Surprise: great players rarely make great NHL coaches

We’ve only included coaches that have: (i) been behind an NHL bench in the 21st century; and (ii) debuted in 1984 or later. This intentionally excludes the likes of Scotty Bowman (Tier D, if curious), Glen Sather and Pat Quinn, famous bench bosses of a different era of total organizational control. There’s also a 30-game cutoff to weed out current rookie coaches and past interim or emergency coaches. That’s a total of 153 modern coaches tiered in today’s exercise.

Here are the 32 current NHL head coaches under these criteria based on playing careers:

With the goal posts set, who are you betting on as the most successful coaching tier?

Tier A: Stars ⭐

Average NHL Playing Career: 17.6 seasons
Average NHL Coaching Career: 4.7 seasons

How They Got Here: To play 1,000 NHL games, you’ve had a long career and made some serious money. Thirteen of the 31 coaches in this tier are Hall of Fame players. These guys didn’t need to coach. But each wanted a post-playing career and strong organizational ties presented opportunities. Many players in this tier thoroughly apprentice first (Randy Carlyle, Kirk Muller) but some cut the line on name recognition (Gretzky, Kevin Lowe).

Current Coaches in Tier (7): Berube; Brind’Amour; Brunette; Roy; St. Louis; Tocchet; Rookie: Foote

What does this tier do well?: Quit coaching. No, seriously. Twenty of 31 star coaches spent four seasons or fewer as NHL bench bosses. It’s often been a short stint with a single team (Denis Savard, Eddie Olczyk, Phil Housley, Bryan Trottier, etc.), then quickly moving on to another accessible role in hockey given their status. Former stars enjoyed long, successful playing careers and typically don’t want the stress if head coaching isn’t an immediate fit.

Shortest Average Coaching Career, by Tier

What does this tier do poorly? Communicate. Now, there are excellent communicators among the group — Tocchet famously connects well with players. But the undoing of many former greats is communication style. That’s a logical result given talented players often needed less direction in their own careers, a well-cited excuse for Gretzky’s dismal run in the desert. But the gap is often amplified from getting head coach gigs without enough past experience. It’s frequently assumed great players will just ‘figure it out’ since they know locker rooms. But like Coach Bombay learned, it’s not that simple…

Best of the tier: Jacques Lemaire — the longest-tenured in the tier — coached 17 seasons and won the 1995 Stanley Cup in New Jersey. His former teammate, Larry Robinson, is the last Hall of Fame player to coach a Cup winner. That was 25 years ago. Carlyle (Anaheim ’07) and Craig Berube (St. Louis ’19) are the only other 1,000-game players to win a ring head coaching since 2000.

Tier B: Veterans ✈️

Average NHL Playing Career: 11.7 seasons
Average NHL Coaching Career: 7.2 seasons

How They Got Here: These types of players (400 to 999 career NHL games) were fixtures in the league. Fixtures, but not superstars up for awards or cashing big in free agency. They spent a lot of time at the highest level but never got too cozy. Most were done playing in their late-20s or early-30s, so there was a lot of life ahead of them without assured post-playing careers or generational wealth like Tier A guys.

Current Coaches in Tier (7): Arniel; Evason; Green; Quenneville; Ruff; Sullivan: Rookie: Sturm

What does this tier do well?: Win Cups. Pound for pound, the veteran player tier of coaches has had the best Cup frequency. Maybe it’s the deep NHL playing experience — without the star treatment — that has helped this player type be relatable and close the deal on postseason opportunities.

Best Stanley Cup Title Efficiency, by Tier

What does this tier do poorly? Stay in one place. Unlike many one-and-done star coaches, these stubborn veteran players solider on. They earned a lot of respect in their careers, often have ties to multiple franchises, and aren’t packing it in after one head coaching gig. One-third of this tier has coached for at least three teams already, led by Quenneville (five), Gerard Gallant (four), and Brian and Darryl Sutter (four each).

Best of the tier: Only five head coaches have won multiple Cups this millennium and three are in this tier: Quenneville (three in Chicago); Sullivan (two in Pittsburgh); Darryl Sutter (two in Los Angeles). Dan Bylsma (Pittsburgh ’09) is the other Cup-winning coach in the tier. It also features hockey lifer Lindy Ruff (37 seasons as an NHL head coach or player).

Tier C: Journeymen

Average NHL Playing Career: 4.4 seasons
Average NHL Coaching Career: 6.8 seasons

How They Got Here: This player tier got a taste of the NHL, ranging from cups of coffee (Ryan Huska) to frequent call-ups (Dallas Eakins) to short bursts of regular work (Brad Shaw). On-ice careers didn’t deliver financial security to this tier. So, you have two kinds of coaches: ones that pivoted to coaching young like Keefe and those that played in the minors forever like Lambert.

