3 NHL coaches who could be next on the chopping block after Luke Richardson's firing

The Chicago Blackhawks decided to fire head coach Luke Richardson amid the team's slow start to the 2024-25 season. The Blackhawks are 8-16-2 on the year after Wednesday's loss to the Boston Bruins, and their 18 points are the fewest in the NHL. This has not been the season that GM Kyle Davidson imagined as he hoped to finally pull Chicago out of its rebuild.

While yes, the Blackhawks look nowhere near competitive right now, how much of that really falls on Richardson's shoulders? I mean, Chicago's roster is simply not talented enough. It's hard to envision any head coach having much success with that team.

Richardson is the third head coach to be fired this season already, coming after Jim Montgomery of the Boston Bruins and Drew Bannister of the St. Louis Blues. Even if it isn't their fault, head coaches are the easiest individuals to blame and let go of. With that in mind, it wouldn't be shocking to see any of these three coaches be the next to go.

3) The Rangers could look to make a drastic change before their season spirals out of control

Admittedly, this one is probably a bit of a reach, but hear me out. The New York Rangers are a mess. The team began the season going 12-4-1 in their first 17 games, but have lost six of their last seven, getting outscored by a 29-15 margin in those contests.

It has gone so poorly for New York that veterans Chris Kreider and Jacob Trouba headline several players who have been dangled on the trade market. Whether the team will actually make a major deal like that remains to be seen, but it's clear that GM Chris Drury is looking to shake things up in some capacity.

Blaming head coach Peter Laviolette for the team's struggles wouldn't be fair, especially considering the fact that he led this team to the Presidents' Trophy and an Eastern Conference Finals berth just last season, but it wouldn't be unheard of for a head coach to take the fall for a team underperforming expectations. 13-10-1 isn't the worst record ever, but New York is just barely holding onto a playoff spot as of now. Additionally, they've struggled mightily against teams currently in playoff positioning. If they continue to lose games, especially as their schedule toughens up, it wouldn't be shocking to see Laviolette take the blame, even if it isn't fully deserved.

2) It feels as if it's a matter of when, not if, the Penguins replace Mike Sullivan

The Pittsburgh Penguins have won four games in a row and have played their best hockey of the season over that stretch, but the team is still 11-12-4 overall. They might be just one point back of a playoff spot as of this writing, but they've also played more games than all but two teams in the Eastern Conference. Additionally, they're seven points back from a top-three spot in the Metropolitan Division.

While it's encouraging to see the Penguins play a bit better, this season still has not gone as planned, clearly. With that in mind, the Penguins already traded Lars Eller away, and more moves could easily be coming sooner rather than later. Sidney Crosby likely isn't going anywhere, but GM Kyle Dubas is going to do his best to rebuild this team. And there's a good chance Dubas will elect to go with a new voice behind the bench sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Mike Sullivan has had tons of success during his decade-long run in Pittsburgh, but the Penguins also haven't made the playoffs since the 2021-22 season. They haven't won a playoff series since 2017-18. They haven't won a Stanley Cup since 2016-17. Eventually, what Sullivan accomplished nearly a decade ago won't matter nearly as much. This is a "what have you done for me lately" league, and Sullivan hasn't done much.

At this point, it might be for the best for both sides if the Penguins let him go.

1) The Red Wings will make Derek Lalonde their scapegoat

The Detroit Red Wings' strong finish to the 2023-24 campaign heightened their expectations for this season. It truly felt as if it was playoffs or bust for a franchise that hasn't gotten there since the 2015-16 season, even more so after Detroit re-signed Patrick Kane and added established veterans like Vladimir Tarasenko and Cam Talbot to an already solid core. Unfortunately, things haven't gone to plan thus far.

The Red Wings are just 10-11-4 on the season and sit three points back of the playoffs as of this writing. The season is far from over, obviously, but little about how they've played suggests that they'll turn this around suddenly. One year after ranking ninth in the NHL in goals per game, the Red Wings rank 25th in that category. One year after boasting the 15th-ranked penalty kill, Detroit's penalty kill ranks dead last in the NHL. They rank 28th in the NHL in expected goals at 5-on-5, according to MoneyPuck. Their goaltending has arguably been better than expected, and their power play has been good, but little else has gone right for Detroit.

No, it isn't all Lalonde's fault, but clearly, he isn't elevating this team, either. The Red Wings have more talent than their record suggests. Generally, when a talented team underperforms, the head coach is the first to take the blame, fair or not. Lalonde being on the final year of his contract and trending towards a third straight year without a playoff appearance will almost certainly seal his fate. Even if he isn't fired, it's hard to envision him lasting beyond this year in Motown.