NHL training camp: New coaches look to bring change
Most teams already got their media days out of the way and teams are actually hitting the ice for the first organized practices of the season. For six organizations, the teams will be playing under the guidance of new head coaches, three of them rookies in their role.
Whenever there's a new coach in town, it often means something had to change. With new coaches come new systems, new motivational tactics and also, a fresh start. That fresh start is short lived, however, as coaches have these next three weeks to get everyone on the same page and get the players to buy in to whatever the new bench boss is trying to accomplish.
Change isn't always immediate when there's a switch behind the bench, but after the rousing success of Patrick Roy as a rookie head coach with the Colorado Avalanche last season, these six organizations will be hoping that the new hires have some sort of secret formula to right the ship immediately.
Here's a look at the six coaches who will be taking on new challenges with new teams this season.
Peter Laviolette, Nashville Predators: The only coach among those in their first year with new clubs to have won the Stanley Cup, Laviolette brings a legitimate coaching pedigree to Nashville. Having spent parts of 12 seasons as a head coach in the NHL, Laviolette has seen and done a lot. His career 389-282-63 record, with 25 ties as well, should help him earn instant respect from his new team.
Laviolette also offers quite a difference from Barry Trotz in terms of system and philosophy. In his opening remarks at training camp, Laviolette laid out the way he wants his team to play.
From the Predators' team site:
"I think we really want to try and push speed and push tempo," Laviolette said. "We want to start to implement our system and things that we're looking for on the ice and how we play the game. I don't expect it to be perfect, there's going to be a lot of figuring it out. Usually when a new system comes in place, there's a pause before you step on the gas. We've got to work our way through camp to eliminate that pause and I think that's just through time and repetition of doing things."
The Predators would seem to have the personnel to implement this kind of system as well. They have a lot of mobility on their defensive corps with Shea Weber, Roman Josi, Seth Jones and the still unsigned Ryan Ellis. That's a group that can really aid a transition with clean zone exits and their skating.
Up front, there's more offensive talent than the Predators had last season and established Predators like Craig Smith could really blossom in this new system as well. It could also help sluggish offensive performers like Viktor Stalberg and Colin Wilson.
Laviolette, who was fired just three games into last season by the Philadelphia Flyers, is just the second coach in this franchise's history. There may have been a bit of stagnation even though no one denies Barry Trotz is a great coach. The organization needed a change and Laviolette very well could be the right coach and have the right system to bring that change.
Barry Trotz, Washington Capitals: The man Laviolette replaced was quickly hired by the Capitals. It is going to be extremely interesting to see how Trotz handles this new situation. Having spent his entire head coaching career with the Preds, Trotz was often lauded for getting the most out of the lineup he had.
Now he has some of the best offensive weapons in the game with Alex Ovechkin, Nicklas Backstrom and Mike Green at his disposal. Aside from Shea Weber, and brief stints from other star veterans in Nashville, Trotz has never really had players that dynamic.
Known primarily as a defensive-minded coach, Trotz was forced into playing more cautiously in Nashville as those teams were always going to have a hard time scoring. After 15 years in that scenario, Trotz has to make the Caps better defensively without losing their offensive edge. That's tough to do.
Caps defenseman Jack Hillen has experience under Trotz and gave a glowing review of his old and new boss via the Washington Post:
"In Nashville, we were the most detailed team I've ever been on in terms of everyone knew their responsibilities," said Hillen, who played for Trotz with the Predators for one season. "If you didn't know what you were doing out there, it was 100 percent the player's fault because he had everything written out."
You have to respect the career Trotz built in Nashville, though. He has nearly 1,200 games behind an NHL bench and put together a 557-479-100 (and 60 ties) record.
All of that is great, but Trotz has superstar players to manage, playoff expectations and more national exposure than he ever received in Nashville. These are all going to be relatively new challenges and the 52-year-old coach will be judged on how he manages that transition.
Mike Johnston, Pittsburgh Penguins: Of all of the new coaches, it may be Johnston that has the toughest job. He replaces a coach who won 252 of the 400 games he coached in the regular season. Knowing that Dan Bylsma had that kind of success in the regular season and still managed to get canned isn't great for thinking about job security in the long term.
Of course, Bylsma was fired primarily for the team's failures in the playoffs despite the fact he led the team to the Stanley Cup in his first season. Johnston knows that postseason success is going to be demanded and it's going to be demanded right away.
Penguins ownership sent a clear message this offseason. Now it's on Johnston, a rookie coach who may not have even been the team's first choice to take the reins, to bring the results the team wants.
