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NHL Power Rankings: Who is the best head coach in the league?

By Dave Stevenson

Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; A general view of the NHL shield logo before the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 26, 2015; Sunrise, FL, USA; A general view of the NHL shield logo before the first round of the 2015 NHL Draft at BB&T Center. Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-USA TODAY Sports /

#29: John Torchetti

The ranking of the head coach of the Minnesota Wild has little to do with his ability. It is largely due to his lack of experience. Torchetti has done a solid job so far for the Wild, placing them back in the playoff hunt after the rigid coaching style of Mike Yeo stopped working. However, he has such a small sample size that it is impossible to determine if he is a good head coach or not.

Torchetti gets points for making simple adjustments to help the Wild win games. Under Yeo, the Wild were rigid and conservative on offense. His blue line wasn’t nearly as involved on offense as a blue line like theirs should have been. Torchetti encouraged his players to be more aggressive with the puck and realized that he had to get his blue liners involved on offense if they wanted to win games. So far, that’s what the Wild have done under Torchetti.

All of what he has done so far could be a fluke. However, he has done far better than the man he replaced despite having the same NHL roster that the man that he replaced had. Torchetti is the interim head coach of the Wild right now but he has likely done well enough to garner some interest in a full-time NHL head coaching job this offseason even if Minnesota doesn’t hire him as their full-time head coach.

Next: #28: Michel Therrien

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