only an NHL coach 1 time and not for very long. I think he is a mediocre coach at best.>>

I hear you and would say pretty much the same thing about all the candidates I’ve heard of. If not mistaken they all got fired recently and all their teams played better after they were gone.

On the other hand Paul Maurice’s record is long and not impressive. It’s amazing how he keeps getting chances with his record and boom this year he wins the cup. He has done a great job in Florida but people thought Zito was nuts for letting Brunette go and bringing in Maurice.

Who knows, I think hiring coaches is almost as much of a crap shoot as signing goalies.

Outstanding record, and they beat expectations. There wasn't much about those Wild rosters that looked like a 100+ pt team. The year Evason was hired, many expected them to enter a rebuild.

Then you look at how admired he is by his players and all the people around him. He is in that sweetspot as a very intense coach but still well liked.

 

[Ice9]

CBJ is a marching band freshman looking to take the senior homecoming queen to the dance. Aint gonna happen. If so it'll cost...

 

[Viqsi]

1. That's a terrific record.

2. It's actually a bit longer than the average NHL coaching tenure.



Not just 2 100 point seasons, his first full season as HC (albeit a 56 game shortened season during the pandemic), Evason had them at a 110 pt pace. 75 pts in 56 games.

So all three of his seasons he is above a 100 pt pace. His average with all games as head coach is well above 100 pts.



Outstanding record, and they beat expectations. There wasn't much about those Wild rosters that looked like a 100+ pt team. The year Evason was hired, many expected them to enter a rebuild.

Then you look at how admired he is by his players and all the people around him. He is in that sweetspot as a very intense coach but still well liked.

Yeah, he seems really promising. I'll admit, I prefer McLellan as the "safe" pick and am kind of disappointed that's not working out, but Evason also looks really really good.

 

[CBJWerenski8]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1811190918067740710

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

https://x.com/i/web/status/1811190918067740710

I’m all for “screw the Kings who do they think they are” but yeah that supports the cheap owner theory.

 

[MoeBartoli]

Jimmy haslam needs to buy the team. At least he won’t get scared away with paying 5 coaches at a time

And no doubt he’d hire Q immediately since on a character scale he’d view Q as a solid guy.

 

[koteka]

Just have a "coach of the day" drawing among the fans each home game and let the players do shots of alcohol before each road game to decide the coach. Drunkest player coaches.

I was thinking we could play Boone 23 minutes per game and make him coach.