The Tampa Bay Lightning’s season ended earlier than expected, so the offseason work begins. While head coach Jon Cooper is signed for next season, his assistant coaches Jeff Blashill and Jeff Halpern have reportedly drawn serious interest from NHL teams in the market for a new head coach.
On Friday, it was reported that Blashill has emerged as a leading candidate for the vacant head coaching position in Chicago.
“I heard on Friday morning that he was in as the head coach of Chicago,” Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Monday’s 32 Thoughts Podcast. “He was going to be the guy. I got a tip, so I started asking around, and I had a couple people tell me it's too soon, it would be premature.”
Friedman continued.. “Blashill is a very serious contender in Chicago, and it's possible that one of the reasons there's been a bit of a delay is, somebody who is central to the process with the Blackhawks was not available at the end of last week, so it had to be pushed into this week. There was a job interview he (Blashill) had somewhere else that got cancelled, and I think that's why it began to spread like wildfire.”
The Lightning have enjoyed a level of coaching stability over the years that’s increasingly rare in today’s NHL. Cooper continues to be the league’s longest-tenured head coach, and being a part of his staff carries weight in the NHL.
During end of season availability, general manager Julien BriseBois said the plan was to retain the entire coaching staff, unless they were given a head coaching opportunity elsewhere. At that time there were still eight NHL head coaching vacancies.
"We have really good people in our organization,” said BriseBois. “I won't be shocked if some of them are offered positions as head coaches somewhere else, and if that's the case, we're never going to hold someone back. If that's what they want to do, we'll support them. As of now, we're expecting everyone to be back unless someone gets a promotion."
Friedman also reported that Blashill and Halpern have interviewed for the head coach vacancy in Boston.
The Lightning haven’t had changes to their coaching staff since July 2022, when Blashill was hired following his tenure as head coach of the Detroit Red Wings.
