NHL Coaches Fired This Season and Best Available 2023 

Six head coaches have been fired following the 2022/23 season. Their replacements have been named ahead of the 2023/23 NHL season.

Peter Laviolette

The first NHL head coach to be fired this year post-season was Peter Laviolette. He was let go by the Capitals as his contract officially expired.

The decision was a mutual agreement between him and the team according to the announcement made by the team on Friday, 14th of April.

Laviolette had been with the team for three seasons. The Capitals reached playoffs in his first two seasons and failed to advance past the first round last season. 

Peter had a record of 115-78-27 with the Capitals, the fifth NHL team he has coached. He was replaced on May 30 by Spencer Carberry, the 2021 Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award for Coach of the Year award winner.

Dallas Eakins 

Anaheim Ducks announced that they would not be renewing the contract for Dallas Eakins ending his 4 years run coaching the NHL team.

He left with a record of 100 wins, 147 losses, and 44 overtime losses in his time with the team. The team has not made any playoff appearances in Eakins' time with the Ducks and the last season ended with them finishing in last place in the overall NHL standings.

Greg Cronin was hired as his replacement on June 5 by the Ducks. Cronin was previously the head coach for the Colorado Eagles in the AHL.

Brad Larsen

Brad Larsen became the third coach to be fired this year on April 15. Larsen has missed playoffs in his two seasons leading the Blue Jackets.

Larsen was promoted to the position of head coach for the Colombus Blue Jackets in June 2021. He was previously the assistant coach for the Blue Jackets and had served in that position for seven years following his hiring in 2014.

He was replaced on July 1 by Mike Babcock, who has coached for NHL teams like the Detroit Red Wings, the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Anaheim Ducks. Babcock led the Red Wings to their 2008 Stanley Cup championship.

Daryl Sutter

On May 1, the Calgary Flames announced the firing of head Coach Darryl Sutter. This was his second time as the Head Coach for the Flames. 

He previously coached for the Flames from the 2002-03 season to the 2005-06 season and left the team to become the Head Coach for the LA  Kings. He returned to the Calgary Flames on March 4 2021 as the Head Coach.

He missed the playoffs last season and the team finished 5th in the Pacific. He was replaced by assistant coach Ryan Huska on June 13. Huska has been with the Flames since 2018. 

Gerard Gallant

NY Rangers announced on May 6 that they were letting go of their head coach Gerard Gallant. He was replaced by Peter Laviolette on June 13.

Gallant joined the NY Rangers as the head coach in June 2021. He was fired in Jan 2020 after a four-game losing streak by the Golden Knights. 

John Hynes

John Hynes was fired by the Nashville Predators on Tuesday, May 30. The team announced his replacement Andrew Brunette on the same day.

Hynes took up the Predators coaching role in January 2020. He has made 4 playoff appearances in his NHL coaching career and left the team with a record of 42 wins, 32 losses, and 8 Overtime losses in the 2022-23 season.

Hynes was replaced by Andrew Brunette who had played for the Predators in his career. Brunette has played over 1,100 games in the NHL.

Washington Capitals hired Kirk Muller and Kenny McCudden as the assistant coaches. Spencer Carbery leads the Capitals coaching panel.

Likewise, the Maple Leafs hired Van Ryn, and Guy Boucher as assistant coaches for the team. They will work under the tutelage of Sheldon Keefe.

St. Louis Blues were included in line of changes when they let go of Craig McTavish and Mike Van Ryan after their contracts expired on April 14.

New York Devils hired assistant coaches Dan Muse, Phil Housley, and Michael Peca on June 22. Nashville Predators and the Washington Capitals hired their assistant Coaches Derek MacKenzie and Mitch Love respectively.

Calgary Flames were the last team to make changes to their assistant Coaches in the month of June this year with Marc Savard, Dan Lambert, and Carl MacLean named as assistant coaches.

The best available NHL coaches for hire are:

• Joe Sacco
• Jeremy Colliton
• Pascal Vincent
• Ryan Warofsky
• Marco Sturm
• Jay Leach

Coaches Dallas Eakins, Brad Larsen, Darryl Sutter, Gerard Gallant, and John Hynes recently became available after being let go from their teams.

Jay Leach spent four years in the AHL as the Providence Bruins coach before he was hired as the assistant Coach for the Krakens in July 2021.

Another AHL coach, ready to lead an NHL team would be Marco Sturm. He is a former winger in the NHL and currently the head coach of the Ontario Reign Marco Sturm. The Kings handpicked him for the role of the Reign Head Coach.

The two-time Calder Cup winner Ryan Warofsky is another coach who is ready to lead an NHL team. Warofsky is currently the San Jose Sharks assistant coach in charge of their penalty kill. 

Jeremy Colliton

Jeremy Colliton, who was hired to replace Joel Quenneville of the Chicago Blackhawks had no previous coaching experience in the NHL.

After being fired on 6 Nov 2021, Colliton has since taken up the role of the Head Coach for the AHL team Abbotsford Canucks on July 1, 2022.

He turned down other NHL coaching jobs due to his desire to gain head coaching experience. The best team for him could be the New York Islanders, where he spent a chunk of his playing career with the New York Islanders organization.

Joe Sacco

Sacco has been the Bruins' assistant coach since 2014. He interviewed for the Bruins head coaching job, which later went to Jim Montogomery.

Sacco is in charge of the Bruins' penalty kill and coached the Avalanche from 2009 to 2013 before joining the Bruins. The Boston Bruins would be the perfect fit given his loyalty and dedication to the team.

Gerard Gallant

Gerard Gallant began his NHL career with the Blue Jackets where he spent time as an assistant coach before being named as the Head Coach.

Gallant was the first head coach for the Vegas Golden Knights and following his exit from the VGK, he joined the New York Rangers. The team that would be the best fit for Gallant could be the Blue Jackets where he began his NHL career. 

NHL Coaches on the hot seat in the coming season are:

• Craig Berube
• Mike Sullivan
• Sheldon Keefe
• Lane Lambert
• Paul Maurice

Craig Berube won a Stanley Cup in his first season with the St. Louis Blues but the team has certainly not performed their best last season. Berube is certainly a candidate for possible dismissal based on how the team performed last season.

Another Stanley Cup-winning coach currently on the Hot Seat is Mike Sullivan. The Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time last season breaking their 16-year streak. 

Following Sullivan's lead of the team to back-to-back 2016 and 2017 Stanley Cup Championships the team has made playoffs every year until 2022 but never past the first round since they made the second round in 2018.

Sheldon Keefe of the Toronto Maple Leafs is another candidate after falling in the first round for the past six years. If that number reaches seven, the Leafs will most likely look to replace him.

Lane Lambert of the Islanders and Paul Maurice of the Panthers are both under huge pressure ahead of the upcoming 2023-24 regular season.