How are NHL’s nine new coaches faring so far?

One of the hardest things about being an NHL head coach is that it turns out your team doesn't really want you to be their coach. Shocking twist, I know. I mean, usually they at least wait until the honeymoon phase is over, but if your team is out of order about 10 seconds after that phase ends, they say, “Ah, well, time to start over.”

Namely: the seventh longest-tenured coach in the NHL is… Spencer Carbery, who led the Washington Capitals for all of 2.5 years. He still feels like a rookie coach, doesn't he?

The fourth longest-tenured coach in the league is Martin St. Louis, who appears to have just been hired. He signed in February 2022, meaning he has coached for only three full seasons at this point (2022-23, 2023-24, 2024-25). Only Rod Brind'Amour, Jared Bednar and John Cooper have been on the same team longer than St. Louis.

Over the past 15 years, coaches have held the position for an average of less than 2.8 seasons.

This means that many teams have a guy on their bench who is just starting the new season with them. And while the start of a season can often give us the wrong information due to small sample sizes, we may see the start of more consistent trends.

So let's quickly check each of the nine – count them, nine! – coaches who have been starting work in their new clubs for about a month.

How are things going, what are the expectations and how are things going?

Listed in order of hire date, with each team's division ranking listed based on point percentage.

Mike Sullivan New York Rangershired on May 2
Team record: 6-6-2, eighth in Metro
Goal difference: -3

It’s kind of strange to write about this, because at first glance it’s bad, right? A month into the year and they are eighth in the division, they have won four games in regulation from 14 attempts and – in the team's 100th anniversary season – they are seriously struggling to score at home. In six games at MSG, they were shut out four times.

The point is, if they had won the game tonight, they would have been third in their division in points, and not far off in points percentage. The division is tight. Additionally, Natural Stat Trick ranks them fourth in the NHL in expected goals percentage, which is very good. Sportlogiq lists them as one of the few teams in the right quadrant when it comes to expected goals for and against.

So! There are no results yet, but they are 31st in the NHL in shooting percentage. They are much, much more talented. They will be in the playoffs, which is an improvement on last year.

Joel Quenneville Anaheim Duckshired on May 8
Team record: 8-3-1, first in the Pacific
Goal difference: +11

Boy. It really works.

Quenneville arrived in Anaheim, and the team's young stars immediately took off, from Cutter Gauthier to Leo Karlsson and Beckett Senneke. The Ducks have some work to do on defense, but they are building a really good team.

Yes, they are helped by exceptional goalkeeping from Lukas Dostal, but most likely they just have a very good goalkeeper, and that is acceptable.

I still think they're too young and skinny to have any serious conversation about the best teams, but they bought into Quenneville's message and look like a much more organized group as a result.

The analysts thought they could make a move, and they did. They'll be in contention for the playoffs all year, and with Quenneville at the helm, that could be enough to actually get there.

Adam Foote Vancouver Canuckshired on May 14
Team record: 7-7-0, sixth place in the Pacific
Goal difference: -5

This year, the Canucks had a roster that could have contended for a playoff spot if they had stayed healthy. But damn, they weren't healthy, and that's a problem.

Injuries make it difficult to judge their new head coach. But from what they have – and I'm sorry to put it mildly – most of the time they looked really bad.

At five-on-five they only control a tiny percentage of expected goals (ranked in the bottom five in the league) and they would need a very good goaltender to even be where they are.

We will leave an incomplete rating here because they were in a lot of pain. But I haven't seen much to suggest they have improved from last year behind the bench.

Rick Tochet, Philadelphia Flyershired on May 14
Team record: 7-5-1, fifth in Metro
Goal difference: +3

The Flyers' fundamentals reflect good coaching and weak offensive talent. They are great at limiting expected goals, but they can't do well in the opposite direction. They're over .500 and have a plus goal differential, so they're off to a better start than last year, when they finished last in the East with a minus-46 goal differential.

