Devils fans hoping to know who the coach is will now have to wait until at least next Monday at the earliest June 27th. GM Lou Lamoriello told reporters that the team will not have a coach in place prior to this Friday's NHL Entry Draft, which concludes late afternoon Saturday in St. Paul, Minnesota. Its unlikely the Devils will conduct any business operations on Sunday, the day after the draft, so a new coach on Sunday is 99.9% out of question.
It seems safe to say that they are close to naming a coach, but the field of candidates remains wide-open from NHL Experienced coaches and possible first time coaches. Lamoriello did not guarantee hiring a coach before the free agent period starts on July 1st at noon, though the window is much larger to hire one in between the draft and free agency than other years. So, there really should be little excuse for the Devils not to have a coach by early next week just to get this headache out of the way.
Here is a potential list of possible candidates in no order:
Ken Hitchcock
Michel Therrien
Craig MacTavish
Craig Ramsay
Peter DeBoer
Cory Clouston
Kurt Kleinendorst
Mike Haviland
Bob Boughner
John Stevens
Kirk Muller
Guy Carbonneau
Dave Cameron
John Torchetti
Mike Eaves
Mike Sullivan
Jim Schoenfeld
Mike Kitchen
Trent Yawney
Jay Woodroft
Matt Shaw
Rick Bowness
Larry Robinson
Notes: If I had to pick my top 5 or 6, it would be Hitchcock, Haviland, DeBoer, MacTavish, Therrien, Ramsay.
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