Three NHL Head Coaches on the hot seat at halfway point of 2020-21

2. John Hynes – Nashville Predators

Though John Hynes was only hired roughly 13 months ago by the Nashville Predators, his time may already be coming to an end. Heading into the 2020-21 season, many questions surrounded this team. After being one of the powerhouses in the West for many years, it was clear that their roster was getting weaker, but many still thought they could bounce back from a disappointing 2019-20 season and at the very least contend for a Playoff spot.

Any optimism surrounding this season for the Preds has been washed away very quickly, as they have been bad all year. They currently sit seventh in the Central Division with a 12-16-1 record, and trail the Chicago Blackhawks by eight points for the final postseason spot. Their biggest problem is scoring goals, as they rank 26th in the entire league with just 71 on the year.

Their lack of scoring is quite astonishing given that they have some very talented players up front, but aside from Filip Forsberg, all are struggling in a major way. In Hynes’ defence, this isn’t a new problem, as many of these same players were also struggling to put up numbers for previous Head Coach Peter Laviolette. Still, this team should be playing better than they are right now, and GM David Poile may need to make a coaching change if he wants to see them turn things around.

Hynes too may be given the rest of the season due to the fact that Poile just fired another coach in Laviolette fairly recently. However, with many of their core players aging, this current group of players may not have much time left, meaning something may need to be done right away. Hynes cannot be feeling very comfortable at the moment.