Bruce Boudreau did not stay unemployed for long. The Minnesota Wild hired the former Anaheim Ducks coach after firing Mike Yeo midseason. The other team in the running for Boudreau’s services, the Ottawa Senators, hired Guy Boucher after Boudreau came off the market.
Boudreau, despite his game seven misfortunes, is one of the NHL’s best coaches and is a real smart hire by the Minnesota Wild. For the Senators, Boucher, who coached the Lightning until 2013, is less inspiring.
After firing Dave Cameron a bit hastily, the Sens enter next season in a bit of a weird place. Andrew Hammond’s improbable hot streak made the Senators a playoff team in 2015, management expected much of the same in 2016. It, unsurprisingly to everyone outside of Ottawa, didn’t happen and Cameron paid for it.
The Wild, despite making the playoffs this year, are in a similar place. Their possession numbers have been good for a few years, but mediocre goaltending has kept them from taking that next step. A new coach may help, but both the Wild and Senators need their front offices to get to work in order for that next step to be taken.
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