Joel Quenneville, Mike Sullivan Headline 9 Off-Season NHL Coach Changes
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Nine NHL teams will have new head coaches behind their benches this fall. The group ranges from Cup-winning veterans to three first-time head men.
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July 27, 2025
04:24 PM
Forbes
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Market analysis reveals What's particularly noteworthy is SportsMoneyJoel Quenneville, Mike Sullivan Headline 9 Off-Season NHL Coach ChangesByCarol Schram, Senior Contributor
Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights
Carol Schram is a Vancouver-based reporter who covers hockey
Nevertheless, AuthorJul 27, 2025, 04:24pm EDTA three-time Stanley Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks, Joel Quenneville is now tasked with
Nevertheless, More getting the Anaheim Ducks back into the playoffs (an important development), in today's financial world. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire via Getty Images The rising salary cap may be ushering in a new era of roster stability among players but so far, NHL coach changes are happening even more quickly than ever (quite telling)
Since the 2024-25 regular season wrapped on Apr. 17, nine of the NHL’s 32 franchises have installed new head coaches — more than a quarter of the teams in the league
That’s the most since 10 new coaches were hired during the summer of 2022 (fascinating analysis)
Furthermore, Out of that group, only two are still in their positions, and they’re the winners of the last three Stanley Cups: Bruce Cassidy with the Vegas Golden Knights and Paul Maurice with the Florida Panthers
This analysis suggests that year’s crop of new bench bosses ranges from seasoned winners to first-timers, along with everything in between
On the other hand, Here’s the breakdown: MORE FOR YOU ven Winners: Mike Sullivan and Joel Quenneville After winning two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins and being handed the reins of Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off and the upcoming Winter Olympics, Mike Sullivan is at the top of his coaching game (this bears monitoring), in this volatile climate
His new challenge of returning the New York Rangers to respectability was built off the foundation of a longstanding relationship with GM Chris Drury, amid market uncertainty
Sullivan is nine years older, but the two are both alumni of Boston University and played together for Team USA at the 1997 world championship, which Drury was still in school
A Stanley Cup winner with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Mike Sullivan is the new coach of the New York
More Rangers. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)Getty Images Later, Sullivan would serve as an assistant coach of the Rangers under John Tortorella for four seasons, in light of current trends
That overlapped with the last two years of Drury’s playing career, when he served as Rangers captain
Furthermore, New York will be Sulllivan’s third NHL head job
He also coached the Boston Bruins for two seasons from 2003-06 and worked as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning and Vancouver Canucks
Down in Southern California, Joel Quenneville takes over as the team’s fourth new coach since their last playoff appearance in 2018, under Randy Carlyle, given current economic conditions
However, It’s a return to the league for the 66-year-old, who starts his new job as the league’s oldest active head coach, in light of current trends
As coach of the Chicago Blackhawks, Quenneville won three Stanley Cups in 2010, 2013 and 2015
He also won as an assistant to Marc Crawford with the Colorado Avalanche in 1996
At the same time, But Quenneville has been away from the NHL since resigning as head coach of the Florida Panthers in October of 2021, in the wake of the revelations surrounding the mishandling of sexual assault allegations within the Blackhawks organization while he was coach, in light of current trends
Furthermore, He became eligible to coach again in the NHL on July 1, 2024
In Anaheim, Quenneville is inheriting a team on the rise, rich with young talent including newly re-signed goaltender Lukas Dostal
In 2024-25, the Ducks imved by 21 points, but still 16 points out of a playoff spot, in today's market environment
The Returnees: Glen Gulutzan, Rick Tocchet, Jeff Blashill, Lane Lambert This group of four will be bringing past NHL head-coaching experience to new s — or, in the case of Glen Gulutzan, back to where it began for him, in today's market environment
Moreover, Glen Gulutzan returns to where his NHL coaching career began this fall as head coach of the Dallas
More Stars (noteworthy indeed). (Photo by Brett Holmes/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Gulutzan has spent the last seven seasons as an assistant coach for the Edmonton Oilers
