2015 coaching carousel pays off with berths in playoffs

Mike Babcock, John Tortorella and Todd McLellan have plenty in common these days.

Not only are the three overseeing playoffstarved franchises surging as they enter the final week of the regular season, they are front-running NHL coach of the year candidates.

It also happens the trio was part of a drastically spinning 2015 coaching carousel that’s had a transformative effect.

Former coach and GM-turned TV broadcaster Mike Milbury had difficulty recalling so many changes occurring — nine during the 2015 calendar year — and a majority of them paying off.

“I probably tend to think that most of the coaching changes don’t work,” Milbury said. “Typically, over the course of time, the players dictate the outcome most nights. But a coach can have an influence. And there’s no doubt all those guys are good coaches.”

Two years after leaving Detroit, Babcock has the youth-laden, Auston Matthews-led Toronto Maple Leafs in position to clinch their second playoff berth in 12 years.

In Edmonton, McLellan is overseeing a Connor McDavid-led Oilers team that has ended a 10-year playoff drought.

In Columbus, the relatively no-name Blue Jackets have set franchise records for wins and points under Tortorella, who replaced Todd Richards after the team’s 0-7 start to the 2015-16 season.

And let’s not forget two other members of the 2015 coaching-change class who have already made impacts.

Mike Sullivan, who replaced Mike Johnston in December, led the Pittsburgh Penguins to a Stanley Cup title last year. And Pittsburgh beat the Sharks, a one-time notorious playoff under-achieving team that reached the final for the first time under first-year coach Peter DeBoer.

Not all members of the 2015 coachingchange class have been as successful.

Buffalo’s rebuilding plan has stagnated under Dan Bylsma. New Jersey has taken a step back in their second year under John Hynes. So has Philadelphia, a year after making the playoffs under Dave Hakstol. Then there’s Jeff Blashill in Detroit, where the Red Wings’ will miss the playoffs for the first time in 26 years.

Milbury said Tortorella’s transformation is most significant given how the veteran coach has softened his fiery reputation.

“He’s been his own worst enemy over the course of time, and I think yes, he’s softened,” Milbury said of Tortorella, who won a Stanley Cup with Tampa Bay in 2004.

“He’s crafted a new persona and I think it’s better for him, better for the team and there’s less distraction around John Tortorella and more focus on his players.”