Coaching Updates: Carbery, Quenneville, Blue Jackets

The New York Rangers are one of a handful of teams looking to secure a new head coach for 2023-24, although reports on whom they’ve interviewed for the role have been comparatively few and far between. Late last night, though, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said the team had obtained permission to talk to Toronto Maple Leafs assistant Spencer Carbery for the vacancy.

Per Friedman, New York is the third team the Leafs are believed to have permitted to interview. The Anaheim Ducks and Washington Capitals are the others. He’s somewhat of an interesting candidate for any head coaching role – he doesn’t have previous NHL head coaching experience, nor would he be an internal hire (unless the Maple Leafs fire Sheldon Keefe and promote Carbery before another team hires him). Nonetheless, the 41-year-old has spent most of his coaching career as a head coach in the AHL and ECHL, earning Coach of the Year honors at both levels with the Hershey Bears and South Carolina Stingrays.

Carbery would be hard-pressed to find a bigger challenge than stepping into a high-pressure market like New York without previous NHL head coaching experience, though. It could prove to be a sound move for a team that needs a fresh perspective, though, and many fans would be happy for their team to step out of the normal coaching carousel.

More from the coaching rumor mill this morning:

• In an unsurprising development after his name began to resurface in rumors, former Chicago Blackhawks and Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville will meet with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman soon to determine whether he’ll be permitted to take a job in the league, per TSN’s Darren Dreger. Quenneville has been barred from league work since October 2021 after an independent investigation determined Quenneville, along with other Blackhawks staff members, had knowledge of claims that video coach Brad Aldrich had sexually assaulted Blackhawks forward Kyle Beach and failed to take any action to protect Beach, or other future victims of Aldrich after he left the organization. The Toronto Sun’s Lance Hornby reports Quenneville has been in a league-sanctioned program during his suspension from the league to “understand the impact of what happened.”
• The Athletic’s Aaron Portzline says to let out your breath if you’re waiting for news on the Columbus Blue Jackets next head coach. The team is unlikely to have a successor to Brad Larsen in place by this weekend when general manager Jarmo Kekelainen heads overseas to attend the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championship. However, the search is nearing its conclusion, with a handful of candidates confirmed by reporters.