He spent eight years as an assistant with the Vancouver Canucks and Los Angeles Kings and was one of the most successful coaches in junior hockey over the past five years. He has to gain the trust of the team's best players, who also happen to be among the best in the league, and has to get them to buy what he's selling.
Not only that, but the Penguins still have some depth concerns, perhaps not as drastic as last season, but the team isn't appreciably better on paper than it was last season. It's a lot for the longtime coach to take on in his first NHL head-coaching job.
Willie Desjardins faces unique challenges in his first NHL head coaching job. (USATSI)
Willie Desjardins, Vancouver Canucks: Coming off of leading the Texas Stars to the Calder Cup in the AHL last season, Desjardins was one of the hottest names on the market this offseason. He probably had his pick of the open jobs that were still available when he wrapped up his season and chose Vancouver.
Based on the way the players talked about him during the team's media day Thursday, Desjardins is going to provide a drastic difference in approach from John Tortorella, who stormed out as quickly as he stormed into Vancouver.
It sounds like Desjardins personally reached out to a number of players and even visited them in their own homes.
Desjardins has to first build a trust in his team after such a rocky season. There are a lot of new pieces in the organization now as well after trades last season and over the summer. The Canucks are still built to compete at this point, but they have to go up against some real heavyweights in their own division, which is going to be a real test of wits for Desjardins as well.
Beyond two years as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars, Desjardins has no NHL experience. He didn't play in the league, which shouldn't really matter anymore as there are plenty of great coaches in the league that never played at the top level.
What Desjardins does bring is a championship pedigree. He led Medicine Hat to two WHL titles and is fresh off a championship season in which his team essentially ran roughshod over the AHL.
The Canucks don't have many great years left with their aging core players and all of them saw their numbers dip during last season's disaster. Desjardins could be the spark to turn things around as the Canucks try to get back on track after missing the playoffs under Tortorella.
Gerard Gallant, Florida Panthers: Gallant hasn't been a head coach in the NHL since 2006-07 when he was let go by the Columbus Blue Jackets, but he is coming off of two successful seasons as an assistant with the Montreal Canadiens. He also has a pair of QMJHL championships in the past four years with the Saint John Sea Dogs.
Now Gallant has a unique challenge in Florida. There's a group of tremendous young players who are going to need NHL reps in key roles. He also inherits a team that was altered quite a bit at the end of last season and over the summer.
The Panthers should be better as a whole, but Gallant's biggest job is to guide the young players on this roster to reach their full potential while learning on the job. Having had the experience as a coach in junior should help him in that regard.
He already has a rapport with Jonathan Huberdeau as Gallant was Huberdeau's coach in junior, so that's a great start as Huberdeau needs to be better than he was last season. Additionally, top pick Aaron Ekblad is likely to get a trial by fire this season and will need to be managed well as a young defenseman. Then there's Aleksander Barkov, Nick Bjugstad and others who have such immense potential that they could one day, possibly soon, be franchise stars.
As important as winning is after the money that was spent last season in bringing in Dave Bolland, Jussi Jokinen, Willie Mitchell and the late-season trade to bring in Roberto Luongo, the Panthers have to think long-range here.
The young players have to be the priority. They have to play and they have to be put in difficult situations throughout the season to see how they handle it. If they can continue maturing as it appears they have been, Gallant could have himself quite a team in about two or three years.
Bill Peters, Carolina Hurricanes: The Hurricanes really struggled last season and the bad news for Peters is that there wasn't a heck of a lot done in the offseason to fix it. With only minor moves to shuffle the roster, the new head coach inherits largely the same lineup that helped contribute to his predecessor's ouster.
Having spent the past three seasons as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings, which has been a pretty impressive cradle of coaches in the NHL, there was plenty Peters could have learned. He has been a head coach at the AHL level and in the WHL as well, including a WHL and Memorial Cup title with the Spokane Chiefs in 2007-08, but this will be his first stint leading an NHL team.
Among Peters' challenges is getting more out of his team's star players. Eric Staal had a down season in 2013-14, Alexander Semin struggled while battling injury and Cam Ward's numbers were just dreadful in an injury-plagued campaign. Pulling as much as he can out of those players (or making the decision to give the No. 1 goalie job to Anton Khudobin) is going to go a long way in making the Hurricanes a better team next year.
It has been five years without a playoff appearance for the Canes, but they have some young guys who can help contribute to a brighter future for the organization, including Jeff Skinner and young defenseman Justin Faulk. If Peters struggles to reach the more established veterans, he has to focus on getting the young guys on this team to take steps to become organizational leaders.
The leadership was questioned a fair amount in the media last season. Things have to be frustrating in Carolina, but the players are going to have to be just as committed as their new head coach to getting the club out of this malaise they've been in the past few years.
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