When Paul Maurice and Kris Knoblauch met in the Stanley Cup final for the second straight year, they did so at an incredibly volatile time for coaches in the NHL.
The pair probably had the safest jobs in the league – but only because neither one had missed a final during their current tenures. Pity Peter DeBoer then, as the Dallas Stars sent their former bench boss packing after he and his team fell in the conference final once again – oh, and after he’d buried his starting goaltender in the press right before he got the ax.
But it is wild how short the lifespan of an NHL coach has become.
Sure, you can be recycled to another franchise, but sticking in one place for more than a couple of years? That’s a rarity these days.
Consider this: the Panthers hired Maurice on June 22, 2022. The only peers who have been with their current NHL teams longer are Jon Cooper, Jared Bednar, Rod Brind’Amour, Martin St-Louis and Bruce Cassidy.
In fact, Cooper is the only coach in the NHL who’s been with his team for more than a decade, and given the success Tampa Bay has enjoyed recently, that’s understandable.
But what if, in an alternate dimension, the Lightning had fired Cooper after Tampa Bay was swept in the first round by Columbus back in 2019? Tampa had just won the Presidents’ Trophy, and the loss was one of the most shocking in NHL history. Even just six years later, it seems GMs have much itchier trigger fingers. Cooper, of course, retained his job and immediately helmed the Bolts to three straight Cup finals, winning two. So, ya know, patience is a virtue.
As I ponder the constantly spinning coaching carousel – there will be nine teams with new coaches to begin 2025-26 at this point – my thoughts drift closer to Jonathan Swift than Jonathan Toews.
Why would you want to be an NHL coach these days? Employment lifespan is right up there with Spinal Tap drummers and anyone in a red shirt on a Star Trek mission.
If and when you do get fired, it means moving to another city, buying or renting another place, perhaps selling your old place and uprooting your family. It’s the same thing NHL players go through when they’re traded or move via free agency, but it’s in a shorter time frame.
Want to have your mind blown? Former Oilers right winger Corey Perry has been famously nomadic in recent seasons, but only 12 NHL coaches have been in their current position before Perry signed in Edmonton on Jan. 22, 2024.
With that in mind, I think the hottest NHL coaching candidate out there has it right. That would be David Carle, who recently signed a contract extension with the University of Denver.
He has won two NCAA titles and two World Junior Championship gold medals (with Team USA) as a head coach, and with Carle only being 35, he still has decades to go in his career if he should so choose. Numerous NHL teams have kicked the tires on Carle, but he has been clear that because he has a young family in Denver and is already in a great spot with the NCAA’s Pioneers, the situation would have to be impossible to turn down. And I get it.
Sure, the NHL is at the top of the pyramid, but coaches can build incredible legacies elsewhere. Red Berenson will always be a legend at the University of Michigan thanks to his 33 years with the Wolverines, while Jack Parker and Jerry York had their own iconic runs at Boston University and Boston College. In the OHL, you had Brian Kilrea in Ottawa and now Dale Hunter in London. I ran into Berenson at the 4 Nations Face-Off in Montreal, and it’s still fun to talk Michigan hockey with him, even though he’s not behind the bench anymore.
Carle could be that legend in the making. He’s clearly a gifted coach, and given how consistently good Denver is, you can probably telegraph at least a couple more national titles for the Pios in the coming years. So, what would you rather do: work a fulfilling job in the same place for 20 years or take a riskier – albeit more glamorous – one that may only last two or three seasons?
Coaches are just like players; they’re competitive. So, it makes sense they want that NHL job. But perhaps Carle will prove there’s another career path that is just as rewarding – with a more loyal employer.
This article, lightly edited for updates, appeared in our 2025 Champions Collector's Edition, where we commemorate the Florida Panthers' back-to-back Stanley Cups. Also, we feature the champs from leagues across the hockey world, count down the season's top 10 moments and look at breakout players to watch for 2025-26.
You can get it in print for free when you subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/Free today. All subscriptions include complete access to more than 76 years of articles at The Hockey News Archive.
