Another year, another head coach for former Calgary Flames star Johnny Gaudreau.
Gaudreau, who is now a member of the Columbus Blue Jackets, will have a new boss behind the bench for the 2024-25 season, as it was announced yesterday afternoon that Pascal Vincent was fired.
Though a replacement has yet to be named, whoever gets the job will be the 10th head coach Gaudreau has played for in his NHL career. It’s truly a stunning number for a player who just wrapped up his 10th season in the league.
Eight of Gaudreau’s 10 seasons came with the Flames, where he spent time playing under Bob Hartley, Glen Gulutzan, Bill Peters, Geoff Ward, and Darryl Sutter. He also spent a brief period with Ryan Huska as the interim head coach while Sutter was unavailable due to COVID-19 protocol during the 2020-21 season.
In his first season with the Blue Jackets, Gaudreau played under Brad Larsen, who was fired by the end of the 2022-23 campaign. Mike Babcock was hired a short time later, only to resign before coaching a single game after allegations surfaced that he asked players to look at personal photos on their phones.
Hartley
Gulutzan
Peters
Ward
Huska (interim)
Sutter
Larsen
Babcock
Vincent
X— Mike Gould (@miketgould) June 17, 2024
Vincent stepped in for Babcock but didn’t get much out of the Blue Jackets, leading them to a dreadful 27-43-12 record. Despite leading the team in scoring, Gaudreau struggled under him, scoring a career-low 12 goals along with just 60 points in 81 games.
Things haven’t gone swimmingly for Gaudreau since he chose to sign a seven-year, $68.25 million deal with the Blue Jackets two summers ago. Not only have his offensive numbers taken a hit with a combined 33 goals and 134 points through 161 games, but he has racked up a rather horrendous plus/minus of -60 during that span.
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