Blue Jackets have plenty of coaching possibilities
Who's next?
That is the question Blue Jackets players, staff and fans are asking in the wake of John Tortorella's departure as coach after six seasons. Who will be tabbed to fill the shoes of a coach with 673 career victories, is the winningest U.s.-born coach in NHL history, occupies the top spot in wins for the Blue Jackets and passed Mike Keenan for 12th all-time after the Jackets' overtime win Saturday against Detroit?
Whoever it is had better have a lot of self-confidence and drive. The bar of expectations among players and the team's fan base are higher now than they were when Tortorella took over, in October 2015. Qualifying for the playoffs is now a yearly expectation, and winning the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history is now their quest.
Finding the right coach will be critical, and general manager Jarmo Kekalainen should have no shortage of options to pick from. As we wait to find out who gets the job, here are some names to consider:
Insider trading
Possible targets: Brad Shaw or Brad Larsen
Each of Tortorella's top two assistants is in the final years of their deals and would likely have interest in succeeding him. Either would be considered more of a “players' coach,” while keeping the team's winning culture intact with lofty expectations, but it's unknown if either will garner consideration for the top coaching role.
Name game
Possible targets: Mike Babcock, Gerard Gallant, Bruce Boudreau, Bob Hartley, Paul Maclean, Kevin Dineen
The only one among this group that would be a shocking hire is Babcock, who was fired by Toronto in 2019 after allegations of “mental abuse” toward players surfaced from his stints with the Maple Leafs and Red Wings. Following the fiery Tortorella with Babcock would be a stunning decision, but the other five options listed here wouldn't be.
Boudreau is an accomplished NHL coach who has handled the job for the Washington Capitals, Anaheim Ducks and most recently the Minnesota Wild.
Gallant is often linked to the expansion Seattle Kraken, especially after helping the expansion Vegas Golden Knights get off to a great start in 201718, and he might have a soft spot for Columbus, where his got his first experience as an NHL head coach for two seasons (2005-07).
Maclean has a long history as an NHL assistant, including part of last season as the Jackets' power-play specialist, and was a head coach in Ottawa for four seasons (2011-2015).
Dineen finished his playing career with the Jackets and currently coaches the San Diego Gulls in the American Hockey League, the top affiliate of the Ducks. He has NHL experience as a head coach for the Florida Panthers (2011-14) and was an assistant for Chicago from 2014-18, winning the Stanley Cup in 2015.
Hartley was an NHL head coach for
14 years, running the bench for the Colorado Avalanche, Atlanta Thrashers and Calgary Flames, and now coaches in Europe. He recently won the Kontinental Hockey League's Gagarin Cup with Avangard Omsk and has coached Latvia's national team internationally.
He has ties to the Blue Jackets through goalie Elvis Merzlikins, Latvia's top netminder, and rookie forward Yegor Chinakhov, who played for Omsk as a rookie this season and was picked 21st overall by them in last year's draft.
Hartley also is the coach who drew the ire of Tortorella in 2014 while coaching the Flames. Hartley sent out his fourth line to start a game against Vancouver and Tortorella responded in kind, sparking a line brawl off the opening face-off. Tortorella also had to be restrained
from going after Hartley between periods, a scene captured by a closed-circuit television feed.
Darkhorses
Possible targets: Mike Vellucci and Jukka Jalonen
Each of these picks would spark debates about their lack of experience running an NHL bench, but both could become home runs for Kekalainen, whose drafting tendencies prove he isn't afraid to think outside the box with important decisions.
Vellucci and Jalonen are both “players' coaches” whose personable styles seems well-suited for a league like the NHL, which continues to skew younger every year. Young players increasingly are becoming more sensitive to harsh coaching tactics, and these two seem to understand that trend.
Vellucci is an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but has won championships at every level he's been a head coach, including a Calder Cup title with the AHL'S Charlotte Checkers in 2019.
Jalonen has more than three decades of experience and has coached Finland's men's national team to gold medals at two world championships, in 2011 and '19. He also coached Finland to a gold medal at the 2016 world junior championship with a roster that featured a number of future NHL players, including the Blue Jackets' Patrik Laine.
Jalonen has coached Finland at the Olympics, as well, winning a bronze medal in 2010 and being tabbed to run the bench again for the Finns at the 2022 Beijing Olympics — a team for whom Kekalainen will serve as assistant GM. bhedger@dispatch.com @Brianhedger