Kuznetsov looking like the best trade deadline acquisition, DeBrusk rewarding Bruins for not moving him, and is Ersson being overworked?
Now that it has been officially announced that Team Canada will bring back Doug Armstrong as the general manager for the next Olympics — and various international events — the question now becomes who will he name as head coach.
Jon Cooper? Bruce Cassidy? Or is there another option?
Tampa Bay's Cooper would appear to have the inside track on a coaching job. After all, he was originally named as the head coach for the 2022 Olympics, before the NHL decided not to send players to Beijing.
Since then, he's only further bolstered his resume, having led the Lightning to their third straight Stanley Cup final (they won in 2020 and 2021). As well, he has ample international experience, having been an assistant for Team North American at the World Cup (where he coached Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and many others that will be counted on at the next Olympics), and was the head coach for Team Canada at the 2017 World Championship.
Vegas' Cassidy, who is coming off a Stanley Cup championship with the Golden Knights in 2023, is another option. Cassidy's teams always tend to be defensive-minded, which could be an asset for a Team Canada that might not have a solid option in net. If the Golden Knights can win two in a row, expect Cassidy to get even more consideration.
A third option is Colorado's Jared Bednar, who defeated Cooper's Lightning in the 2022 Stanley Cup final. While Bednar is probably better suited as an assistant coach for Team Canada, he's got a couple of things going for him: specifically, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar. The fact that Colorado has two players who will play prominent roles for Team Canada (three, if you count Devon Toews) could mean that having Bednar is more important than Cooper or Cassidy, especially since neither the Lightning nor Golden Knights will have many options for Team Canada.
Some other candidates to potentially join the coaching staff are Vancouver's Rick Tocchet, Toronto's Sheldon Keefe and Carolina's Rod Brind'Amour.
Who do you think should be the coach?
The Starting Five
1) 'I wanted to pass the puck': Evgeny Kuznetsov Scores First as a Carolina Hurricane: The Russian center needed just four games to get his first in a Hurricanes uniform.
2) What McDavid and Kucherov Have In Common: Connor McDavid's offensive trends are making the record books.
3) Bruins' Decision to Keep Jake DeBrusk Paying Off: The Bruins made the right call keeping No. 74 in Boston.
4) Can a Team of Players Moved at the Trade Deadline Make the Playoffs in NHL 24?: Jake Guentzel and Noah Hanifin lead team of traded players
5) Fears Emerge That Sam Ersson Is Being Overworked After Maple Leafs Blowout: Sam Ersson looks to be running out of gas as the Flyers get into the home stretch of the regular season.