Now, he’s one of four people on our Hot Seat Radar who are facing some sort of pressure to prove themselves. And as a quick reminder, warming up means they’re facing more pressure, and cooling down means the opposite. Let’s get into it.
Warming Up: D.J. Smith, Interim Coach, Los Angeles Kings
Smith took over from Hillier on March 1. Since then, the Kings have gone 4-3-1.
Heading into Thursday’s games, the Kings are tied in points and games played with the Seattle Kraken, which sit in the West’s second wild-card spot. But the Kraken have more regulation wins, so they’re the ones still in a playoff position.
If Smith wants to stick around as L.A.’s coach next season, he must earn that permanent coach gig. To do that, he must bring this team into the playoffs and likely even win a round.
In four games under Smith, the Kings have scored four goals or more, so the offense is already an improvement. But that won’t matter if they don’t make the playoffs.
Los Angeles GM Ken Holland acquired Artemi Panarin and Scott Laughton before the trade deadline, so there’s really no excuse for the Kings to miss out. It’s up to Smith to get the job done if he wants to be an NHL head coach again.
Warming Up: Stan Bowman, GM, Edmonton Oilers
The Oilers entered the season as back-to-back Western Conference champions, but they’re currently second in the weak Pacific Division and just not looking as elite as the last two seasons.
Edmonton’s acquisition of goalie Tristan Jarry is not working out well, as he has won just once in his last six appearances.
Jarry now has an .855 save percentage and 4.17 goals-against average in 15 games with the Oilers. Yikes.
Stan Bowman acquired a goalie in Jarry, who was on NHL waivers last season with no takers. He had a better start this season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but he’s actually had worse stats in Edmonton than Stuart Skinner had before the Oilers traded him.
It now looks like Jarry has lost the starter’s job to Connor Ingram. And if goaltending is Edmonton’s downfall the rest of this year, Bowman’s job security could be jeopardized.
The Oilers are a Cup-or-bust squad, and Bowman needs his team to improve quickly. Because if this Edmonton team misses the playoffs or goes out in the first or second round, change could be widespread in Oilers Land.
Cold: Jim Montgomery, Coach, St. Louis Blues
The Blues won’t make the playoffs, the way they did last year when they rode a late-season hot streak into an inspirational post-season.
This is still very much a flawed St. Louis team, and that isn’t going to change between now and the end of the year.
But if there were any doubters about Montgomery’s status as Blues coach, the latest hot streak should quieten them. The Blues have gone 6-2-2 in their last 10 games.
Montgomery hasn’t forgotten how to coach. And with the Blues moving from GM Doug Armstrong to GM-in-waiting Alex Steen next year, Montgomery’s hot streak is enough proof he still has enough buy-in to stay in his role next season.
If Montgomery were fired, he’d likely be hired quickly by another team. So no matter how the rest of the year goes, his seat isn’t hot in the slightest.
Cooling Down, But Still Warm: Sheldon Keefe, Coach, New Jersey Devils
Earlier in the season, with the Devils low in the Eastern standings, Keefe was asked about his job security, and he answered that the decision was out of his hands.
But what was in his hands was his focus on getting New Jersey to pull out of its tailspin.
The Devils have won three straight and seven of their last 10 games. Under Keefe’s direction, the team can string together wins, even if it likely won’t be enough to make the playoffs at this point. Keefe deserves credit for them not quitting.
But this New Jersey team is almost certainly going to miss the playoffs, and Keefe is not fully out of the clear. So Keefe’s seat is likely to stay at least a little warm until management chooses its direction next season.