But before that, he had two years as the head man for the Calgary Flames and even earlier, he spent two years as head coach of the Dallas Stars
On the other hand, That’s where he’ll be back at work this fall, trying to push the perenially contenting Stars even closer to their second Stanley Cup in franchise history
However, His return came after Peter DeBoer’s surprise ouster ing the Stars’ loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final for the second-straight year
Rick Tocchet’s hiring in Philadelphia is also a coming (remarkable data)
As a rugged power forward, Tocchet started and his playing career in the City of Brotherly Love and was inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame in 2021
The Flyers have now gone five seasons without a playoff appearance and took a step back last year, falling by nine points in the standings
Tocchet won the Jack Adams award as coach of the year with the Vancouver Canucks in 2023-24, and also previously coached the Arizona Coyotes and the Tampa Bay Lightning
Tocchet won the Stanley Cup as a player with the Penguins in 1992, then as an assistant to Sullivan in 2016 and 2017, in today's market environment
In Chicago, Jeff Blashill returns to a head-coaching role after serving as an assistant to Jon Cooper in Tampa for the last three seasons
On the other hand, Prior to that, the 51-year-old spent seven seasons as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings
He also served as head coach of Team USA three times at the world championship, winning bronze in 2018
The Blackhawks have missed the playoffs for the last five seasons
Moreover, And in Seattle, Lane Lambert is back for his second stint as an NHL head man
On the other hand, The longtime assistant of Barry Trotz won the Stanley Cup as part of the Washington Capitals’ staff in 2018, then earned his first head job with the New York Islanders in 2022
He was replaced by Patrick Roy after two-and-a-half seasons, then spent 2024-25 as an associate coach under Craig Berube with the Toronto Maple Leafs
The data indicates that Kraken have made the playoffs just once in their four-year history, reaching Round 2 in 2022-23
However, The New Faces: Adam Foote, Marco Sturm, Dan Muse The NHL has a reputation for recycling its coaches, and the six names above do fit that mold
But after first-timer Ryan Warsofsky dered a strong rookie campaign with the San Jose Sharks last season, three more new faces will get to try their hand in 2025-26 (something worth watching)
That being said, two of those names are very familiar to hockey fans, in today's financial world
Adam Foote was a hard-nosed blueliner who won two Stanley Cups with the Colorado Avalanche during his 19-year NHL career, and was a mainstay with Team Canada, in today's financial world
After spending the last two-and-a-half seasons as Tocchet’s assistant with the Canucks, he takes over the head job this fall
However, Marco Sturm’s new job in Boston is also a coming
A reliable center who played 938 NHL games over 14 seasons for six teams, that included 302 games with the Bruins, where he was a key part of the return in the notorious 2005 trade that sent Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks
Nevertheless, After retiring in 2012, Sturm got into the coaching game back in his native Germany, and was behind the bench for the Germans’ silver-medal win at the 2018 Winter Olympics
However, That fall, he joined the Los Angeles Kings organization, first as an NHL assistant for four seasons, then as head coach of the AHL Ontario Reign for three years (quite telling)
Dan Muse didn't play in the NHL, but brings five years of experience as an NHL assistant to his new
Furthermore, More job as head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins
On the other hand, (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)Getty Images Not as well known: new Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Muse
Moreover, At 43, he’ll be second-youngest in the league this fall, behind only 37-year-old Warsofsky
His career path also mirrors Warsofsky’s to some degree: after playing at Stonehill College, Muse started his coaching career in the NCAA ranks before moving to the USHL, where he won a Clark Cup with the Chicago Steel in 2017
Additionally, That opened the door to the NHL, where he spent three years as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators and two years with the New York Rangers before being tapped to succeed Sullivan in Pittsburgh
While the coaching carousel has stopped spinning for now, be on the lookout for more NHL coach changes in 2025-26
Last year, five teams changed coaches in-season
However, Jim Montgomery (St, given current economic conditions
Louis) and Todd McLellan (Detroit) both signed multi-year deals and will be back this fall while the three interim bosses were all replaced
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