Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

The Coaching Search Continues

06/16/2022 at 8:21am EDT

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

The Wings aren't where they were in 1993 when, as a player, Yzerman saw what difference it made to bring in Scotty Bowman. Within five years, the team had won two championships. Yzerman may be more comfortable bringing in a coach on a shorter-term deal, such as three years, than the four-or-more years that coaches with leverage can command. That latter group includes multiple Stanley Cup winners besides Trotz (2018, Washington Capitals): Joel Quenneville (2010, 2013 and 2015, Blackhawks), John Tortorella (2004, Tampa Bay Lightning), and Claude Julien (2011, Bruins).

Yzerman's history in hiring head coaches shows his willingness to gamble on a a fresh face: As GM of the Lightning, Yzerman hired Guy Boucher, and, when he wasn't coaching to expectations, fired him and promoted Jon Cooper, who has the Bolts in the Stanley Cup Final for the third straight year.

The Wings would seem a good fit for a newcomer to the NHL head coaching game. The Wings are on the rise, thanks to last season's arrivals of Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, with Simon Edvinsson poised to join the team next season. The Wings still need a No. 1 center and to solidify their goaltending situation, but they are ready to be pushed to be at least be a .500 team. Candidates that could be a good fit in a transitional role (with the possibility of staying, of course), include Derek Lalonde, an assistant coach during Yzerman's last year with the Lightning; Mike Vellucci, a Farmington native who also has coached in the AHL and as an assistant with the Pittsburgh Penguins; Marco Sturm (Los Angeles Kings) and Spencer Carberry (Toronto Maple Leafs).

Another possible candidate is Cam Abbott, who has been coaching in Sweden. He was Seider's coach in 2020-21.

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Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

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