NHL Jack Adams Rankings: Sabres And Lightning Coaches Jump To The Top

The Vegas Golden Knights showed the rest of the league just how tough it is to be a coach in the NHL, firing Bruce Cassidy nearly three years after winning a Stanley Cup together.

While the Golden Knights brass felt they needed a change behind the bench, several other coaches around the league have led their teams to surprisingly successful campaigns, specifically in the Eastern Conference.

Coaches such as Martin St-Louis, Rick Tocchet, Travis Green, and even Rick Bowness – who's been the bench boss of the Columbus Blue Jackets for just 29 games – did not make this list, but deserve some credit for how they've managed their respective clubs.

That said, Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar, who led my Jack Adams Award ranking for most of the season, has fallen out of the top five altogether. Colorado has not been the same juggernaut it was early in the season, when the squad was challenging for the all-time single-season points record.

Here's who did make my list of the top five candidates for the Jack Adams Award, as of March 31.

After selecting defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the first overall pick in the 2025 draft, there weren't many expectations for the New York Islanders going into this season.

Now, with seven games remaining in their season, the Islanders are 10th in the NHL and third in the Metropolitan Division.

While the success attached to New York's season is in large part because of the revolutionary rookie campaign that Schaefer is having and a stellar campaign for goalie Ilya Sorokin, coach Patrick Roy deserves just as much of the credit.

Roy has found the sweet spot in how to use the Isles' sensational rookie to get the best out of him and put him in a position to succeed.

Under Roy's management, the Islanders are tied for the sixth-most victories in the NHL with 42 and in a position to make the post-season while fighting off a gruelling wild-card race.

Marco Sturm is in his first season as an NHL head coach, leading the Boston Bruins and doing an impressive job.

There was some uncertainty around the Bruins after they became sellers at last year's trade deadline and finished in the bottom five of the standings. But with a quick retool and Sturm being introduced behind the bench, Boston's decisions have served them well so far.

With teams in the East nipping at their heels, the Bruins have remained consistent in the playoff race, holding onto a wild-card spot.

Along with David Pastrnak making his teammates better with his elite playmaking ability, Sturm has brought the best out of Morgan Geekie, Pavel Zacha, Viktor Arvidsson, Elias Lindholm and others, who have seen a boost in production this year.

Dan Muse is also having an astonishing first season as an NHL bench boss.

The Pittsburgh Penguins were a favorite to be a contender for the draft lottery going into this year. However, Muse has propelled the Penguins' aging core into the second-best team in the Metro.

With his guidance, players such as Anthony Mantha, Ben Kindel and Egor Chinakhov have had pleasantly surprising campaigns since arriving in Pittsburgh.

Even Erik Karlsson, who is averaging 0.87 points per game, has seen improvement in his game compared to his last two seasons. And Evgeni Malkin is averaging a point per game for the first time since 2022-23.

Even when top centers Sidney Crosby and Malkin were out of the lineup at the same time, Muse's Penguins didn't falter and could make the playoffs for the first time since 2021-22.

BetMGM Jack Adams Award odds: 61.00/+6000

While it appears that the Tampa Bay Lightning got everything figured out at this stage of the season, that wasn't the case when the campaign kicked off.

In their first eight games of the year, the Lightning had a 2-4-2 record and sat at the bottom of the Eastern Conference. It became a question whether Jon Cooper, the longest active tenured coach in the NHL, has taken Tampa Bay as far as he could.

It didn't take long for that doubt in Cooper to disappear. Now, the Lightning are one of the best teams in the NHL, again.

That's a testament to how great a mind Cooper is, leading his team to be a constant Stanley Cup contender, with this year being no different. And somehow, he's never won a Jack Adams Award.

BetMGM Jack Adams Award odds: 2.50/+150

If this NHL season were a TV series, the Buffalo Sabres would be the main character.

The Sabres have missed the playoffs for 14 straight years, the longest streak in NHL history. However, that run of unbearable seasons appears to be ending as the Sabres equal the point totals of the Lightning and the Carolina Hurricanes to lead the Eastern Conference.

Now, there is a fair argument that the reason for Buffalo's resurgence is because of the change at the GM position. However, since Jarmo Kekalainen replaced Kevyn Adams, there haven't been many notable roster changes.

If anything, the change in the front office may have brought a boost to the Sabres' roster, but it was managed perfectly by head coach Lindy Ruff.

It's quite a story for Ruff to be at risk of losing his job as coach of the Sabres earlier in the season, to becoming the favorite to be named coach of the year.

BetMGM Jack Adams Award odds: 1.53/-190

For action-packed issues, access to the entire magazine archive and a free issue, subscribe to The Hockey News at THN.com/free. Get the latest news and trending stories by subscribing to our newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com or creating your own post in our community forum.