Mike Babcock, Peter Laviolette, more: Update on Blue Jackets' coaching search
After coming to terms with picking third in the NHL draft, the Blue Jackets are delving into the interview process with their list of coaching candidates.
They need to replace former head coach Brad Larsen, who was fired a day after the season ended, and there’s also a vacancy at goaltending coach after not renewing Manny Legace’s contract.
Here are five questions about the Blue Jackets’ coaching search:
What do we know about coaching candidates for the Columbus Blue Jackets?
The Blue Jackets have kept a tight lid on information, so there’s not a lot of specifics available.
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen did reveal some interesting tidbits while making two recent radio appearances, saying the team’s list of candidates isn’t long and that associate coach Pascal Vincent — the lone internal candidate — shouldn't be discounted just because he was on Larsen’s staff.
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Kekalainen also said the number of “experienced” coaches interested in the position has grown since the job became available. The Athletic reported Monday that Mike Babcock and Peter Laviolette are both in the running.
Babcock, 60, won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings (2008), but hasn’t coached in the NHL since being fired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019 with four years left on an eight-year, $50 million contract. After he was fired, he was also accused of verbal abuse by multiple former players.
Laviolette, 58, coached the Washington Capitals the past three seasons and has run benches for five NHL teams — including the Nashville Predators, Philadelphia Flyers, Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders. He won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006.
Other coaching free agents with extensive NHL experience include Gerard Gallant, Darryl Sutter, Joel Quenneville and Bruce Boudreau.
Sutter, 64, is a two-time Stanley Cup winner as a coach. He was fired by the Flames in April despite a three-year contract extension set to begin July 1. Quenneville, 64, is a three-time Cup winner with the Chicago Blackhawks. He needs reinstatement by the NHL suspended and forced out as coach of the Florida Panthers in 2021 for his role in the Kyle Beach sexual abuse allegations coverup in Chicago.
Gallant, 59, coached the Blue Jackets from 2004-2006 and expressed interest in the job two years ago, when Larsen was promoted. Gallant took the New York Rangers to the Eastern Conference final last season and semifinals this season before parting ways with the team. Boudreau, 68, has coached four NHL teams and was fired midseason by the Vancouver Canucks, who replaced him with Rick Tocchet.
Has a timeline been released to name a new coach?
The short answer is no. The longer answer involves a busy interview schedule this week for Kekalainen and John Davidson, the Blue Jackets’ president of hockey operations, plus the GM’s upcoming trip to scout the men’s world championships.
Kekalainen is scheduled to depart Sunday for worlds, which are being held in Finland and Latvia. The tournament includes two top draft prospects in centers Adam Fantilli (Canada) and Leo Carlsson (Sweden), and Kekalainen plans to stay through the medal round, which concludes May 28. Kekalainen told The Dispatch that coaching interviews will be conducted all week and didn’t give a timeline for a decision.
What factors might sway the Blue Jackets in picking a coach?
Interviewing Babcock and Laviolette indicates that extensive NHL experience is one of the considerations on the list of qualities the Blue Jackets are seeking.
Both would likely require a higher salary demand than it would likely take to promote Vincent in the same way Larsen was promoted to replace John Tortorella in 2021. Sutter could offer a bargain with the possibility of sharing his upcoming extension with the Flames, and Quenneville doesn’t appear to be in a position to seek a salary commensurate with his career accomplishments.
Are the Blue Jackets willing to petition the NHL for Quenneville’s reinstatement?
Strictly from a coaching standpoint, Quenneville could be a perfect fit at this stage of the Jackets' rebuild plan.
They’ve acquired high-end young players, will add another with the third pick in this year’s draft and have a core group of veterans headlined by Johnny Gaudreau, Patrik Laine, Zach Werenski and Boone Jenner. If they can stay healthy, the Blue Jackets could be close to a breakout season under the right coaching fit.
Quenneville is second all-time in NHL coaching wins, trailing only Scotty Bowman, and took the Blackhawks to three Stanley Cup titles. The first of those titles was with a team full of young players, including captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane in the early stages of their NHL careers.
The problem with Quenneville is the lingering stain from his role in what happened with Beach in 2010, when former Blackhawks video coach Brad Aldrich was accused of sexually assaulting the team’s top prospect during the first of Quenneville's Stanley Cup runs.
Quenneville and former Blackhawks GM Stan Bowman were among those accused of covering up Beach's allegations, and both lost their jobs. They've worked the past year with Kim Davis, the NHL’s executive vice president in charge of diversity and inclusion, and hope to regain eligibility to work in the league again.
The questions that remain include when is the right time for it and where. Could Columbus be a good landing spot for Quenneville to re-enter the league? If so, it’ll take a lobbying effort by the Blue Jackets’ front office with commissioner Gary Bettman.
Who might be candidates for a goaltending coach?
This job isn’t generating as much buzz, but it’s very important.
Elvis Merzlikins has four years left on a contract that costs the Blue Jackets $5.4 million annually against the salary cap, and rookie Daniil Tarasov is likely to be his backup. Both have impressive athleticism and talent, but neither has been able to put it all together consistently in North America.
Getting a new coaching voice could be the trick that’s needed to help both get to the next level in their careers, and there shouldn’t be a shortage of interested candidates. Three names to know include Michael Lawrence, Marko Torenius and Leo Luongo.
More: It's now or never: Merzlikins needs turnaround season for Blue Jackets
More: Blue Jackets' Elvis Merzlikins on struggles, verbal abuse: 'This is a new life challenge'
Lawrence, 41, is a Canadian-born goalie coach who’s spent the past nine years working in Switzerland’s top league, NLA. That includes the past six years with HC Lugano, where he worked with Merzlikins from 2017-19 and developed a close working relationship with the Blue Jackets netminder. Lawrence has an established history of success in Switzerland and would like to give it a whirl in the NHL.
Torenius, 46, began his coaching career in Finland and moved into the Kontinental Hockey League for eight years before landing a job this past season with the Abbotsford Canucks, the Vancouver Canucks’ affiliate in the American Hockey League. He was hand-picked by Canucks goaltending coach Ian Clark, who held the same role for the Blue Jackets before Legace was promoted.
Luongo, 38, is the younger brother of former NHL goalie Roberto Luongo, who’s now in the Florida Panthers’ front office. The younger Luongo has spent the past two years with the Charlotte Checkers, the Panthers’ AHL affiliate. He was a finalist when the New Jersey Devils were seeking a goaltending coach two years ago and is seen within the goaltending world as a fast-rising coach.
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Mike Babcock, Peter Laviolette, more: Update on Blue Jackets' coaching search