This is not a year to be thinking about the playoffs, but if Tocchet can rebuild the culture and start moving in a better direction, the Flyers can take that interim step out of the basement and back into contention. And don't hide it, this is an important step.

Jeff Blashill Chicago Blackhawkshired on May 22
Team record: 5-5-3, fifth place in the Center
Goal difference: +1

I was just talking about Philadelphia, which was last in the East last year, and on the other hand, the Blackhawks were second to last in the West, although their goal differential was even worse – minus 70. With a plus-one mark in 13 games, it is safe to say that compared to the previous 82 games in which they compiled such a positive result, there was no gap in the same sample.

Connor Bedard has taken a step toward the stardom he expected, and so has Frank Nazar, which is probably the biggest accomplishment for the Blackhawks. But they are also limiting their chances against better ones than last year, which is also a good sign.

Whether it's Blashill or the level of development of the young players, there is no doubt that they have emerged as a better team this season.

Lane Lambert Seattle Krakenhired on May 29
Team record: 6-2-4, third in the Pacific
Goal difference: 0

With a positive start and a top-three finish in the division, it's hard to say the Kraken are any better than the previous season.

The team is much better at protecting the puck and has good goaltending, which helps. But the organization hasn't prioritized offense to begin with, and as a result, their offense is still horribly rotten, ranking last in expected goals almost everywhere I checked.

Is it the coach's fault? Personally, I don't tend to put too much blame on it since there are no offensive coaches in the NHL, but it's pretty minimal when you have great talent. Once over the red line, the coach may give instructions and theories, but basically he says, “Play.” Lambert appears to be in control as much as he can, although he may have to try something other than “advice” on offense to help their goalies and defensemen get out of the game.

And Muse, Pittsburgh Penguinshired on June 4
Team record: 8-4-2, third place in the Metro
Goal difference: +9

It's hard to say that any of the trainers on this list got off to a better start than Muse. The Penguins are a household name and people are taking them seriously, just a year removed from a season with a minus-50 goal differential.

I just told Lambert that coaches can influence defense more than anything else, and the Penguins still give up a lot because of that. But the stars are happy, their young players are doing well and their expected goals percentage is in the top 10.

No team seems to understand what this is or where it is going. But they handed this mess over to Muse, and so far he's handling it admirably.

Marco Sturm, Boston Bruinshired on June 5
Team record: 8-7-0, seventh in Atlantic
Goal difference: -2

Okay, I just said that no team seems to understand what this is or where it's going, and now I need to talk about Boston. Perhaps I spoke too soon. David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman, Elias Lindholm, Hampus Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov and Pavel Zacha, they're not terrible! But they are not recovering, at least not yet.

This group looks exactly like a team stuck in no man's land. They're above .500, but barely. They are even lower in goal difference. Their fundamentals are not very good. They seem destined to miss the playoffs or the No. 1 overall pick.

So, with a 2-7 offsuit hand in Texas Hold'em, Marco Sturm seems to be doing a pretty satisfactory job. They are quite competitive. Of all the coaches on this list, I'd say his work is currently the hardest to evaluate (because what's the goal?), so he gets our second “incomplete” of these discussions.

Glen Gulutzan, Dallas Starshired on July 1
Team record: 7-3-3, fourth place in the Center
Goal difference: -2

The Stars currently have one of the toughest schedules in the league and are 7-3-3 in a tough division, so it's hard to say things are anything but off to a good start for Gulutzan in his second stint in Dallas.

Their five-on-five record (minus two differential) doesn't look great, but based on the fundamentals, they probably deserve better. The only thing that has changed is that their power play has moved up from 17th to top five, which has helped them along the way.

However, the Dallas Stars' Pete DeBoer has been great, so Gulutzan has a high bar to clear. The team is good and off to a good start, but it's hard to say whether their goal of overcoming playoff hurdles will get them off to a better start or not. We just know there's another good match ahead.