With Darryl Sutter seemingly ready to search through the junk drawer for his trusty whistle, it’s entirely too easy to call the whole process decided and move on.
Not so fast.
Darryl Sutter mentioned three “excellent” coaches that are still under contract with NHL organizations, and then himself.
Was the three a head fake to keep things fresh until he can roll out his roster of coaches, or is there something more to his search than meets the eye?
A quick list of top coaches would have to include Mike Babcock and Joel Quennville (neither likely to go anywhere), perhaps Randy Carlyle (his tune might be getting stale in Anaheim), and the white elephant in the room, his brother Brent with the New Jersey Devils.
For the purposes of this article lets assume that’s his target and grind it down.
Issues:
Family – Would a guy hire his brother? My response to this is clearly yes. He hired his brother Ron as a pro scout, and he hired his brother Duane as a director of player personnel. The habit is established. This isn’t a run of the mill family. They’ve worked with and against each other their whole lives, and unlike most families, Sutters don’t appear to have that fear of mixing family and business. It could be argued he’s MORE comfortable leaning on a little brother than he was an old mentor (Keenan).
Compensation – It has been mentioned in both Calgary papers that the compensation to pry Brent Sutter out of New Jersey would be very high, or “astronomical”.
Would it?
Number one, the man is home sick and wants to come home. Lou Lamoriello hasn’t gotten to his station in life by doing many favours, but this case is worth a second look as the desire of his head coach to move home could effect his franchise.
He’s in the last year of his contract, an unsavoury situation in today’s NHL and given his desire to move home he is unlikely to extend that deal prior to the start of the season. Heck he many not be back for this season regardless of landing another NHL job closer to home or not. Is there a risk that some of the Devils will tune their coach out if he returns to fulfill his contract and then move on? It has to be measured.
Secondly, Sutter has failed to get the Devils out of the first round, something that cost his counterpart in Calgary his job. Is Lou happy with a game seven loss on home ice that featured a two late goals and a lot of fizzle for one of the only big crowds they had this season? Maybe they are already thinking of a different direction. Sutter could hardly be faulted for an odd season that featured a long term injury to Martin Brodeur, but it’s something to consider.
And finally, the NHL click machine. Pay any attention to General Manager Meetings in the NHL and inevitably you will see mention of Darryl Sutter and Lou Lamoriello meeting, talking, golfing, dining, pretty much anything but hugging. I couldn’t claim to know how buddy buddy the two men actually are, but perhaps there is more leniency in negotiation than if the men were just rivals.
So could Brent Sutter be the coach of the Calgary Flames in a month’s time?
Darn Tootin’!
