The Blue Jackets won’t name a new head coach this week.
General manager Jarmo Kekalainen said Wednesday that interviews for the job will stretch into next week and a decision likely won’t happen until after his May 29 return from scouting the men’s world championship in Finland and Riga, Latvia.
“We’re still interviewing this week and (have) one next week,” Kekalainen said. “We’ve got a goalie coach and a head coach (to hire), so it’s been a lot.”
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The interview process for both positions began Monday in Columbus. Kekalainen departs Sunday for the world championship, where he’ll get a chance to scout Sweden’s Leo Carlsson and Canada’s Adam Fantilli ― two top center prospects in this year’s draft.
The Blue Jackets have the third pick and one of those two players will be available after the Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks make their selections, which are widely expected to be Connor Bedard first and Fantilli second. Traveling to worlds would also give Kekalainen a chance to interview international coaching candidates such as Jukka Jalonen, Finland’s national team coach.
Mike Babcock and Peter Laviolette are also candidates, and both have won the Stanley Cup with previous teams.
Babcock comes with baggage from his previous NHL coaching stops with the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs ― who fired him in November 2019 with four years left on an eight-year, $50 million contract. Former players spoke up after his firing to depict Babcock as verbally abusive, which stirred a strong backlash among fans on social media.
Laviolette doesn’t have that kind of stain, but his next stop will be his sixth in the NHL and the price tag to land him is expected to be high. He’s also a top candidate to replace Gerard Gallant with the New York Rangers.
Anaheim and the Calgary Flames also have vacancies that could be filled by experienced coaches, including Gallant, Darryl Sutter, Bruce Boudreau or Claude Julien. The field may eventually include Joel Quenneville, a three-time winner of the Stanley Cup who was suspended by the NHL for his role in the Chicago Blackhawks’ cover-up of Kyle Beach’s sexual assault allegations.
The lone internal candidate is associate coach Pascal Vincent, who was a finalist for the head coach role in 2021 before the Blue Jackets promoted Brad Larsen. Vincent doesn’t have NHL head coach experience other than subbing for Larsen when the former coach was either sick or attending funerals.
Vincent is highly regarded in coaching circles, has five years of experience as head coach of the Manitoba Moose in the American Hockey League and spent five years on the Winnipeg Jets’ bench as an NHL assistant.
bhedger@dispatch.com
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This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus Blue Jackets will not name new head coach this week
