The five NHL coaches most likely to be fired first this season

Nobody in the NHL needs a win more than the Columbus Blue Jackets and their coach Todd Richards. The 0-6 Blue Jackets face the New York Islanders at home Tuesday with speculation rampant about a possible coaching change.

The Blue Jackets have given up 30 goals in their six games. Their penalty-killing is at 65%, and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky’s save percentage sits at .835. He owns a .917 career save percentage. Those are just some of the reasons why Richards is on the hot seat.

Here are Paste BN Sports’ rankings of five NHL coaches on the potential first-to-be-fired list.

1. Richards (Blue Jackets): If he is fired, it would be the classic case of a coach being fired because it’s the simplest way to reboot a team. Richards is the same coach who guided Columbus to a team record 12-0-1 surge to finish last season. It’s not as if he forgot how to be an effective coach. This is a team that has clearly lost its confidence.

2. Claude Julien (Boston Bruins): At the start of the season, Bovada odds makers made Julien a 3-2 favorite to be the first coach fired. The team has a new general manager (Don Sweeney) and the team missed the playoffs last season. The Bruins have won two in a row after starting 0-3. But it would only take a couple of losses to prompt more internet chatter about his future in Boston.

3. Darryl Sutter (Los Angeles Kings): On one hand it seems hard to believe general manager Dean Lombardi would dismiss a coach who won a Stanley Cup 16 months ago. On the other hand, this is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. The Kings are 2-3 after winning their last two games, but they have only netted six goals this season. Plus, they haven’t been on the road yet. The Kings aren’t the same team that won the 2014 Stanley Cup.

4. Bob Hartley (Calgary Flames): Hartley’s style seems perfect for the Flames, and he did a tremendous job last season. But the Flames have lost three in a row and are 1-4 going into tonight’s home game against the Washington Capitals. This Flames squad was supposed to be even sharper this season.

5. Bruce Boudreau (Anaheim Ducks): The Ducks are one of the favorites and they are off to a 1-3-1 start. They have scored just five goals. Fans are waiting for this team to look dominant. They have road game against Nashville (Thursday), Minnesota (Saturday) and Chicago (Monday) coming up.