

Screencap via NHL.com

The Canucks interviewed highly regarded coaching prospect Dallas Eakins last week, and will reportedly chat with deposed Dallas Stars bench boss Glen Gulutzan at some point this week. But apparently Eakins nailed his interview and will be brought in to chat with Mike Gillis and company for a second time in short order. Per Elliotte Friedman’s latest 30 Thoughts column:

Glen Gulutzan’s interview with the Vancouver Canucks will be some time this week. I still think there will be more candidates (Kings assistant John Stevens, for example). But there is a growing sense they really like Dallas Eakins, who coaches the AHL Toronto Marlies. Word is Eakins will do a second interview with Vancouver.

Well isn’t that interesting. Read past the jump for more.

Jeff Angus profiled Dallas Eakins at length last week, and in some ways he seems like a good fit for a Canucks team that will by all accounts be looking to jump start some sort of youth movement. For example, Tony Gallagher suggested today that the Canucks plan on giving Brenden Gaunce every opportunity to win the third-line centre job at training camp this fall. That’s well and good, so long as the Canucks purchase some Ryan Kesler insurance…

But let’s circle back to the impressive Mr. Dallas Eakins. In addition to impressing the Canucks last week, Eakins seems to be the target for a number of other teams as well. The Stars, Rangers and Oilers have all been granted permission to chat with Eakins for a variety of vacancies on their respective coaching staffs.

With a number of other clubs hot on Eakins’ tail, it’s possible that the Canucks may need to ditch their usual cautious, gradualist approach to, well, everything really and secure the young coach who has impressed them. Then again as Laurence Gilman described on the Team 1040 late last week, often a coaching candidate will tell hockey executives that he’s got other options and urge them to make a more prompt decision.

So perhaps the club can afford to wait just a bit longer, which I’m sure they’d prefer. Later this month they’ll presumably have a chance to interview John Stevens, find out if Ray Shero’s going to do something rash regarding Dan Byslma’s future, and see how Dave Tippett’s situation plays out. Those are candidates worth waiting for, though all it really takes is one management team to like Dallas Eakins enough, and he could well be off the market.





