Josh Cooper

jcooper2@tennessean.com

The Predators announced last Monday that coach Barry Trotz would not be retained for a 16th season.

Peter Laviolette and Phil Housley are among Team USA coaches for next month's World Championships.

There appears to be little movement as the Predators enter the second week of their coaching search.

The NHL and American Hockey League playoffs are in progress, so some coaches who might be candidates are still busy. And coaching searches in the NHL differ from those of, say, college football — you don't need a boss in place immediately to deal with recruiting and other elements.

Last week in announcing that Barry Trotz would not be back for a 16th season, Predators general manager David Poile said the search to replace the coach may take some time. Considering Poile is generally methodical anyway, the second coach in Predators history may not be revealed in the near future.

In the meantime, here is my updated ranking of potential candidates:

1. Peter Laviolette. I still think he is the front-runner, even though a week has gone past and nothing concrete has come out of the coaching search. The former Flyers coach will be the head coach of Team USA for the world championships next month in Minsk, Belarus, and his staff includes Predators assistant coach Phil Housley and video coach Lawrence Feloney. Considering general manager David Poile's pull with USA Hockey, the worlds could be a trial run.

2. Phil Housley. His name seems to keep coming up in hockey circles. He's an innovative mind and a driven coach with NHL experience as a player. Though Poile indicated Housley, who just finished his first season as a Predators assistant, is not much of an option, until he is completely sworn off you have to think he's a possibility.

3. Terry Murray. I can't discount Murray, even though he doesn't totally appear to fit the Nashville mold. The former Capitals and Kings head coach has deep ties with Poile (former Capitals GM) and is an excellent teacher of young players. If the Predators are indeed in what Poile called a "rebuild on the fly" then Murray wouldn't be a bad option even at age 63.

4. Dean Evason. With the Milwaukee Admirals about to start their second straight American Hockey League playoff run under Evason, the coach of Nashville's top minor league affiliate deserves a look. He has been able to do a lot with a little in Milwaukee — which was basically Trotz's situation in Nashville.

5. John Stevens. The Kings assistant and former Flyers head coach has been a hot candidate in the past — he was a finalist for the Vancouver job last year — and people in Los Angeles speak highly of him. He could merit a look from the Predators.

6. Willie Desjardins. The Texas Stars skipper was the AHL coach of the year in 2012-13, is considered a strong tactician and has only had a losing record once in jobs with Texas and the Medicine Hat Tigers. Some agents and management types have, unprompted, mentioned his name to me, so we're including him.

7. Dan Bylsma. The Penguins lead the Blue Jackets 2-1 in their best-of-seven playoff series. The Penguins are an organization that demands excellence — Stanley Cup excellence — and Pittsburgh hasn't won a Cup since 2009. If the Penguins flame out in the first round against the underdog Blue Jackets, "Disco Dan" could be on the hot seat.

Reach Josh Cooper at 615-726-8917 and on Twitter @JoshuaCooper.