Minnesota Wild: 3 coaches who could replace Bruce Boudreau

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The writing is on the wall for Minnesota Wild head coach BruceBoudreau. He seems to have lost the locker room. Here are three coaches who could replace him if the Wild decide to move on.

Even before the 2019-20 NHL season started, Minnesota Wild head coach Bruce Boudreau was on the hot seat. His team had just hired a new general manager and GMs tend to like to hire “their guy” as the coach. Had Bill Guerin been hired earlier, it’s likely Boudreau wouldn’t have even started the season as the head coach of the Wild.

A 1-6-0 start has the Wild at the bottom of not just the Western Conference, but the entire league. Changes are likely going to happen all across the organization. That likely includes behind the bench.

Boudreau isn’t an ideal coach for a rebuilding team. The Wild, even if they utterly refuse to admit it, are a rebulding team (or at least they should be). Boudreau was hired by Minnesota to help get the most out of an aging core. He’s squeezed all the juice out of this roster. There’s nothing left for Boudreau.

Moreover, Jason Zucker recently had some harsh words for his coach.

Zucker: "I think more than (a meeting's) going to have to jumpstart us to be honest with you. It’s going to be each individual guy from Bruce on down. Bruce has got to be better. We’ve got to be better. Everybody’s got to be better. That’s it."
— Michael Russo (@RussoHockey) October 18, 2019

Zucker later apologized for his comments, but he’s not completely wrong. Boudreau seemingly has lost the locker room. And once you lose the locker room as a coach, your days are numbered. Boudreau is a good coach. You don’t win as many games as he has without being one. But there’s a significant difference between being a good coach and being the right coach.

It seems it’s not a matter of if Boudreau will be replaced by the Wild. It’s a matter of when they will replace him. So let’s take a look at three potential replacements for Boudreau as the Wild are forced to look themselves in the mirror.

3. Clark Donatelli

Clark Donatelli is someone who Wild fans have probably never heard of. Older ones might vaguely remember him from his brief stint with the Minnesota North Stars, but that was back in 1989. It wouldn’t be surprising if Donatelli is on Guerin’s shortlist. At the very least, he should get an interview.

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Guerin knows Donatelli well, as Guerin was the general manager of the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins from 2017 to 2019 as a part of his duties as an assistant general manager with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Donatelli coached them from 2015 to 2019. Before that, he coached the Penguins’ ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers. They also briefly played together on Team USA.

In all, Donatelli has nine years of coaching experience. Additionally, he served as the Under-18 coach for the Hlinka Gretzky Cup for Team USA in 2017 and 2018.

It’s hard to tell which direction Guerin will go in. But general managers tend to gravitate towards those they have worked with. Guerin might prove to be different, but until he does, it’s fair to assume he’ll lean towards someone he has worked with.

Having a good relationship with the general manager is important for any head coach. The reverse is true as well. Guerin has experience working with Donatelli. If their experience in the AHL was positive, he’ll be among the candidates to replace Boudreau.

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2. Jacques Martin

If the Wild want an experienced coach, few coaches have more experience than current Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Jacques Martin. He’s been coaching for over 30 years and has served as the head coach of several NHL times. Martin was the head coach of the Ottawa Senators, Florida Panthers, and Montreal Canadiens.

Again, it’s hard to tell if Guerin will hire someone he has experience working with. If he does, one has to imagine Martin will be on his shortlist. He has served with the Penguins since the start of the 2013-14 season. Martin became one of their assistant coaches in December of 2015 after they promoted current head coach Mike Sullivan from the AHL.

He has worked very well with young players and has played an important role in keeping the Penguins one of the most, if not the most, consistent teams in the NHL.

However, will Martin want to leave Pittsburgh? He seems perfectly content there. And at over 60 years old, maybe Martin doesn’t want to be a head coach again. Maybe the Penguins don’t want him to leave. Regardless of if Martin wants to be a head coach again, you can bet Guerin will call his former team and ask about him.

1. Dean Evason

Dean Evason is currently serving as an assistant coach for the Wild. Like Martin, he has a lot of experience, as he’s been in coaching for 20 years. Evason has served as a head coach in the WHL and AHL, as well as serving as an assistant in the NHL for eight years, this season being his ninth.

He’s one of Boudreau’s most trusted coaches, as he has served with him in Washington and in Minnesota. Evason’s time as a head coach in the AHL came with a lot of success, as he led the Milwaukee Admirals (affiliate of the Nashville Predators) to 242 wins in six seasons. They made it to the AHL postseason in four of his six seasons behind the bench.

The biggest question with Evason is his relationship with Boudreau. If the Wild truly want to move on from their head coach, hiring a guy who has effectively been his right-hand man for a good portion of his NHL coaching career might not be a wise decision.

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However, I think Evason did enough in the AHL to prove he’s more than just a product of one of the most successful regular season coaches of all-time. He has enough experience to potentially help the Wild turn things around and his time in the AHL shows he has experience working with younger players.

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