Sabres Coaching Search May Be Casting A Wide Net
More veteran bench bosses could be in the mix for Adams
Sabres Coaching Search May Be Casting A Wide NetThe Buffalo Sabres coaching vacancy could draw a lot of interest with GM Kevyn Adams looking for an experienced hand to mold a group of talented young players into a playoff team, but according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Jeff Marek’s 32 Thoughts podcast, the list of candidates could be much larger than the prominent names mentioned this week.
Former New York Rangers head coach Gerard Gallant and former Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff were mentioned in speculation, as was Carolina head coach Rod Brind’Amour (whose contract with the Hurricanes expires at the end of the season).
Friedman mentioned that Milwaukee Admirals head coach Karl Taylor and two-time NCAA Champion David Carle of Denver University are qualified candidates, but do not have NHL experience that Buffalo is looking for, but that Cup winner Craig Berube, former Minnesota Wild head coach Dean Evason and former Edmonton head coach Jay Woodcroft could be in the mix. Marek mentioned former Oilers head coach Todd Nelson (who won the Calder Cup last season with the Hershey Bears).
“My phone has been on do not disturb,” Adams said on Tuesday, “but when I looked right before the press conference, I had a lot of voicemails……This is a hockey city. People that love the game and love the feeling of coming into a rink and feeling the expectation of fans and pressure, you want to be in a city like Buffalo. So, no doubt that this is going to be an attractive job.”
There could be a lot of competition for coaching positions this summer, with one confirmed vacancy in Ottawa, four jobs in interim limbo (Pascal Vincent in Columbus, Travis Green in New Jersey, Drew Bannister in St. Louis, Jim Hiller in Los Angeles), and potential vacancies created by missing the playoffs, first round failure or contractual issues (Sheldon Keefe in Toronto, Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh, and Brind’Amour).
LATEST THN BUFFALO STORIES