The Ducks announced today they’ve relieved head coach Greg Cronin of his duties. He had one season remaining on his contract, per Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.
General manager Pat Verbeek released a statement on his decision:
I want to personally thank Greg for his tireless work and dedication to the team. He is responsible in many ways for the improvement we’ve seen from our young core. However, after several weeks of careful evaluation, I concluded we needed a change in direction and a new voice. This was an extremely difficult decision for me to make, but I felt it was necessary to continue our progress toward becoming a Stanley Cup contender that I know we can be.
Cronin spent the last two seasons behind the bench in Anaheim, his first stint as an NHL bench boss. It was hardly his first time running a team, however, as the 61-year-old had head coaching experience at the NCAA level with Northeastern University and the AHL level with Colorado where he spent five seasons before the Ducks hired him in June 2023. He also had previous experience on an NHL bench as an assistant with the Islanders and Maple Leafs.
His first season was particularly rough. Anaheim managed a record of just 27-50-5 while being in the bottom three in goals scored while allowing the 30th-most goals in the NHL. Beyond a career year from Frank Vatrano, many of their key players either underachieved or didn’t develop as planned, leading to some speculation that Anaheim might make a change after just one season.
That didn’t happen and things did go better for the Ducks this year. They added 21 points compared to the previous season, putting them sixth in the Pacific Division. Things improved on the goals allowed side as they were 22nd in that regard this year but once again, goal production was hard to come by as they once again ranked 30th overall although they did add 14 tallies compared to 2023-24. Key young forwards like Mason McTavish and Leo Carlsson took steps forward compared to their production a year ago while Cutter Gauthier finished strong. Meanwhile, Jackson LaCombe became a top-pairing blueliner so there were certainly more positives from a development perspective but that wasn’t enough for Verbeek to retain Cronin.
While Verbeek references continuing progress toward being a Cup contender, there is a long way still to go for them to get there. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see if he opts for another less experienced coach with an emphasis on player development or if he’ll look to more of a veteran option with an eye on trying to get back into the playoff picture quickly. Anaheim becomes the first true head coach opening around the NHL although other teams will be conducting searches to see if there is a better fit behind the bench than the interim head coaches that finished the year in those roles.
Photo courtesy of James Carey Lauder-Imagn Images.
PHR’s Josh Erickson also contributed to this post.
Yeah this guy is dunzo.
You could have gave me 100 guesses on who the Ducks head coach was and I would not have said Greg Cronin
Could have waited until after the holiday……
Did they expect a better result from the Ducks this season? A bit puzzled by this move.
@Gbear — You and me both. “Beeker” built the team, got rid of some players, brought Trouba in, and Cronin got more out of them than they had a right to expect. Maybe Gibson voted him off the island.
@Mac – All of the Ducks young players improved dramatically this season, yet they fire the coach. OTOH, all of the Preds young players stagnated and put up paltry numbers and Bruno hasn’t been fired. Someone make this make sense!
@Gbear — It does beg the question as to how Bruno had the success he did in FLA, doesn’t it? If they want a new voice in NSH, GMBT needs to act soon, otherwise their best coaching candidates may end up elsewhere.
@Mac – I chalk that up to coach Q having put such a good system in place that even Bruno couldn’t mess it up in a short period of time.
Hard to believe! He completely turned this team around in the second half this season. They had a no quit persistent attitude that comes directly from the coaching staff. Sorry to see him go.
My guess is they want to jump at DU’s David Carle before some other team swoops him up.
I just hope this is not a mistake because if it is, it’ll set this team back a couple more years.
I have this mental picture of about ten Brinks trucks with NHL team logos backing into David Carle’s driveway. :D
After reading what Verbeek said about the change in coaches, I now doubt the Ducks will hire Carle. Verbeek wants to make the playoffs next season, so why would he hire a rookie NHL coach. I do expect them to interview him, however. They gotta do their due diligence.
Carle has won at every coaching level so far. That’s the reason to hire him!
Jesus i guess the boys on 32 thoughts got this one wrong they stated Cronin was safe and Verbeek had his back. I guess the knife was alittle bigger then he thought. Not the right man for the job with young talent. My guess the next head coach could be Gerard Gallant …
Wording is wrong in some of the story. The Ducks did not allow the 30th most goals last season, they ranked 30th in goals against, or allowed the 3rd most goals. And didn’t allow the 22nd most goals against this season, ranked 22nd in goals against.