from Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic,

But in saying very little, Yzerman also gave a glimpse into his thought process as he ponders his most critical offseason move. Does he go with a known commodity behind the bench, someone that’s fallen into his sphere of influence over the years? Or look beyond that. The value of doing it the first way, which is also the more traditional path, is that Yzerman would know the successful candidate on a deeper level and they would start out on the same page. That carries less risk and NHL GMs tend to be a risk-averse group.

But as Yzerman was musing aloud about the process, he conceded he might need to push himself to look beyond his circle and consider candidates from other corners of the hockey world – a difficult concept to wrap his head around....

A name that’s constantly being bandied about in NHL circles is Lane Lambert’s, who is currently with Barry Trotz and the Islanders. Lambert and Yzerman have a history that dates back to their playing days, so he would certainly fit the bill of someone that Yzerman’s familiar with.

The problem with casting his net further afield, as Yzerman nicely articulated, is how does he – as a prospective employer – genuinely evaluate the contributions of an assistant coach when teams deliberately go out of their way to make them so anonymous. It’s very difficult.

But Yzerman acknowledged that he’s at least thinking along those terms, by noting that his search might also include assistant coaches currently involved in the NHL playoffs....

Of course, if Boudreau moves on, does that then make Paul Maurice the favorite to land in Vancouver, if the game of musical coaching chairs is set in motion?

Or does he fit in with what Yzerman is looking for in Detroit? Way back, Maurice coached the Detroit Jr. Red Wings (1993-94 and 1994-95) and got them to the 1995 Memorial Cup final. He played his junior hockey in nearby Windsor with the Spitfires. He was behind the Carolina bench in 2002 when the Yzerman-captained Red Wings defeated the Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup Final. At the age of 55, Maurice is seventh on the all-time NHL coaching wins list (775).

more ($$$), with other teams mentioned...