Which coach or general manager will be the first to get fired this season? Which players are going into 2024-25 with even higher expectations than usual? On Tuesday, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff released an article about ten hockey individuals on the hot seat.
Thankfully, no Edmonton Oiler player or front office personnel rank on the list, but Los Angeles Kings general manager Rob Blake does. For the past three postseasons, the Kings have fallen to the Oilers in the first round, losing in seven games in 2022, six in 2023, and five in 2023.
Fellow general manager Steve Yzerman of the Detroit Red Wings also ranks on this list. Taking the reins of the rebuilding team in 2019, the team has yet to make the rebuild and hasn’t made the postseason in eight seasons, losing out on a Wild Card spot due to regulation wins. Similarly, Seravalli ranked Buffalo Sabres general manager on the list, as the team hasn’t been to the postseason in 13 seasons.
There are several players on Daily Faceoff’s list, too. Mitch Marner is in the final season of his contract and wasn’t moved by the Leafs this past off-season. It’ll be interesting to monitor what happens in the future. A couple of defencemen also rank on this list, Erik Karlsson and Jacob Trouba.
The latter is the captain for the New York Rangers and was in trade rumours in the off-season. Some key players need new contracts soon, and Trouba’s cap hit of $8 million for the next two seasons may need to be moved. As for Karlsson, he hasn’t played in preseason and suffered a setback. After winning the Norris Trophy in 2022-23, he only scored 11 goals and 56 points in 82 games with the Penguins.
Boston Bruins president Cam Neely is among two team presidents that rank on this list, the other being Toronto Maple Leafs president Brendan Shanahan. Neely made some interesting comments on Monday regarding Bruins netminder Jeremy Swayman. Let’s look at what’s going on in Beantown.