Since the NHL’s 2024-25 regular season ended, there have been six coaching changes – but only four of the teams that changed coaches have hired replacements at this point. And that brings up an intriguing question – when it comes to the four teams that have hired new bench bosses, which ones have the best chance at making the Stanley Cup playoffs next spring?
Let’s break it down below:
The Canucks came within seven points of beating out the St. Louis Blues for the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, but just about everything that could go wrong for Vancouver did, including coach Rick Tocchet leaving for Philadelphia at the end of the season. However, in the top-heavy Pacific Division, the Canucks could rebound next season under new coach Adam Foote and get back into the playoff mix.
Vancouver is going to have approximately $16.7 million in salary cap space to spend this summer, and while some of that will have to go to replacements for forwards Pius Suter and Brock Boeser, with the right targeted acquisitions, the Canucks could put up the additional four-to-seven wins or overtime losses that could propel them back into the post-season.
They’re going to need a couple teams in the Central Division and/or Pacific to take a step backward, but Foote’s no-nonsense approach to his new job could be just what the doctor ordered for Vancouver, and the Canucks wouldn’t raise too many eyebrows if they were back in the playoffs next year.
The Rangers were just one win behind the eighth-place Montreal Canadiens in the Eastern Conference this season, but the Blueshirts also had two other teams – the Columbus Blue Jackets and Detroit Red Wings – ahead of them in the Eastern Conference standings. The Rangers were a whopping 29 standings points worse than they were in 2023-24, and that’s why Peter Laviolette lost his job. But incoming coach Mike Sullivan is as highly-regarded as they get, and the structure and confidence he’s going to provide should get the Rangers back in the playoff hunt.
There are no guarantees the Rangers will squeeze back into the post-season next spring, as the Metropolitan Division and Atlantic Divisions both promise to be more competitive. But there will be major pressure on the Rangers to turn things around, and Blueshirts GM Chris Drury – armed with a contract extension – isn’t going to be satisfied with anything less than a trip back to the playoffs.
To be a playoff team once again, the Rangers need teams ahead of them this season to take a step back, but stranger things than that have happened. And any team with a star goalie like Igor Shesterkin shouldn’t be counted out from getting into the playoffs next season.
The Ducks began and ended the regular-season poorly this year, but in between those bookends to the season, Anaheim had stretches where they were capable of above-average play. Still, the Ducks’ overall disappointing season cost Greg Cronin his job, and Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek replaced him with multi-time Cup-winner Joel Quenneville.
But while we do believe the Ducks will improve on their 35-37-10 record, envisioning a series of events that ends with Anaheim in a playoff position next season requires so many things to go right for them, as well as so many things to go wrong for Pacific rivals. We just don’t see a playoff berth happening for them.
That may change if Verbeek makes a huge splash with the $38.6 million in cap space he has this summer. But as it stands, the Ducks may have to be satisfied with playing meaningful hockey down the stretch next spring, even if that ends without a playoff berth for Anaheim.
The Flyers did show some promise early this season, getting off to a 12-10-3 record. But after Jan. 21, they went 12-19-4 the rest of the year to freefall through the Eastern standings and finish with the worst record in the conference. That spelled the end of the line for Philly coach John Tortorella, and although Tocchet will bring a more player-friendly approach to the Flyers’ coaching role, asking the Flyers to make the jump from 16th in the East to eighth-place or better certainly seems like a bridge too far for Tocchet and company.
To be sure, we’re not suggesting the Flyers won’t be better under Tocchet. In many regards, it would be hard to be worse. But every other team in the Metro Division is likely to be better next year, and that is going to make it exceedingly difficult for Philadelphia to get back into the playoffs for the first time since 2019-20.
They have some $24.7 million in cap space to spend, but their biggest need – capable goaltending – isn’t going to be easily addressed, and imagining that their core of young talent will carry them past four Metro teams into a post-season position is a stretch indeed. Philadelphia’s rebuild likely needs another season to kick into high gear, and that is likely to lead to another year with no playoff hockey for the Flyers.
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
When Kris Knoblauch guided the Edmonton Oilers from 31st place into a playoff spot last season, his success was largely met with a shrug. The Oilers had been underperforming before the coaching change, after all. Any fresh voice could trigger a similar turnaround, it seemed.
