Dan Bylsma, Darryl Sutter and Dave Tippett probably didn’t figure to be unemployed this long.

But three of the brightest coaching minds in hockey remain on the outside looking in because, in an astonishing turn of events, no NHL coach has been fired this season.

It’s not to say it won’t happen, but it usually has by now.

“It’s a little unique, but I’m not surprised,” says Neil Glasberg, an agent who represents coaches at PBI Sports and Entertainment. “There is parity in the league. Nobody is that bad.”

Coaching and job security don’t usually go hand-in-hand. Coaches, after all, are hired to be fired. They are the most disposable of hockey commodities.

Last year, Gerard Gallant was fired by Florida on Nov. 17 to start the coaching carousel that saw four more let go by the end of the season. In 2015-16, Todd Richards was canned by Columbus on Oct. 21, the first of three coaches let go in-season.

You have to go all the way back to 1966-67 to find a season without a coaching change, says hockey historian Eric Zweig. Even then, GM-coach Punch Imlach removed himself from the Maple Leafs bench for 10 games to let King Clancy run things, before returning to finish the season.

“If you want a flat-out no one changed places behind the bench at all, that would look to have last happened in 1964-65,” says Zweig.

This year, however, coaches seem to have staying power due to an unusual confluence of events.

Coaches who might have started the season on the hot seat — Jon Cooper in Tampa, Barry Trotz in Washington, Paul Maurice in Winnipeg and Glen Gulutzan in Calgary — have seen their teams respond with seasons that have met or exceeded expectations.

“Parity helps, but coaches have responded,” says former player and GM Brian Lawton, now an analyst on NHL Network.

And teams that have underachieved are, by and large, led by coaches who’ve just been hired. Rick Tocchet (Coyotes), Phil Housley (Sabres) and Bob Boughner (Panthers) are in their first years with those teams, so it’s far too early for those franchises to fire a coach, which would be an admission to ownership that a mistake was made.

“Usually the weaker teams make the change, but that’s not really an option,” says Lawton. “They all have new coaches. It starts with the bottom of the league, and most of these guys are pretty new in their jobs.”

Claude Julien was hired during last season as a long-term solution in Montreal, while Guy Boucher is in his second year in Ottawa and just a year removed from a conference final. GM Marc Bergevin is more on the hot seat in Montreal, while Boucher may be saved by financially tight ownership in Ottawa, loathe to pay a second coach in a lost season.

The biggest tire fire is in Edmonton, where GM Peter Chiarelli has seen his plan implode. He seemed to say last week that firing third-year coach Todd McLellan would be a mistake and do the franchise — which averaged a coach a year from 2010 to 2015 — more harm than good.

Going into the season, oddsmaker Mise-o-jeu had Colorado’s Jared Bednar as the favourite to be the first fired, while Bodog had San Jose’s Pete DeBoer. Neither team lived down to those expectations.

“This isn’t going to be a year where no coach gets fired,” says Glasberg. “That’s not going to happen. But the changes, instead of being mid-year, will be at the end of the year.”

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A couple of years ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins fired Mike Johnston one year and 28 games into his tenure, and replaced him with Mike Sullivan. The turnaround in philosophy and game style was instant, sparking two Cup runs in a row. But other coaching changes haven’t been quite so magical. And often, mid-season replacements are simply stop gaps.

“Interim head coaches are generally not that successful,” says Glasberg. “You’ve got 20 personalities to get on board. When people know that somebody is interim, they know no commitment has been made full time.

“You don’t play the same way. It’s more, ‘If I like this guy, I’ll play hard for him. If I don’t I probably won’t.’”

CENTRE OF ATTENTION: An Islanders game against Montreal, a team desperate for a No. 1 centre, meant John Tavares was sure to face questions about his future. “I hope to stay in Long Island,” Tavares said. “There’s a lot of positive things going forward with the organization and the team here. I haven’t thought about being anywhere else but with the Islanders.” Tavares is playing out the final season of a six-year, $33-million U.S. deal.

FEEL THE BERN: Ex-Leaf goalie Jonathan Bernier established a career high with his sixth consecutive victory on Monday, and his ability to fill in for the oft-injured Semyon Varlamov is a big reason behind the success of the Colorado Avalanche. “That’s why (we) went after him (last) summer,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said of Bernier — who, like Varlamov, is 29. “He’s been a No. 1 in the past, he’s also been a backup ― he understands. He has some experience, and he’s eager to prove himself (here). I don’t know what to say about him besides he was excellent again. He’s stringing games together.”

PHIL ’ER UP: Phil Kessel of the Penguins was tied for seventh in the NHL with 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists) heading into Tuesday’s action and has reached the 20-goal mark in 10 straight seasons. Elias notes that Kessel (from Madison, Wis.) became the third U.S.-born player in NHL history to reach the 20-goal mark in 10 consecutive seasons, and just the second active U.S.-born player to eclipse 700 career points (701), joining Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane (797). Wild forward — and Virginia, Minn. Native — Matt Cullen was at 699.

BIG GOOD BRUINS: The Bruins are on a 9-0-4 run and have turned themselves into legitimate contenders. Still, they see flaws in their game and are starting to hold themselves to a higher standard. They’ve been getting off to poor starts, battling back to force overtime and the like. “We’d been focusing on having good starts, but we weren’t able to,” Boston defenceman Torey Krug said following an overtime loss to Dallas. “We found a way to come back, but there are definitely some parts to our game that we have to start looking at and sharpening up. I’m sure we’ll take a look at it.” The 13 games without a regulation loss tie the Vegas Golden Knights (12-0-1) for the longest such stretch this season.

SCRATCH THAT: When the Chicago Blackhawks made veteran defenceman Brent Seabrook a healthy scratch last week, it was a signal that the 32-year-old was entering the back half of his career. That he has 6½ years left on a contract that carries a $6.875-million cap hit has made him the target of fans’ ire. In the dressing room, however, he remains beloved. “Whether things are going good or not so good for him personally, you would never know it because he’s always focused on getting the team going,” captain Jonathan Toews said. “Everybody has their ups and downs, and he does focus on himself to try to get his game together. But he’s such a great teammate and a great leader in this room. It was a shock not hearing him in that room (in Ottawa) since he’s been doing it for so long.”

ISLE BE THERE: The Islanders’ planned arena at Belmont Park is expected to take more than three years to complete, which would put the opening near the start of the 2021-22 season, according to a report from New York Newsday. The Islanders remain hopeful it can open sooner, because the team’s partners in the development are experienced in building stadiums and arenas. Islanders co-owner Jon Ledecky has steered clear of saying when the new arena will be ready.

STATS PACK: Avalanche centre Nathan MacKinnon has a goal in three straight outings, a seven-game point streak and has reached the 20-goal mark for the third time in five NHL seasons . . . Tavares has 10 career regular-season overtime goals, trailing only Alex Ovechkin (15) since 2009-10 . . . The Isles’ Thomas Greiss became the third goaltender to record at least 50 saves in a game in 2017-18, joining Colorado’s Varlamov (57 vs. Carolina, Nov. 2) and Anaheim’s John Gibson (50 vs. Florida, Nov. 19).