NHL Hot Seat: NHL Coaches on the Hot Seat in 2025

Once the regular season ends, many NHL fans get a much-needed break from watching their dysfunctional or downright dumpster fire teams. 

It can even make the playoffs better for some people because, if your franchise sucked last year, you can imagine a carefree version of your future self gleefully watching your miraculously fully-fixed team in the postseason. 

A lot of owners and front offices are probably thinking similarly. And many of them think they’re one coach firing away from turning everything around. 

There’s already been a couple of firings so far this postseason — including Anaheim, Pittsburgh, Vancouver, and the Rangers — but still a few more are likely on the way. 

Here are a few head coaches who could find themselves out the door next.

Joe Sacco, Bruins 

This one is probably the easiest bet. 

The Boston Bruins will undoubtedly be firing Sacco, the interim head coach who took over after former Jack Adams winner Jim Montgomery was fired in November. 

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney basically confirmed this in an end-of-season press conference. 

“He’s aware that we’re going to have a coaching search,” Sweneey said. 

It’s not even really Sacco’s fault. He just inherited a poorly constructed roster. He also probably knew going into this situation that, barring some miracle resurgence, he’d have a short-lived tenure as head coach in Boston. 

Sweeney did say, though, that Sacco would be among the coaches considered in their search. 

“[Sacco]’s aware that he’ll be part of the final group of coaches that we get down to, because I think he’s earned and deserves that.”

I think Boston fans would be pretty enraged with the front office if they retained Sacco, but their ‘brain trust’ seems out of touch with fans’ opinions, so who knows?

Anders Sörensen, Chicago Blackhawks

Here’s another obvious one. Sörensen, another interim coach, will probably be axed this offseason in order for the Blackhawks to go big game hunting in the coaching free agent market. 

Like Sacco, there’s a chance that Sörensen could compete in a coaching search to hold onto his job. He did get some praise from GM Kyle Davidson at season’s end. 

“We saw some ups and downs during his time, but we really finished off strong. The young players found their footing towards the end. That’s a credit to him. He did a really nice job in a tough spot,” Davidson said.

From that quote alone, you’d deem him a frontrunner for the job, but the intel surrounding the Blackhawks’ search suggests they’re looking for a more veteran coach who can build a long-term winning culture with Chicago. 

That’s not to say Sörensen can’t one day develop into a coach of that caliber, but right now the Blackhawks need someone who’s been there before.

Andrew Brunette, Nashville Predators

After the way the season ended in Nashville, with a 3-7-0 record in their final ten, you’d assume that Brunette’s seat is getting hotter. 

Brunette, though, didn’t see it that way.

“I’m here to coach,” Brunette told reporters on an April 8 end-of-year presser.

“Until I’m told otherwise, I’m going to continue to work and become a better coach,” he continued. 

Maybe he has intel from the front office that he’s sticking around next year. It could be naivete. Or, possibly, he’s using the age-old technique of trying to ignore a problem to prevent it from becoming a problem. 

The Predators have cause to move on from Brunette after the season he had, but the franchise is in a tricky position where they’re not contenders but are also not quite bad enough to rebuild. 

It’s kind of a mid if you do, mid if you don’t situation. 

Regardless, I think Brunette’s seat is hot. 

Patrick Roy, New York Islanders

It’s a story that seems to play out across every sport. 

Legends of the game rarely ever do a good job as a coach, executive, or owner. You’d assume that Wayne Gretzky or Michael Jordan would be the best person you could ever pick to run a franchise because they’d infuse your team with whatever made them the GOAT. But rarely does it play out with much success. 

Roy’s tenure in New York has shown this as well. Just because you may be the greatest goaltender ever doesn’t mean you will become a good head coach. 

What’s also tough in these former legends’ turned coaches or executives’ situations is that they often feel like their opinion is scripture and that everyone should play the way they did. 

After a 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning near the end of the season, Roy told reporters that his player, Anthony Duclair, was “god-awful” in the game. 

Maybe that’s something an elite player can say one-on-one to a teammate, say in the locker room, or even perhaps whisper to a beat reporter. But the head coach can’t talk like that. 

With New York already moving on from their president and general manager, Roy’s tenure with the Islanders could also soon come to an end. 

Craig Berube, Toronto Maple Leafs

I’ll admit, this last one’s a touch ludicrous. 

What team would fire their coach after just one season? What fanbase would accept something like that? I’ll tell you, the Toronto Maple Leafs and their fans. 

If they win this series, please, come back at me and tell me how stupid I looked, but if, and it’s a big if, the Leafs choke away their 3-0 series lead over the Ottawa Senators, there will be some severe embarrassment among team brass, fans, and media. 

Embarrassment can cause you to make rash decisions that, in the moment, you think will drain some of the hurt away, but in the long run, only serve to cause you more pain and sorrow.

If this team, with its track record of choking, finds a way to choke away their series lead, after a rolling 3-0 start where they looked like a legitimate contender again, I would not be surprised if they fired Berube. 

It’s not a move that I would make, and it’s probably one that 31 other teams and general managers wouldn’t make, but this is Toronto, and they do things like this.