Mailbag: Opportunities for fired coaches, landing spots for Lehner

Here is the April 29 edition of Dan Rosen's weekly mailbag. If you have a question, tweet it to @drosennhl and use #OvertheBoards.

Without being team-specific, which of the current out of work coaches do you speculate will be coaching in the NHL next season? -- @TrishTheMiddle

It's difficult to imagine next season starting with Peter Laviolette, Bruce Boudreau and Gerard Gallant all on the sideline, trying to stay engaged by doing some television work. I expect all three will be coaching somewhere. Gallant has already interviewed with the New Jersey Devils, according to multiple reports. It's also possible Guy Boucher gets another crack too, though perhaps more as a midseason replacement if necessary. I hesitate to say Mike Babcock, but I'll get to him in a bit.

What we do know is that the Devils, Minnesota Wild, Calgary Flames, Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks each have a coach who got the job in-season and is not guaranteed to return next season. It's reasonable to think that some or all of the coaches with those teams now -- Alain Nasreddine (New Jersey), Dean Evason (Minnesota), Geoff Ward (Calgary), Rick Bowness (Dallas) and Bob Boughner (San Jose) -- could remain with their team. However, the talent of available coaches may be too difficult to pass on. We also don't know if there will be other jobs that open. There could be one or two depending on if the NHL is able to restart this season after it was paused March 12 due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus. Could a second-straight first-round exit in the Stanley Cup Playoffs cost Todd Reirden his job with the Washington Capitals? Is Chicago Blackhawks coach Jeremy Colliton in jeopardy now that we know chairman Rocky Wirtz, who fired longtime president and CEO John McDonough on Monday, is evaluating the entire organization and willing to make changes? The Blackhawks are in danger of missing the playoffs for a third straight season.

On Babcock, I hesitate because I wonder if he might be best suited to be the first coach for the expansion team in Seattle debuting in the 2021-22 season. NHL Seattle general manager Ron Francis said he is looking for an experienced coach who can communicate with today's players. Babcock, who won the Stanley Cup with the Detroit Red Wings in 2008, should learn from his time in Toronto, particularly working with younger players like forwards Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner and William Nylander, and use it to his advantage in his next job. The pressure to win in Seattle, at least at the outset, won't be nearly what it was in Toronto or Detroit. And having the ability to use next season to put in place what he needs, study the NHL, scout, analyze and perhaps discover some new or different ways to coach and lead could be good for Babcock. It would give him time to get the hunger back and to start from zero again.

Who coaches the Stars next season? -- @bry_hockey

This is a good follow-up to the first question. I think Gallant makes a lot of sense, especially because he prefers an up-tempo style and the Stars need an infusion of that. They need to push their offense, to get more out of forwards Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin. Benn has 39 points (19 goals, 20 assists) and Seguin has 50 (17 goals, 33 assists) this season. That's not enough for either player. Each should be up around 70-plus points right now. They need to be the Stars' dynamic duo, the way Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are for the Edmonton Oilers, the way Nathan MacKinnon and Mikko Rantanen are for the Colorado Avalanche. The Vegas Golden Knights under Gallant were a relentless, swarming, attacking team, fast paced, and difficult to play against. That's how the Stars need to play, and how they will get more out of Benn and Seguin. Gallant makes sense to be the coach to get them there.

It's possible Dallas general manager Jim Nill does something different and perhaps looks to Europe to hire an up-and-coming coach, maybe Rikard Gronborg, the former Sweden national team coach who is coaching the ZSC Lions in Switzerland. The 51-year-old is an intriguing candidate, but the Stars will be hiring their fifth coach with Nill as GM, after Lindy Ruff, Ken Hitchcock, Jim Montgomery and Bowness. My hunch here is they will go the safer route. Nill and Gallant were teammates on the Detroit Red Wings from 1987-90, and Nill knows how Gallant handles an NHL team and what he does in NHL games.

Do you see the New York Rangers in the playoffs next year? -- @StoneHandsSteve

It's too soon to make a prediction, especially because the Rangers are still in the hunt for a playoff berth this season. They are two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets for the first wild card into the playoffs from the Eastern Conference. I think they'll be in a good position if the season restarts because of their youth (the second-youngest team in the NHL with an average age of 26.1, behind the Devils at 25.8). There's no anecdotal evidence I can cite because we've never been through a pause in the season like this, but I think teams with younger legs will shed the rust and get back into playing shape quicker than older teams, giving the Rangers a possible advantage.

Thinking ahead to next season, the Rangers should be a legitimate playoff contender, particularly with the potential for greater things from forward Kaapo Kakko, defensemen Adam Fox and Ryan Lindgren, and goalie Igor Shesterkin, all rookies this season. But it's hard to predict because of what we don't know yet. We don't know what the NHL salary cap will be next season and if that will play a role in the roster, particularly for center Ryan Strome and defenseman Tony DeAngelo, impact players this season who each can become a restricted free agent. We don't know how the goaltending situation with Henrik Lundqvist, Alexandar Georgiev and Shesterkin will play out. Is left wing Artemi Panarin going to be as good next season as he is this season (95 points in 69 games)? The same question goes for center Mika Zibanejad (41 goals in 57 games). The Rangers' trajectory suggests they should be a playoff team next season, but let's wait until next season to make that prediction.

Does Robin Lehner re-sign with the Vegas Golden Knights or does he look somewhere else, maybe try to find a starting job? -- @theashcity

It's difficult to determine what the goalie market is going to be, especially because we don't know what the salary cap will be, but I don't see how it makes sense for Lehner to re-sign with the Golden Knights if he wants to be a No. 1 goalie. Marc-Andre Fleury, with two seasons after this one remaining on his contract, is in his way in Vegas. Instead, I think Lehner will be looking at teams that have uncertain futures in goal. The Carolina Hurricanes, for example, make sense, especially if they can trade either Petr Mrazek or James Reimer, who are each signed through next season. The Flames make sense, looking at Lehner coming in to either battle with or take over the No. 1 job from David Rittich, who has one year left on his contract. The Red Wings make sense considering Jonathan Bernier is signed through next season and Jimmy Howard is a pending UFA. The Ottawa Senators could be intriguing, especially because Craig Anderson is a pending UFA and they're an up-and-coming team. The Devils are an option, although MacKenzie Blackwood might have the inside track to be their No. 1 going into next season. Ironically, the Blackhawks also make sense for Lehner, but they traded him to the Golden Knights on Feb. 24. Would he circle back to Chicago if the situation were right? Hey, no hard feelings if the money and term make sense, right? No situation will be perfect for Lehner, but he'd have a better chance at being a No. 1 for any of the teams I mentioned than he would for the Golden Knights. Then again, it's possible Holtby and Markstrom join him in the goalie market, creating a potential supply and demand dilemma.