5 candidates to replace Bruce Boudreau as Minnesota Wild coach

2. Dan Bylsma

Bylsma is in his second season as an assistant coach for the Detroit Red Wings. If not for another coach on this list with a very close tie to general manager Steve Yzerman he would be a prime candidate to replace Jeff Blashill this offseason.

Bylsma was fired as head coach of the Buffalo Sabres in April of 2017 after two disappointing seasons, and as he apparently ran particularly afoul of star Jack Eichel. But given the overall recent results in Buffalo, Bylsma should not carry a particular black mark as a head coaching candidate and it should only be a matter of time before he gets another opportunity.

Bylsma took over as Pittsburgh Penguins head coach in the middle of the 2008-09 season, and won a Stanley Cup. But they never got to that point again under Bylsma, and he was fired after a second round playoff loss in 2014. In his time as Penguins’ coach, Bylsma had a 252-117-32 regular season record (.668 points percentage).

The extensive time Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin missed during Bylsma’s tenure in Pittsburgh  is noteworthy. though Over three seasons, from 2010-11 to 2012-13, Crosby played a total of 97 regular season games, and he did not play in the 2011 playoffs at all. Malkin played less than 70 regular season games three times during Bylsma’s tenure (leaving out the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign). Any coach would have a hard time succeeding with his two best offensive players off the ice as much as Crosby and Malkin were under Bylsma.

Guerin came into the Penguins’ organization in June of 2011 as a player development coach, and he became assistant general manager after Bylsma was fired by then-new general manager Jim Rutherford. So the two did overlap in Pittsburgh, and that tie may bind when a coaching search starts in earnest.