In part one of The Hockey News' series on possible head coaching candidates for the Ottawa Senators, Marlies head coach John Gruden is probably the betting favourite at the moment.
Ottawa Senators GM Steve Staios has compiled a list of candidates to be his next head coach, but it's difficult to truly do your due diligence when some of the best potential candidates are still working.
However, one such candidate that would require less of a get-to-know-you period for Staios and company is current Toronto Marlies Head Coach John Gruden.
Gruden's name has been at the front of the imaginary line, even before it was confirmed that Jacques Martin would not be returning next season.
It’s no secret that Gruden is known to both Staios and owner Michael Andlauer through the Hamilton (now Brantford) Bulldogs franchise where Gruden helped them deliver a Robertson Cup as head coach.
It surprised no one when Andlauer brought Staios in as Ottawa's president of hockey operations a week after the sale of the franchise. There was familiarity and trust between the two from their time in the OHL together. But Staios’s NHL management resume was limited, and a reasonable person could be persuaded to view that appointment as possible nepotism.
If Gruden becomes the next bench boss of the Ottawa Senators, what does he bring to the table that separates him from the competition?
It’s easy to point to his championship pedigree with Hamilton. Obviously, that is not irrelevant. If it takes a Formula One driver to drive a Formula One car, then he showed he could do that at the major junior level.
Then again, so did both DJ Smith and Guy Boucher, both winning league titles in junior. Smith won a Memorial Cup in 2015.
Like Smith, Gruden followed that up with some time as an NHL assistant coach. The 53-year-old spent four years as the New York Islanders assistant coach under Barry Trotz and last season as an assistant coach to Jim Montgomery in Boston. Those are two pretty impressive apprenticeships.
Now Gruden is in his first year as head coach of the Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate. Senators fans might cringe at the idea of poaching another coach from the Toronto Maple Leafs, given how things turned out with the last one.
As well, if the Leafs are headed to another early playoff exit, might that spell the end of Sheldon Keefe’s career as head coach of the buds? Perhaps the Leafs have a grander design in mind for Gruden?
The real issue facing Staios if he chooses Gruden will be to sell it to the mob as something other than nepotism.
Staios will need to convince people that Gruden can create an atmosphere of accountability where mediocrity will not be tolerated and that good habits become the expectation from day one.
Unlike a couple of other candidates in the coaching market, Gruden comes with a less decorated NHL player resume. He played a total of 92 regular season games in the league (22 with Ottawa) with three playoff games. He has had to work his way up the ladder from the US National Development team to where he is today.
That doesn’t sound like someone who is getting by on nepotism and entitlement.
Nonetheless, with a sizeable list of available coaches who have cut their teeth and enjoyed success at the NHL level, Staios would need to not only explain why he chose Gruden, but also why he didn’t choose the others.
At first glance, there is reason to give serious consideration to Gruden. Is he the guy?
If he's chosen, he had better be. Staios can’t be wrong about this one.