Current Coaches in Tier (7): Cassidy; Hiller; Huska; Keefe; Lambert; McLellan; Montgomery

What does this tier do well?: Survive. Much like the journeymen identities built in their playing careers, this coach archetype grinds their way to relevance. Whether long stints in the minors honing their coaching crafts or hard-earned reputations as long-time assistants worthy of a shot, these coaches typically don’t have the pedigree as players to be unprepared or make mistakes.

What does this tier do poorly? Playoffs. No tier has a bigger drop in performance from regular season to postseason. Now, every coach’s points percentage drops in the playoffs as there are no three-point games. That’s a given. But the extent of the gap is revealing. Notable examples include Bruce Boudreau, Keefe, McLellan, Montgomery, Alain Vigneault, and Ron Wilson. Each led high-performing groups to recurring postseason disappointment. A lack of big-game NHL experience revealing itself or bad luck with underachieving cores?

Biggest Decrease in Points Percentage in Playoffs, by Tier

Best of the tier: In 287 seasons, this tier has won just four Cups: Cassidy (Vegas ’23); Claude Julien (Boston ’11); Peter Laviolette (Carolina ’06); and Marc Crawford (Colorado ’96). But there is no shortage of solid, successful coaches already named in this section. Add Terry Murray and Rick Bowness to the list.

Tier D: Career Coaches

Average NHL Playing Career: Zero NHL games
Average NHL Coaching Career: 7.7 seasons

How They Got Here: Coaches in this tier were not all ‘bad’ hockey players or athletes. Far from it. Nearly all played junior, college, or in pro leagues. Many had other professions before coaching — Pat Burns (policeman) and Jon Cooper (lawyer), for example — that offers unique perspectives. The majority started at low levels given few connections and without the blind trust afforded to elite players. These are dedicated students of the game, uber-motivated to stick in the big leagues.

Current Coaches in Tier (11): Bednar; Blashill; Carbery; Cooper; Gulutzan; Hynes; Knoblauch; Maurice; Tourigny; Warsofsky; Rookie: Muse

What does this tier do well?: Long careers and postseason success. This tier honed their craft young, not tied down by playing careers. 30% of them last at least 10 NHL seasons, highest of any tier. The ones that break through are exceptional, having needed to win early and often to build careers from scratch. The career coaches have the top playoff winning percentage (.512) and most Cups (12) — a testament to experience and a lifetime of pouncing on opportunities.

Percentage of Coaches With 10+ Seasons, by Tier

What does this tier do poorly? Show weakness. When you haven’t played in the NHL, you don’t get there through self-doubt. Confidence is a prerequisite to rise through the ranks and earn respect in the hockey cult, heavy on alphas. Among the longest-tenured in the tier, we find serious swagger that is some combination of effective, endearing and infuriating: Maurice (28 NHL seasons); John Tortorella (23); Barry Trotz (23); Ken Hitchcock (22); Mike Keenan (20); Jacques Martin (18); Pete DeBoer (17); Mike Babcock (17); Pat Burns (14); Cooper (14); Bob Hartley (13); and Michel Therrien (12).

Best of the tier: The hockey lifers with a dozen-plus seasons above delivered 11 of the tier’s 12 Cups — a who’s who of 21st-century coaches. Bednar (Colorado ’22) is the other non-NHL player with a title in the modern era. Career coaches are hot these days, having won six of the last eight Cups.

Answering the Question

Every coach and their individual background and skill set is different. We’re grouping them together to try to find objective answers today. But each coach deserves the opportunity to create their own narrative. That said, here are my takeaways from the analysis on which player type I’m hiring (or passing on):

• Not Worth the Risk: The Stars arrive late to coaching, rarely get the requisite experience, aren’t typically in it for the long haul, and lean more miss than hit, featuring a handful of strong coaches and many quick flameouts. Few have thrived in the salary cap era. Great players rarely make great coaches. I’m passing.
• Move your Franchise Forward: The Journeymen provide big boosts to organizations as hungry, hardworking coaches that help teams level up. Perhaps it’s the grinder’s approach or challenges adapting under the bright lights, but journeymen coaches have rarely gotten teams over the top.
• Low Risk, High Reward: The Veterans often draw well on NHL familiarity without all-world skills or paychecks. These hires are sellable to fans and locker rooms as credible, known commodities. The group is top heavy when it comes to success as veteran NHLers presided over all three multiple Cup-winning franchises of the 2010s. It’s an archetype worth betting on.
• Some Risk, Biggest Reward: The Career Coaches are committed and relentless. The odd one just won’t translate to the NHL, but that’s true of any rookie coach. I’m taking a promising career coach above all other options to deliver a Cup. History says you’re most likely to get a sharp hockey mind that thrives in the playoffs. An NHL playing career? It’s not needed. Just ask Scotty Bowman.
  

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Data from Hockey-Reference

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