Top 10 NHL Coaches 2023 Rankings

Ranking the best NHL Head Coaches such as Jon Cooper, Peter DeBoer, Bruce Cassidy and more as Jim Montgomery leads the way in the 2022-2023 NHL season

By admin | March 22, 2023

The 2023 NHL season is getting closer and closer to coming to an end with about 18 games left, give or take. There are quite a few bench bosses that have really blown the barn doors off this season, and quite a few surprising ones. All of these coaches are great within their own right, but here are the top coaches for 2023.

Honorable Mention

Dean Evason

Team: Minnesota Wild

Evason is another AHL seasoned coach in the NHL. He started career coaching in the WHL before jumping up into the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals for six seasons.

He joined the wild in 2018 as an assistant coach before being moved into the head coach role next season. He has taken the team to the postseason twice and is eying in on a third year straight. The Wild are currently 40-22-8 on the season, battling the Avalanche for second place in the Central Division.

Top 10 NHL Coaches

10. Peter DeBoer

Team: Dallas Stars

Peter DeBoer has been in the NHL for quite some time after, he coached in the minors for a few seasons before joining the Florida Panthers, but this former player has had quite a career.

DeBoer has been in the Stanley Cup Final twice in his NHL career, and is looking to do so again with the fire Dallas Stars team this season. The Stars are currently 38-19-13 this season, leading the Central Division.

9. Jon Cooper

Team: Tampa Bay Lightning

What else is there to say about Jon Cooper any more really? Cooper started his bench career with junior teams before taking a leap and joining the Lightning coaching hierarchy in Norfolk.

Just two seasons later, Cooper raised the Calder Cup over his head with the Norfolk Admirals. From there, the part of one season in Syracuse before the Lightning “called him up”. He has since been the head coach. The Lightning are in a rough division this season, but are currently 42-23-6 on the season.

8. Todd McLellan

Team: Los Angeles Kings

McLellan has been a head coach in the NHL since 2008 with the San Jose Sharks, and had some great teams there in the Bay. Funny enough, he has coached in the NHL for 15 years now, all in one division.

After seven years in San Jose, he went to Edmonton for another four, and has been in Los Angeles since 2019. The Kings are only two points behind the Knights in the Pacific with a record of 40-20-10.

7. Gerard Gallant

Team: New York Rangers

It feels like Gallant has been around forever, and that is because he has. He started his NHL coaching career in 2003 with the Blue Jackets and has bounced around since.

After some really good seasons with the Knights, including a Stanley Cup appearance, he has found himself in the Big Apple with a Wagon of a Rangers team. The Rangers are currently 41-19-10 on the season while being third in the division, the East is insane this season.

6. Bruce Cassidy

Team: Vegas Golden Knights

One of the biggest stories last offseason was the almost out of nowhere firing of Bruce Cassidy from the Boston Bruins, it was a shocker to the entire hockey world.

The Bruins never missed the playoffs with them, but never got far minus 2019. The Golden Knights immediately scooped him up after missing the playoffs for the first time. This season, the Knights are currently 43-21-6, leading the Pacific Division.

5. Sheldon Keefe

Team: Toronto Maple Leafs

Sheldon Keefe is turning into the homegrown version of Jon Cooper the Toronto Maple Leafs needed. Keefe started his professional career with the Toronto Marlies in 2015, quickly cementing himself as a winning coach with a Calder Cup in his first three seasons.

It was not until 2019-2020 he started in the NHL; he has lost in the first round every year since. The Leafs are currently 42-18-9 with him behind the bench, second in the Atlantic Division.

4. Lindy Ruff

Team: New Jersey Devils

Current head coach of the Devils, Lindy Ruff, has been around since 1997, and it looked like he was going to call it a career as a head coach after not returning to the Stars in 2017.

He has made an eruption behind the bench for the Devils, taking them from 7th in the Metro last season, to on and off again leading the division this season. The Devils are currently 45-18-7 in a breakout season.

3. Rod Brind’Amour

Team: Carolina Hurricanes

Rod played in the NHL from 1991 all the way up until 2011 with the Blues, Flyers and Hurricanes. Immediately after hanging up the skates, Brind’Amour found his way behind the bench for the Hurricanes as an assistant coach.

Fast forward seven years later, he is the head coach and has led the Hurricanes to four straight playoff appearances and looks to add to that list this season. The Hurricanes are currently 45-15-8 on the season, leading the Metropolitan Division.

2. Jared Bednar

Team: Colorado Avalanche

The second coach for a team named after a force of nature, Bednar is building off his borderline Jack Adams performance last season.

The Avalanche won the Cup with Bednar last season, and he is finding himself facing adversity once again as the team battles with injuries. Even with the Cup tax weighing heavy, he has led the Avalanche to a 40-22-6 season so far, third in their division.

1. Jim Montgomery

Team: Boston Bruins

Jim Montgomery is currently the best coach in the NHL and is the comeback story of the season. Montgomery started his NHL career with the Stars back in 2018 and was their coach till about 2020 before announcing he admitted himself into rehab.

The firing was a wake-up call for the now great coach. The past offseason he was named the head coach of the Bruins and thus far has led them to a 53-11-5 record and 111 points at the time of writing.

How would you rank these NHL coaches after the 2022-2023 season? Rank below to be added in the Power Rankings.