Ever since the news broke last week that Bruce Boudreau had been fired as the head coach of the Anaheim Ducks, there has been a buzz around Minnesota hockey fans hoping he might be the next Wild head coach.
But the Wild are far from the only NHL team with a coaching vacancy trying to woo the former Ducks bench boss. Calgary has been mentioned as a possible landing spot and Ottawa has received permission to talk with him as well.
Pro Hockey Talk notes that Boudreau has a history of moving on quickly.
“I’ve always worked,” Boudreau told the O.C. Register this week. “Since I was 17 years old, there was never a time I never had a job. In the hockey jobs when I’ve gotten fired, I’ve tried to get back into work right away.”
So you can’t blame Wild GM Chuck Fletcher for trying to move quickly. Reports indicate he was in California Tuesday, likely meeting with Boudreau.
Travel spies have Minny GM Chuck Fletcher in California today. Quietly meeting with Bruce Boudreau is my speculation.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 3, 2016
Boudreau has quite the resume. His combined NHL record is 681-409-192 (a .659 winning percentage) in his two previous stops with the Capitals and Sharks.
He has won a combined seven regular-season division titles, but his teams haven’t had the same postseason success, where he is just 41-40. He led the Ducks to the Western Conference Finals in 2015, where they were beaten by the Chicago Blackhawks in Game 7.
But Anaheim had a disappointing exit during the first round of the postseason this year, and Boudreau was fired.
The Star Tribune’s Michael Russo believes that Boudreau is likely at the top of Fletcher’s list.
“It certainly sounds like Fletcher is putting on the hard sell. I’m sure he would love to wrap up this coaching search quickly. I’d guess though that Boudreau will want to meet with Ottawa and Calgary, so I’d suspect his search won’t end imminently.”
Fletcher also met with Wild interim coach John Torchetti on Monday. Fletcher said publicly that Torchetti, who led Minnesota into the postseason after former coach Mike Yeo was fired, is a serious candidate for the full-time job.
