Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar has led our NHL Jack Adams Award rankings for most of the season. But Pittsburgh Penguins bench boss Dan Muse leads the top challengers.
The final stretch of the NHL's regular season is nearly here.
Many teams have about 20 games remaining on their schedules, and the standings have been extremely tight, particularly in the wild-card races in the Eastern and Western conferences.
Among those in the close race to make the post-season are surprising teams that many didn't believe could put up a fight before the season.
Two clubs in that category that don't make this list are the Boston Bruins and Columbus Blue Jackets, led by coaches Marco Sturm and Rick Bowness, respectively.
Several bench bosses around the NHL deserve their flowers for how they've managed their rosters this season. Here are my top five candidates to be recognized as the best coach of the year and win the Jack Adams Award, as of March 3.
5. Patrick Roy, New York Islanders
The story of the New York Islanders this season is undoubtedly the incredible rookie campaign that defenseman Matthew Schaefer is having.
While the Calder Trophy favorite has played a significant role for the team's rebound on Long Island, the work behind the scenes from coach Patrick Roy shouldn't go unnoticed.
It's not easy for a rookie D-man to be as effective as Schaefer's been, and a big part of that success goes to how Roy has handled the 2025 first overall pick. Unlike some coaches, Roy isn't afraid to let his youngster shine, giving him 24:07 of ice time per game.
Furthermore, Roy, the third-most-winningest goaltender in NHL history, has brought out the best in goalie Ilya Sorokin. Sorokin is one of the favorites to win the Vezina Trophy as the best goaltender this year.
The Islanders also have the fourth-fewest goals against per game, at 2.74, and the ninth-best penalty kill in the NHL, at an 81.2 percent success rate.
BetMGM Jack Adams Award odds: 101.00/+10000
4. Todd McLellan, Detroit Red Wings
The Atlantic Division is a tough group to play in, arguably the toughest in the NHL. However, Todd McLellan's Detroit Red Wings have made a statement this year, proving to the rest of the league they're not a side to be taken lightly.
McLellan's got the Red Wings on their way to end that nine-year streak of missing the playoffs while regularly competing against a division that has every team over a .500 points percentage.
There's room for improvement, as Detroit has a minus-one goal differential. But in McLellan's first full campaign as the Red Wings' coach, they're contending for the top spot in the Atlantic and are a top-five team in the Eastern Conference standings.
BetMGM Jack Adams Award odds: 31.00/+3000
3. Lindy Ruff, Buffalo Sabres
The Buffalo Sabres' start to the season nearly cost Lindy Ruff his job. On Dec. 15, Buffalo was at the bottom of its division and fired GM Kevyn Adams.
While that was a change in the Sabres' brass, Ruff got a real hold of his roster. Now, Buffalo hasn't had a points percentage this high in the regular season in 14 years, the longest playoff drought in NHL history.
From that point on, Ruff and the Sabres have been unrecognizable in a good way. At the moment, Buffalo is second in the Atlantic and sixth in the NHL, marking an exciting time for the team's fans.
Ruff has the shortest odds of winning the Jack Adams, according to BetMGM.
BetMGM Jack Adams Award odds: 1.91/-110
2. Dan Muse, Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins were set to be a lottery team going into this campaign. However, coach Dan Muse had other plans.
This is his first season as an NHL head coach, and he has Pittsburgh executing on both ends of the ice. The Pens have the sixth-fewest goals against per game and the fifth-most goals-for per game.
With that, Muse's squad isn't just run by the likes of Sidney Crosby. The Penguins' captain has been sidelined since returning from the Olympic break, yet the team hasn't slowed down. In fact, they're coming off a 5-0 victory over the Pacific Division leaders, the Vegas Golden Knights.
As a result, they sit second in the Metropolitan Division, and it seems that Crosby and the Penguins could be back in the playoffs after missing the post-season for the last three campaigns.
BetMGM Jack Adams Award odds: 11.00/+1000
1. Jared Bednar, Colorado Avalanche
Jared Bednar's Colorado Avalanche are the only Western Conference club on this list. But the team's dominance this season has been next to none, even if they have slowed down a bit lately.
When I say they've slowed down, the Avalanche are 6-4-0 in their last 10 games and lead the league with a mighty plus-77 goal differential, 21 more than the next team.
While Colorado has some of the best players on the planet, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar, Bednar must receive credit for how this hockey club has been run.
It's incredibly difficult for a professional sports franchise of any league to remain as consistent as the Avalanche have been this season, with a 40-10-9 record in 59 games. Even the best of players have their slumps, but with Bednar behind the team's bench, he's ensured that his team is almost always the better of the two on the ice.
BetMGM Jack Adams Award odds: 15.00/+1400
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