Jack Adams Trophy Odds: Who Will Win Coach of the Year?

The NHL’s playoffs are approaching fast, so their awards season is also coming up. 

It’s not as glamorous as the Hollywood awards season, but large egos still make their case to be recognized by their peers and the media. The Jack Adams Trophy, given to the NHL’s best coach, is an excellent example of that jockeying. 

Side note: wouldn’t it be funny to see Elliotte Friedman or John Buccigross asking NHL head coaches who they’re wearing on a red carpet? Maybe Gary Bettman should look into that. 

Strangely, the Jack Adams Trophy may be one of the unluckiest awards in sports, given the significant turnover of NHL coaches every offseason. Three of the last five winners have been fired less than two seasons after winning the award. 

So, maybe these coaches aren’t that excited about winning the Jack Adams. But anyway, here’s where the odds stand as of March 28. 

Jack Adams Trophy Odds

Jack Adams Favorite 

Spencer Carbery, Capitals (-5000)

With around two months to go until the NHL’s awards will likely be announced, Spencer Carbery has seemingly locked up the Jack Adams Trophy, and for good reason. 

In his first two seasons on the job, he’s turned the Capitals from a desolate franchise into a contender again.  

When he took over in 2023-24, Washington was a last-minute Wild Card entrant, only to become a doormat for the New York Rangers. But, now, this season, the Capitals are contending for the President’s Trophy and likely the Stanley Cup as well. 

Carbery is a big coaching success story in the NHL. Since retiring from the league in 2010, he bounced around in AHL coaching jobs, eventually coaching for the Capitals’ ECHL and AHL teams. Washington hired him in 2023 after a brief stint as an assistant in Toronto. 

With heavy minus odds, Carbery is all but certain to win the NHL’s Coach of the Year. 

2024-25 Jack Adams Contenders

Dean Evason, Blue Jackets (+900)

Only a month after Dean Evason took over the Columbus coaching job in July of this offseason, the team suffered the tragic loss of forward Johnny Gaudreau. 

He then had the impossible task of trying to improve on the Blue Jackets’ 27-43-12 record the year prior while also navigating the loss of a team leader. To his credit, he found a way to do it. Even if Columbus misses the playoffs this year, Evason’s first season has undoubtedly been a success. 

There’s a shot that, because of the power of his team’s story, Evason could pull off an upset win over Carberry. That alone makes him more of a contender than is reflected in the odds. 

If the Blue Jackets could wrestle their way back to a Wild Card spot, it would also improve his chances of winning. 

Martin St. Louis, Canadiens (+2500)

While the Canadiens have been steadily improving each year since Martin St. Louis took over in 2022, this season, they’ve vaulted up into a tier of contention that his tenure had not seen yet. 

But he’s navigated the transition smoothly with a very young team. 

The addition of a rookie like Lane Hutson has undoubtedly helped the Canadiens. St. Louis’ trust in Hutson has allowed him to grow out of being a prospect and into a legitimate top offensive defender in the league. 

Like Evason and the Blue Jackets, if the Canadiens can hold onto their Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference, St. Louis’ chances of winning the Jack Adams trophy will also increase. Still, it’ll be a feat to climb above Evason and Carberry.