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Top 5 Dream Destinations for Rod Brind’Amour’s Coaching Career Revealed
A hockey guy’s hockey guy is Rod Brind’Amour. As a player, he won a Stanley Cup, was a well-liked captain, received a Jack Adams Award, and as an NHL coach, he never missed the playoffs.
His The Carolina Hurricanes, who placed third overall out of 32 teams this season, easily defeated the New York Islanders in five games during their first-round playoff series before losing in six games to the Presidents’ Trophy-winning Rangers in the second round. It’s not a novel sensation.
In fact, during his tenure, they have not won more than eight games in a postseason run, and twice they have been eliminated in straight-up fashion and three times in five games.
Thus, the future remains uncertain in Raleigh, North Carolina, despite six years of regular-season success. Or it might be, anyway. In 2021, Brind’Amour inked a three-year contract extension that expires in late June following the league year.
Rumor has it that, because to the prolonged negotiations process, he may be playing for another team when the 2024–25 season begins in October.
The B/R hockey crew, already engrossed in its yearly playoff fever, seizes the opportunity to create a list of five teams whose benches the 53-year-old would logically sit behind moving forward. View our suggestions and share your own ideas in the comments section.
Carolina Hurricanes
Perhaps there is merely a snag in the hiring procedure. It’s possible that general manager Don Waddell and owner Tom Dundon of the Hurricanes are preoccupied with other matters and haven’t had time to complete all the necessary details on a new deal.
Because it doesn’t really make sense for Brind’Amour to leave Carolina. Since he led the team to the Stanley Cup in 2006, the team has averaged 51 wins during his four 82-game seasons, made it to the playoffs six times in a row, and come the closest to winning the franchise’s second championship under any coach.
Neither party will benefit in the end. And the deal is almost done, according to no less an authority than Dundon himself.
Seattle kraken
Brind’Amour spent three full seasons and portions of two more with Ron Francis as a teammate in Carolina. At the 2004 trade deadline, Brind’Amour even assumed leadership of the group after Francis was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Later, when Brind’Amour was an assistant coach for the Hurricanes and Francis was the team’s general manager and director of hockey operations, he was in charge of the former player. Unsurprisingly, following Francis’ departure in 2018, they have been close friends.
You may wonder, “Where did he go?” As luck would have it, he traveled west to take over the Seattle Kraken, who would shortly be entering their fourth season of expansion and in need of a coach.
Toronto Maple Leafs
Brind’Amour is a hockey player from Canada. Actually, he’s a hockey player from Ontario. Which implies that he is connected to the Toronto Maple Leafs, either by loyalty or osmosis. The center of attention in the most hockey-crazed city in the True North is the Maple Leafs, but they haven’t won a title in a long time.
Specifically, it was 1967—three years prior to Brind’Amour’s birth. Coach Sheldon Keefe lost his job following their most recent playoff debacle, a seven-game loss to the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference first round.
Keefe averaged 50 wins in three 82-game seasons and made it to the tournament five times in a row. Brind’Amour is a playing contemporary of Toronto president Brendan Shanahan, whose demanding profession is not for the timid.
New jersey Devils
Shield your eyes, Philadelphia Flyers fans.
Though you may still harbor a hope that Brind’Amour will find his way back to the organization that’s already made him a Hall of Famer, it’s probably a sliver more likely that he winds up about 90 miles to the northeast.
The New Jersey Devils are at or near the top of any list of the league’s most attractive available coaching jobs thanks to the plethora of young talent they have assembled.
It was on full display when the team climbed to third overall in the league and a second-round playoff berth (against Carolina) in 2022-23, but a slew of injuries to key players—including ex-Hurricane stalwart Dougie Hamilton, who missed 62 games—led to a 20-spot plummet, a playoff miss and the axing of coach Lindy Ruff.
Los Angeles kings
In Los Angeles, who wouldn’t want to be a hockey coach? It’s a beautiful day. The city is thriving. The group has talent. It makes sense that Jim Hiller would want the organization’s brass to lift the interim tag and keep him on the field after he led the team to a 21-12-1 run after Todd McLellan was fired.
But let’s be honest: Hiller’s time is pretty much over if Brind’Amour becomes available. A former Carolina coach would be foolish to overlook the Kings, who have advanced to the tournament each of the last three seasons while averaging 45 victories.
With nine players scoring ten goals or more in 2023–24, they are a talented team with a deep roster that combines championship pedigree (Doughty and Anze Kopitar) with appealing youth (Quinton).
