Rumor: Another NHL head coach on the verge of being fired.
Insider reports that one NHL head coach may be close to the end of his tenure behind the bench.
The National Hockey League has already seen a significant number of coaching changes this season with a number of general managers around the league attempting to give their season a mid-season bump by making a change behind the bench.
Those general managers have seen varying levels of success after making the move with perhaps the Edmonton Oiler seeing the most drastic change this season after firing former head coach Jay Woodcroft and replacing him with Kris Knoblauch. It sounds like at least one other team may be looking to replicate the success the Oilers saw with their coaching change this season, and it may even be a team within the Oilers' own division.
On Saturday, NHL insider David Pagnotta shared his belief that the Los Angeles Kings' abysmal record could lead to the end of head coach Todd McLellan behind the bench. Although Pagnotta did not report that McLellan will be fired immediately, he does believe that a continued lack of success under McLellan will lead to a change.
From Pagnotta:
There’s smoke. How the Kings play in the next few weeks (or days) will determine how big the fire gets.
The Kings' abysmal month of January, one in which they have accumulated just 2 wins so far, has cost them valuable points in the standings and they now find themselves trailing the aforementioned Oilers who are surging up the Pacific Division standings off the back of a 15 game win streak (and they are well on their way to win number 16 over the Nashville Predators this afternoon).
McLellan for what its worth has fallen on his sword, but whether or not that will be enough to save his job remains to be seen.
"I'm responsible for this," said the embattled Kings head coach. "When you look at the team that played the first 25-30 games, it doesn’t look like the team that’s playing right now. And I’m responsible for it."