Then, Knoblauch got the Oilers out of a 3-2 series deficit against the Vancouver Canucks — and 2024 coach of the year Rick Tocchet — in Round 2. He got them out of a 2-1 deficit against the Dallas Stars in the Western Conference Final. And then, he guided the Oilers from a 3-0 hole all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final — coming within a goal of delivering Canada’s first championship since 1993.
When Edmonton loped through the regular season, dealing with injuries and lineup holes, Knoblauch looked like he might be a one-hit wonder. The Oilers did log their fourth-straight 100-point season — unheard-of since the high-flying 80s with Wayne Gretzky. But they slipped to third in the Pacific Division standings, and team scoring dropped by 35 goals.
Now, we’re into Week 5 of the 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs. Knoblauch is the winningest active regular-season coach, with a .656 points percentage, and also sits first in the playoffs among active coaches, at .639.
The way they dismantled the Los Angeles Kings and the Vegas Golden Knights, the Oilers may have positioned themselves as the team to beat.
First off, the offense is back. With 11 games played, Edmonton leads the playoffs with 43 goals, an average of 3.91 goals a game.
That doesn’t feel especially surprising. Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl know how to raise their games in the post-season and they’re leading the way again — McDavid has 17 points and Draisaitl is at 16. This year, Edmonton is also getting more secondary scoring from across the lineup, whether that’s five goals from ageless Corey Perry or a clutch overtime winner from waiver pickup Kasperi Kapanen, sealing the series against Vegas in just his second playoff game of the year.
Roster depth is important in a long playoff run, but it’s not easy for coaches to know when to make changes and how to deploy players as they come into a series. Two years in a row, Knoblauch has accomplished the near-impossible by spelling off Stuart Skinner until he could find his ‘A’ game again in net. As well as Kapanen, Knoblauch has also gotten some quality minutes from Troy Stecher on the blueline in the last two games, swapping him in for Ty Emberson.
Knoblauch is a straight shooter when informing players of lineup changes.
“You have to be honest with them,” he said, per NHL.com. “Maybe you get away with it once tricking them or whatever, but the next time, it’s all downhill after that. They want the truth. They don’t necessarily want to hear it, but they don’t necessarily want the alternative. I think it’s important you just tell them the truth (as to) where things are and what you’re thinking about.”
This year’s Oilers also haven’t been as reliant on their power play. That’s a good thing, because it doesn’t get to work as often. They’re down from three opportunities a game in 2024 to just 2.18 so far this year, resulting in six man-advantage goals on 24 tries.
And while Evan Bouchard’s high-risk, high-reward style is known for delivering dramatic lows and highs for fans, a pair of shutouts to eliminate a Vegas team that was fifth in scoring in the regular season speaks volumes about this group’s commitment to team defense.
After coming so close to winning the Cup last year, Leon Draisaitl told Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet that winning the Selke Trophy would be “almost more important than any other trophy at this point in time” — even the Hart.
At this point, Connor McDavid has no time for any reporter who still has doubts about his team’s ability to defend.
“I mean, how many times are we going to answer this question?” he bristled after Edmonton’s Game 5 win. “We can defend. We can … Whatever it takes, we can win games.”
Last playoffs, the Oilers sat in the middle of the pack with an expected goals share of 49.34 percent at five-on-five, per Natural Stat Trick. In 2025, that number has spiked to an impressive 58.08 percent — higher than any other team that’s still alive.
Going into Round 2, McDavid was confident that his group could avenge its 2023 playoff loss to the Golden Knights. Edmonton took care of business handily.
The Oilers’ complete game — and the players’ confidence in their system — forms the kind of foundation that brings championships. Knoblauch has built that in less than two years by preparing for all possibilities, then executing with grace when the waters get rocky.
“Even when situations get tough, he stays pretty calm,” Ryan Nugent-Hopkins said, who has seen some things in his 14 seasons as an Oiler. “Obviously, sometimes he can do the other side of it … but his presence and his calmness helps when things aren’t going well. That’s one of the big things for him.”
Get the latest news and trending stories by following The Hockey News on Google News and by subscribing to The Hockey News newsletter here. And share your thoughts by commenting below the article on THN.com.
