4 NHL teams that will start 2024 season with a new head coach

NHL coaching has become one of the toughest jobs in the sports world. Seemingly every month, there is a new NHL head coach being fired, often very early in a season.

2023-24 was no different.

What does that mean? Well, it means that a lot of teams will have a new face behind their bench at the beginning of the 2024-25 season.

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4 NHL teams that will have a new head coach in 2024-25

#1 San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks were knowingly going to struggle this season. With David Quinn coaching a group of youngsters lacking any real firepower, it was not going to be pretty.

And it wasn't.

But what surprised the hockey world most was when the Sharks decided to fire Quinn after the season. What was he supposed to do differently?

The Sharks' coaching job is not going to be the top choice for any available candidates. The team is far from being any good and clearly, the front office will not allow that to be an excuse.

If the organization is going to be as strict as they were with Quinn, they may have a new coach every season for a while.

#2 Ottawa Senators

The Ottawa Senators were expected to make a big jump this season, but they didn't. Instead, they missed the playoffs by a wide margin again and finished the sixth season with Brady Tkachuk in the same fashion as the other five: An early offseason.

Ottawa has been actively searching for a coach over the past few weeks. Reports say they have interviewed NHL names like Travis Green, Craig Berube, Todd McLellan, and more.

#3 Buffalo Sabres

Oh, Buffalo Sabres.

At this point, Buffalo is in desperate need of a new look. They got one with new head coach Lindy Ruff.

After firing Don Granato because of yet another missed NHL playoffs, the Sabres made quick work to bring back the winningest coach in franchise history.

Ruff was fired by the New Jersey Devils on March 4 but is excited to return to Buffalo, where he has had most of his success.

Will that lead to the first Sabres postseason berth in 13 years? Not sure.

#4 Seattle Kraken

Dave Hakstol was fired by the Seattle Kraken on Monday. The Kraken were a huge surprise in their second season, making the playoffs and knocking off the Colorado Avalanche in the first round in 2023.

But that upward momentum came to a hard top when entering the 2023-24 season. Seattle missed the playoffs by 17 points and was really not in the race for quite some time.

Seattle is looking for a new voice, in fact, a few players even said they wouldn't play for the team with Hakstol still behind the bench, and they will get one before the start of next season.