2024 NHL Jack Adams Finalists And Why Each Should Win NHL Trade Talk.
In a season where many players and coaches can be nominated for individual awards, each of the nominated coaches for the Jack Adams could win. The finalists were Rick Bowness of the Winnipeg Jets, Andrew Brunette of the Nashville Predators, and Rick Tocchet of the Vancouver Canucks.
Coaches like John Tortorella who had the Philadephia Flyers in a playoff spot for most of the year are honorable mentions. At the end of the season, Philadelphia lost a couple must-win games that put them out of the playoffs. Kris Knoblauch of the Edmonton Oilers is another coach who could have been nominated for the award. The Oilers started the season at the very bottom of the overall standings. They finished the season ninth in the league, completely contrasting the start of their campaign.
The coaches who were named are all deserving.
Rick Bowness: Winnipeg Jets
The Winnipeg Jets finished fourth in the NHL standings in the 2023-24 campaign. The Jets missed the playoffs before this season. This year, Winnipeg was the best defensive team in the NHL, allowing the fewest goal out of all teams.
Connor Hellebuyck was the biggest reason the Jets could achieve this, due to his stellar play. During the summer, general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff made some big changes to the roster. He traded Pierre-Luc Dubois, formerly acquired from second-overall pick Patrik Laine. Dubois was traded for Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a second-round pick in 2024.
Bowness was able to make his new players and team veterans to buy in to a system that made them a very dangerous NHL team. Not since the 2018 NHL playoffs had the Jets been this competitive. Bowness had a lot of success with the Dallas Stars, and was able to translate his recent coaching success to Winnipeg. Bowness could be a good candidate for the Jack Adams trophy this year.
Andrew Brunette – Nashville Predators
Andrew Brunette was hired back in May of last year to replace John Hynes. In his time the Nashville Predators, he has completely turned the team around. The new coach in Tennessee has brought offense to a club that was not expected to generate many goals this season. Under Brunette, many players have achieved career highs in points including Filip Forsberg and Gustav Nyquist.
Not since 2014-15 had Nyquist recorded more than 54 points in one season, back when he played with Pavel Datsyuk. The Swedish winger had 75 points this year, 21 more than his previous career high. He was a key piece to Nashville’s top line with Ryan O’Reilly at center and Forsberg at left wing. The latter had 48 goals this season while showcasing great play at both ends of the ice.
Brunette was able to bring a roster that was modified in the offseason to playoff contention. He was able to bring out the best in young players like Tommy Novak and Luke Evangelista. Ever since his short time with the Florida Panthers, Brunette has built a great reputation as a coach in the NHL. This is his second Jack Adams nomination, his first being in the 2021-22 season.
Rick Tocchet – Vancouver Canucks
Rick Tocchet took over a Vancouver Canucks team that seemed hopeless, back in the middle of the 2022-23 season. At the time, Bruce Boudreau was coaching, and things were going fine until they weren’t. When Boudreau was fired, fans were livid, as they blamed ownership for the lack of team success and were heartbroken to see such a likable character get laid off so quickly.
Before Tocchet had the reins in Vancouver, the Canucks were seen as an easy team to push around and easy to play against. Most of their players were undersized or not as involved physically or even defensively. Once the former Stanley Cup winner got behind their bench, the Canucks looked like a different team. Management did help out by making some roster changes, but it seemed like the culture had evolved. It really showed the next season.
In the 2023-24 season, Vancouver was first in overall standings for almost the entire year. They looked so much better defensively, and Tocchet’s system was established perfectly. Unfortunately, some players like Andrei Kuzmenko did not have as much success with this new approach to the game. In today’s Canucks, every player contributes every shift, leaving few minutes of ice time for one-dimensional players.
The coaching change completely turned the team around. In a single season, the Canucks went from 22nd to sixth in league rankings. Under Rick Tocchet, many players have had career years in points. This includes J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes, Brock Boeser, Filip Hronek, Dakota Joshua, Nils Hoglander and Sam Lafferty. The Canucks look to make noise in the playoffs as they clinch for the first time since the pandemic.
This year, every trophy is up for grabs. No one is really running away with an individual award, except for statistical trophies. Either of these coaches could win and it would not be shocking.
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2024 NHL Jack Adams Finalists And Why Each Should Win NHL Trade Talk.
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