Four NHL head coaches who could be on the hot seat

The NHL already had its fourth coaching change of the 2024-25 season on Thursday when the Detroit Red Wings fired Derek LaLonde and replaced him with Todd McLellan. 

That move came after the Boston Bruins fired Jim Montgomery, the St. Louis Blues fired Drew Bannister (to replace him with Montgomery) and the Chicago Blackhawks fired Luke Richardson. 

There is a good chance it will not be the final coaching change of the season. So let’s take a quick look around the NHL at three more coaches that could be on the hot seat.

Peter Laviolette, New York Rangers

This might seem like a crazy suggestion when you think about the fact this is only Laviolette’s second season here. As well as the fact the Rangers had the best record in the NHL a year ago and were in the Eastern Conference Final. But there are some serious problems with this Rangers team, and management is running out of cards to play when it comes to giving them a boost.

They floated trade rumors. That did not work.

They traded their captain (Jacob Trouba). That did not work.

They healthy scratched veteran Chris Kreider. That did not work. 

At some point you run out of deck chairs to rearrange, run out of players to trade or bench, and have to do something dramatic. 

Laviolette is a good coach with a track record of success in the NHL, but his shelf life with teams seems to run out relatively quickly. The Rangers’ defensive approach and 5-on-5 play are nowhere near Stanley Cup level, and they are going to need one heck of a second half just to actually make the playoffs. 

It would be bold. It would be dramatic. But he should be feeling some heat given the preseason expectations (Stanley Cup) and the current spot in the standings (a losing record and out of the playoffs).

Andrew Brunette, Nashville Predators

Another coach that has not been in his current spot very long, but another team that is significantly failing to meet expectations.

The Predators were a playoff team a year ago and then spent major money in free agency, signing 40-goal scorers Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault, as well as defenseman Brady Skjei. Those moves made the Stanley Cup a realistic preseason goal and expectation.

Instead of competing for a championship, the Predators have one of the league’s worst records and general manager Barry Trotz seems to be getting increasingly frustrated. 

The potential wild-card situation here — would Trotz, the first head coach in Predators history, have an itch to get back into the coaching game and return to the bench?

Patrick Roy, New York Islanders

There are two things Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello is known for. The first is building a powerhouse New Jersey Devils dynasty in the late 1990s and early 2000s. 

The other is firing head coaches. He fires them when his team is good. He fires them when his team is bad. He just likes to fire them. 

It is not that Roy himself is doing a bad job. His hands are tied to a bad roster that Lamoriello built. But the bottom line is the Islanders are losing — a lot — and Roy has not been shy about throwing some shade toward the state of the roster after games. The Islanders probably need a new vision in the front office. Until that happens, however, the coach might be the only one on the hot seat. 

Martin St. Louis, Montreal Canadiens

In what might be the ultimate testament to how quickly NHL teams cycle through head coaches, St. Louis (who was hired during the 2021-22 season) is now the fifth-longest tenured coach in the NHL.

That alone probably puts him on the hot seat just because he has already been there for several years and his team is at the bottom of the standings.

It would be unfair to place all of the blame for Montreal’s record (14-17-3 this season; 75-100-26 overall) on St. Louis, but the lack of progress with some young players and the team’s defensive approach are all extremely concerning. 

Yes, it is a rebuilding team that is still probably a few years away from competing. But unless there is a big step forward at some point that makes it look like the rebuild is progressing it is extremely fair to wonder if — and when — a coaching change might be on the horizon.