9. The Coaching Carousel:
Torts in Vancouver, AV in the Big Apple, Lindy Ruff in Big D, Patrick Roy in Colorado, and Dallas Eakins in Edmonton.
Those are your new faces in new places for the 2013-14 season.
Tortorella and Vigneault switched places and both will try to figure out what the other one couldn’t with talented squads in two of hockey’s fishbowl markets. Tortorella will need to find a way to get the Sedins, Ryan Kesler, and Roberto Luongo back on track as the Canucks try to win a Cup before their window closes. In New York, Vigneault will need to find a way to get the Blueshirts to stop relying so heavily on goaltender Henrik Lundqvist.
Ruff, Eakins, and Roy have less pressure to succeed now than Torts and Vigneault, but they will need to find a way to turn young talent into results quickly if they want to compete in a deep Western Conference. Ruff’s Stars could be on the verge of being an NHL Sleeper if they get solid play from their back-end, because Tyler Seguin and Jamie Benn should score a ton up front.
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