When will Lou finally hire a coach?

The start of NHL Free Agency is this Friday July 1st at noon Eastern Time and the Devils are the lone NHL team yet to hire a new coach. Remember back in December when John MacLean was fired, I said the Devils next coaching search might be a very lengthy one. I probably was right. Which only means one thing, there really is no pressure for them to rush their decision. If the Devils want to name a coach by Free Agency, tomorrow would be the last possible logical day to do so since Thursday will likely be Lou Lamoriello's planning for free agency day and trying to sign his free agents.

Lamoriello did say last week the Devils would not hire a coach prior to the draft. But with free agency less than 72 hours away, it seems that Lou is more focused on resigning star winger Zach Parise to a long term deal before hiring a coach. Who knows, Lamoriello might have yet to start the process or has only interviewed a very limited amount of candidates. There is still a huge list of very qualified candidates left out there with many teams going with first year coaches who spent last year coaching AHL teams.

However, it seems Lou Lamoriello will pull a surprise name out of the hat with many favorable candidates like Ken Hitchcock and Mike Eaves denying any contact with Lou Lamoriello. Other candidates could include Craig Ramsay, Mike Haviland, Craig MacTavish, and Michel Therrien. But as of now, there really have been no hints or leaks to who Lou might hire. Therrien is said to have interviewed with Lou once, but if he were his choice, a decision would likely have been made by now. He was also rumored to be the runner up to John MacLean last summer. Mike Eaves is the head coach of the University of Wisconsin hockey team and there are reports he might leave the school for another job, which was rumored to be the Devils. Parise played for Eaves at the 2004 World Juniors for the US. However, Eaves denied interest. But maybe a candidate denying interest might be the one most interested in the job. We shall see what happens.