As the conference final round of the Stanley Cup playoffs is about to commence, teams out of the race look ahead to the offseason, the NHL Draft, and free agency.
Ducks Name Joel Quenneville Head Coach
Enhanced Depth Will Give Ducks Options
For the Anaheim Ducks, their first order of business has been handled: the hiring of their next head coach ahead of the 2025-26 season, Joel Quenneville.
Quenneville’s hiring demonstrated the Ducks intend to graduate from their rebuild phase and enter their playoff contention phase, as general manager Pat Verbeek was given the green light from ownership, Henry and Susan Samueli, to spend whatever is necessary to ensure the icing of a competitive team come autumn.
Quenneville’s salary is reported to be a two to three-year contract with a higher value than the team had historically paid a head coach.
The Samuelis are said to be spending roughly $5 billion in renovations to Honda Center and development of the surrounding area, intended to become a state-of-the-art sports and entertainment district, OCVibe.
With $38.63 million to play with, the Ducks enter the summer with the third-most projected cap space in the NHL behind the San Jose Sharks ($43.93 million) and the Columbus Blue Jackets ($41.27 million).
“I expect us to be very active and aggressive,” Verbeek said following the dismissal of Greg Cronin on April 19. “I think I see this team at a point to where my expectation of this team is to make the playoffs next year. I expect our group to take a step, and so I'm going to be active and aggressive in making our team better.”
In the 2024 offseason, Verbeek was reported to offer more substantial contracts, both in terms of length and value, to free agents Steven Stamkos and Jonathan Marchessault than the ones they ultimately signed. Both players rejected the Ducks in favor of the Nashville Predators.
“We're going to have a bunch of different strategies going into that,” Verbeek continued. “There'll be a bunch of different plans. I’m going to be aggressive like I was last summer, but there'll be different plans put in place based on what happens in the different scenarios.”
The Ducks will need to spend over $8 million simply to reach the $65 million cap floor for the 2025-26 season, a non-issue when considering they only have 33 players under contract in the organization and high-profile RFAs Mason McTavish and Lukas Dostal in need of new contracts.
Verbeek feels the team will need to add more goal-scoring to take their next steps toward contention. Some of that will come with natural progression from the youngest and most talented players on the roster, and some of that will come with additions made in the upcoming offseason, additions Henry Samueli has no problems breaking out the checkbook for.
“Bringing in someone of Joel’s stature, that’s going to cost more money, but we’re willing to make that investment into the team,” Samueli said at Quenneville’s introductory press conference. “We’ve told the same thing to Pat. Going out looking for players, you will have the budget you need to make this a serious playoff team. You don’t have to pinch pennies anymore. Do what it takes to make us a contender.”
The 2025 free agent class won’t be the deepest, with names like Brock Boeser, Nikolaj Ehlers, and Aaron Ekblad near the top of most publicly available free agents lists. However, there remains an ultimate prize on the market, a prize that is potentially one of the highest-profile UFAs in NHL history: Mitch Marner.
While the odds may be low when it comes to Marner landing in Anaheim this summer, they can offer him (or any free agent) as much money as any opposing team in the market, will now have the second-winningest coach in NHL history behind their bench, and one of the most talented young cores in the league. Spending every cent of the nearly $39 million in cap space isn’t even out of the question.
“Potentially, if necessary,” Samueli said when asked about Verbeek approaching the cap ceiling. “He’s going to spend wisely. We’re not going to write stupid checks, but I told him, ‘Do what it takes to make this a really steady, perennial playoff contender and Stanley Cup contender down the road. And if that means signing big-name free agents, go for it.’ We told him, going forward, you will not be constrained by the budget.”
The Ducks have been on the outside, looking in at the playoffs during this time of year for seven consecutive seasons. That marks the third-longest such streak in the NHL, behind the Buffalo Sabres (13 seasons) and Detroit Red Wings (eight seasons). Ownership seems to have had enough of the rebuild and has now given the green light to spend serious green cash this offseason in order to put those days behind them.
Anaheim Ducks Prospect Spotlight: Sennecke's Season Comes to an End in OHL Championship
Ducks Prospect Swaps Swedish Clubs
Three Ducks Players Who Could Benefit Most from Quenneville Hire