NEWSLETTER
When the Toronto Maple Leafs fired Sheldon Keefe on Thursday morning, it didn’t surprise most people. But one aspect of the move certainly got my attention.
The Leafs installed Keefe as their head coach on November 20, 2019, which made him one of only five NHL head coaches who were hired before COVID shut down the sports world in March of 2020. Keefe became the 18th NHL head coach to lose his job since the end of last season! More than half of the NHL has turned over their bench boss in the last 12 months — that’s wild!
What’s more, that also means Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson is suddenly one of the longest tenured head coaches in the NHL.
- Jon Cooper, Lightning – Mar. 25, 2013
- Mike Sullivan, Penguins – Dec. 12, 2015
- Jared Bednar, Avalanche – Aug. 25, 2016
- Rod Brind’Amour, Hurricanes – May 8, 2018
- Andre Tourigny, Utah – July 1, 2021
- Martin St. Louis, Canadiens – Feb. 9, 2022
- Bruce Cassidy, Golden Knights – June 14, 2022
- John Tortorella, Flyers – June 17, 2022
- Peter DeBoer, Stars – June 21, 2022
- Paul Maurice, Panthers – June 22, 2022
- Luke Richardson, Blackhawks – June 27, 2022
You might notice from the hired dates that half of the ten head coaches above Richardson were hired after the 2021-22 season. That means only five coaches — Cooper, Sullivan, Bednar, Brind’Amour and Tourigny — have coached more games for their respective franchises since being hired than Richardson, who has been at the helm for 164 regular-season games.
I will note that there’s a sixth head coach who has more games coached for his team than Richardson, however. Buffalo brought back Lindy Ruff this offseason; he has coached the Sabres for 1,165 games, but is technically a new hire. I will also note that if Utah is indeed a “new franchise,” that might complicate how we consider Tourigny’s tenure legally.
