The NHL’s coaching carousel was in full effect over the off-season with nine new hires looking to make an immediate impact.
Some of these bench bosses are making their NHL head coaching debuts, while others have been around for years.
The players make it happen on the ice, but the coaches are a huge part of the success or failure a team has each season. Sometimes, the bench boss can even help a team perform above expectations.
Here are four coaches who will have the biggest effect in their new position.
Mike Sullivan, New York Rangers
It was a rough year for the New York Rangers on and off the ice. After winning the Presidents’ Trophy and advancing to the Eastern Conference final in 2023-24, they had a huge drop-off last season.
The Rangers missed out on the playoffs and finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division. At one point, former coach Peter Laviolette was under fire for saying he didn’t have a message for the team after a 5-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in April.
Mike Sullivan was the perfect choice to lead the Blueshirts behind the bench. Sullivan won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins and is invested in managing a competitive team. With that, he was appointed the coach of Team USA for the 4 Nations Face-Off and the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics.
Joel Quenneville, Anaheim Ducks
After resigning as coach of the Florida Panthers during the 2021-22 season, Joel Quenneville is returning to the NHL with the Anaheim Ducks.
He resigned after an investigation into how the Chicago Blackhawks handled sexual assault allegations determined he was one of the people who had an inadequate response.
In July 2024, the NHL reinstated Quenneville, current Edmonton Oilers GM Stan Bowman and former Blackhawks VP of hockey operations Al MacIsaac.
Quenneville is ready to push the Ducks and give them an opportunity to end a seven-year playoff drought. The team improved by 21 points from 2023-24, and the second-winningest coach in NHL history and two-time Jack Adams Award winner can take Anaheim to that next step.
Adam Foote, Vancouver Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks had a campaign to forget on many levels last year. From the J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson rift to the Quinn Hughes injury and the team underperforming all season long, it wasn’t ideal for GM Patrik Allvin and the rest of the front office.
Despite not executing expectations last season, the Canucks aren’t that different from when they advanced to the Western Conference final in 2023-24. With the right preparation and leadership from new coach Adam Foote, Vancouver could be back in the mix.
Foote was an assistant coach for the Canucks for the last three seasons. He knows the core players of this team and understands what could be done to get the best out of them again.
“I’m really excited about it,” Canucks right winger Conor Garland told The Hockey News' Carol Schram in late May. “I loved having him as an assistant. It's obviously going to be a little different now. I’m assuming as the head, we won’t be able to talk and hang out as much at the rink. But he was a lot of fun, and he's a very smart guy.”
Rick Tocchet, Philadelphia Flyers
The Philadelphia Flyers get to experience the reincarnation of Rick Tocchet. He played parts of 11 seasons with the Flyers before retiring in 2001-02. Now, he’s back as the bench boss following his time with the Canucks.
It didn’t take long before Tocchet was able to turn around the falling Canucks into a Stanley Cup contender. In his first full season in Vancouver in 2023-24, he ended a four-year playoff drought, advanced to the conference finals and won the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year.
It’s a huge task and a huge ask, but maybe Tocchet has another quick turnaround in him with his Flyers next season.
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