The Columbus Blue Jackets and New York Rangers are both still without a head coach with just four weeks left until the NHL Draft. While each team doesn’t have to rush to make their decisions, it’s curious that both teams are still searching given how close things seemed to be earlier on.
Many believed that the Blue Jackets were the closest to naming their next head coach. GM Jarmo Kekalainen said they wanted to have their head coach “sooner rather than later.” He’s back from the World Championships and information remains locked down with each passing day.
Meanwhile the Rangers were thought to be close to making their decision as well. Some reports indicated that Peter Laviolette was not only a strong candidate, he was on his way to New York for a possible second interview. That search also remains unresolved as of this writing.
What’s going on here? Is it possible that both the Blue Jackets and Rangers are pursuing the same head coaching candidates? Based on who’s been connected to each team, it’s certainly a possibility.
Bidding War?
Two coaches immediately come to mind when it comes to possible links between the Blue Jackets and Rangers. The first is Laviolette.
It is believed Laviolette has had at least one interview with both teams. Elliotte Friedman said on Thursday during his appearance on the Jeff Marek show that he thought Laviolette was either already in new York or on his way to New York. This was a correction from earlier in the week when it was reported that Laviolette was possibly in New York on Tuesday. Could this be a second interview?
For a time, the belief was Laviolette could be a front-runner for the Rangers job. However the Nashville Predators decided to part ways with head coach John Hynes. According to Mollie Walker of the New York Post, the Rangers received permission to speak to Hynes. So there is competition there.
The fact that Laviolette was reportedly heading to New York indicates he’s a contender for the job. It would make sense for the Blue Jackets to be interested in him too. He has more of a firm hand than Brad Larsen had and is one of the winningest head coaches in NHL history. If a bidding war developed from this, the Rangers would seem to be the favorite.
This is far from settled though. There’s no guarantee Laviolette ends up with the Rangers. That could potentially open up a chance for the Blue Jackets to make an offer should they remain interested. This could also explain why both teams still haven’t announced their next head coach yet. Is one waiting on the other to act?
Then There’s Patrick Roy
Here’s the other scenario that could point to the Blue Jackets and Rangers having mutual interest in the same coaching targets. Patrick Roy is still coaching in the Memorial Cup. The Quebec Remparts play in the Final on Sunday. It is believed the Blue Jackets have at least spoken to Roy.
According to Larry Brooks of the New York Post, he believes the Rangers should absolutely talk with Roy about the head coaching job once the Memorial Cup is over. The two sides have not spoken yet according to Brooks. Could this be a reason why the Rangers haven’t announced anything? Are they both waiting for Roy’s season to end to have a more formal interview?
It’s definitely possible. Despite how Roy’s tenure with the Avalanche ended, he’s done a great job since joining the Remparts. That would appeal to both teams in their particular situations.
This could easily go into the weekend and into next week before we hear anything about Roy. Add to that the NHL prefers to not have this kind of news overshadow the Stanley Cup Final and we have a situation where we could have two teams waiting on the same candidates.
There could be other mutual candidates as well that we don’t know about. However Laviolette and Roy make sense for both teams to pursue.
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Sometimes circumstances change in the blink of an eye. Hynes being fired and Andrew Brunette being hired by the Predators has changed who these teams without a head coach could target.
The Blue Jackets have stated that money won’t matter this time when finding the right head coach. That will be put to the test if the Rangers make a better offer.
It will be curious to see in the aftermath if the Blue Jackets and Rangers had similar interests. If they both want to speak to Roy, then there’s no question about it. Time will tell who each team was chasing. Don’t be surprised if it was the same coaches all along.