A final decision has yet to be made, but it sounds like the Calgary Flames are nearing a decision as to who their next head coach will be. Several candidates received interviews, but it sounds like there are only a few left in the running, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman saying he believes the final four are Travis Green, Todd Reirden, Mitch Love, and Ryan Huska.
It is clear that after Darryl Sutter’s firing, newly appointed general manager (GM) Craig Conroy is looking to get a much different voice behind the bench. There have been plenty of comments from Flames players that suggest a change was needed, and Conroy certainly appears to be doing his due diligence in order to find the right fit. With that said, here are the four coaches listed above ranked in order from best fit to worst.
4. Travis Green
Though he wasn’t given the best rosters to work with, Green’s tenure with the Vancouver Canucks wasn’t very successful. The 52-year-old led his team to the playoffs just once in his four seasons with the organization, and hasn’t had work since being fired 25 games into the 2021-22 campaign.
Perhaps most concerning of all during Green’s tenure with the Canucks was that Elias Pettersson never took the next stride fans were hoping for after an incredible rookie season. In his first full season without Green behind the bench, however, he exploded for a career-high 102 points. With the Flames needing a bounce back from their star in Jonathan Huberdeau, there could be some concern that it wouldn’t occur with Green at the helm.
3. Ryan Huska
Huska is one of two internal options the Flames are reportedly considering. The 47-year-old has spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach on the Flames bench. That in itself makes him an intriguing candidate, as he would enter the 2023-24 season having a prior relationship with the majority of the roster.
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What makes Huska somewhat of a concern is that he hasn’t held a head coaching role for four seasons. In fact, he only has four seasons of experience as a head coach at the professional level, all of which came in the American Hockey League (AHL). He missed the playoffs in three of those four years. Of the two internal options the Flames are considering, he seems to be the more underwhelming.
2. Todd Reirden
Reirden has spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but prior to that had a two-year stint as the head coach of the Washington Capitals. His time as the Capitals’ bench boss didn’t go as hoped, as he wasn’t able to lead them out of the first round either year after they had won a Stanley Cup in 2018 with Barry Trotz.
Despite the lack of playoff success, he was a part of Trotz’s staff during the Capitals’ Stanley Cup win in 2018. Knowing what it takes to win it all at the NHL level is extremely valuable, especially for a Flames team that hasn’t gone on any deep playoff runs in recent history.
1. Mitch Love
Like Huska, Love doesn’t have experience at the NHL level as a head coach. In fact, he doesn’t have a ton of head coaching experience at all, as he spent just three seasons as the man in charge with the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades before being hired by the Flames as their AHL coach prior to the 2021-22 season. That said, what he has been able to do in his short time as a head coach at the professional level has been extremely impressive.
Through those two seasons, Love has led his team to an outstanding 96-33-11 record. Not only does he have relationships with several of the Flames’ top prospects in Jakob Pelletier, Dustin Wolf, and Connor Zary, but they have all taken tremendous strides under his watch. At 38 years old, he would bring in a much newer-school approach from what this roster experienced with Sutter and would be nothing short of a fantastic fit.
Decision Coming Soon
Though there hasn’t been a hire yet, that could change in the very near future. The Flames are believed to have completed their second round of interviews, and, according to Pat Steinberg of Flames Talk, may have a decision before the end of the week. If not, expect one very shortly afterward.
