We’re at the point in the season where the crappy teams that aren’t supposed to be crappy teams need to make a decision when it comes to their coaching. There’s already been a hoax of John Hynes’ firing in New Jersey…though it may have been more foreshadowing that hoax. But is Hynes really the first guy to get sacked??

Sure, the look isn’t great when Tom Fitzgerald comes down from this AHL GM duties to be an assistant coach, but more over than that– the team isn’t great. We knew that they would have talent in Taylor Hall and the new blood of PK Subban on the blueline, not to mention rookie Jack Hughes there and Nico Hischier. The goaltending is suspect, but for some reason this team isn’t gelling as much as people had hoped. Is Hynes to blame?? Maybe, only based on last season’s lackluster performance and the start of the season– which is probably enough to shitcan him. With only one playoff appearance in his four-year (now fifth) tenure isn’t enough to cut it in a “what have you done for me lately” kind of business.

The Devils could be waiting for Minnesota to fire Bruce Boudreau so they have someone from the recycle heap to replace Hynes. Now, I can’t blame Boudreau for having around $41.5M tied up in seven contracts with some kind of no-move or no-trade in their deal. Who knows who would want those contracts– though maybe someone would take a flier on Devan Dubnyk at the price tag and capability. That said, it’s a common theme for Bruce– team has some semblance of success, then something just doesn’t click. Hell, he’s been fired for less in Washington and Anaheim– so I wouldn’t be shocked if he gets the boot in the next few games.

Now, Jim Montgomery is in a bit of a pickle with a 3-7-1 record as of this writing and he’s in his second season. I don’t know if he’s in trouble, but we’ve seen coaches get fired as a knee-jerk reaction regardless of length of tenure and if they should be given some time with their players. A very longshot could be Jon Cooper– only in that you look at coaches who have had success prior and then the team plateaus before getting a new voice in the room to carry them further– like the Penguins with Mike Sullivan and Dan Bylsma. You could lump Boudreau with the Caps being fired midseason as a reference, too. That said, should the Bolts do something odd or not be able to pick up the pace– Cooper would be fired, but not out of the job for long.

Coaches are hired to be fired and with the way the NHL goes– a lot of these guys will be rinsed, washed, and repeated for another club. It’s how the NHL works with coaches because people don’t seem to have patience for new voices when a known commodity is out there– shoutout Dave Hakstol. Four coaches were fired by November 21th of last year. We have a chance for at least two by that time span if things don’t straighten up. But you know we’re going to see those fired again and those who are out of work get the vacancies these jobs have created. Sunrise, sunset.