The extensions signed in Alberta last week by Ryan Huska and Kris Knoblauch left only one NHL head coach on an expiring deal entering the 2025-26 season.

That would be 65-year-old Lindy Ruff, and by all accounts, Ruff and the Buffalo Sabres are pretty Zen about things.

“Lindy and I have talked and are on the same page,” Sabres general manager Kevyn Adams told The Athletic on Friday. “We are focused on winning games and that’s all right now.”

At one point, Jon Cooper was also slated to enter this season on the final year of his deal, but without any official announcement, the Tampa Bay Lightning extended the Team Canada head coach at some point after last season. When asked about it by The Athletic, GM Julien BriseBois simply stated that Cooper was signed beyond this season.

Why the cloak and dagger? Who knows, but we can at least be sure that Cooper, arguably the No. 1 coach in the NHL, isn’t a free agent after this season.

Ruff aside — and his history and stature in Buffalo make it a low-stress situation regardless of being on an expiring deal — we enter the 2026-26 NHL season without the normal list of lame-duck coaches.

There’s been so much turnover over the past couple of years that it’s understandable.

There were nine head coaching changes this offseason — the new hires being Joel Quenneville (Anaheim Ducks), Marco Sturm (Boston Bruins), Jeff Blashill (Chicago Blackhawks), Glen Gulutzan (Dallas Stars), Mike Sullivan (New York Rangers), Rick Tocchet (Philadelphia Flyers), Dan Muse (Pittsburgh Penguins), Lane Lambert (Seattle Kraken) and Adam Foote (Vancouver Canucks).

Todd McLellan was also hired by the Detroit Red Wings during last season, and Jim Montgomery by the St. Louis Blues. And there were eight head coaches hired in the summer of ’24.

Around and around we go.

But for the moment, again, Ruff is the only expiring contract, which is what normally demands attention. It feels like we’ve entered calmer waters and the NHL coaching fraternity could get a quieter-than-normal season.

Recent history, of course, suggests we can’t be too certain of that.

Oh, and serial winner Peter DeBoer is sitting out there as a free agent. He will almost surely be behind an NHL bench again before the 2026-27 season.

That brings us to the next cycle of head coaches: the ones who have only one year left on their contracts after this one. In other words, this will be of note next summer.

Here are the head coaches whose contracts are set to expire after the 2026-27 season:

• Quenneville, Ducks: His deal with the Ducks was for only two years, and given his age (67) and time away from the game, it probably made sense to sign short-term to see how things go.

• Jared Bednar, Avalanche: I regard him as one of the top coaches in the league, but after winning a Cup in 2022, the Avs have won only one playoff series. There will be pressure next spring. If anything ever happened in Colorado after the season, and I’m not saying anything will happen, he’d be very high on other teams’ lists.

Jared Bednar won a Stanley Cup with the Avalanche in 2022 but has won only one playoff series since. (Matthew Stockman / Getty Images)

• Dean Evason, Blue Jackets: In Year 2 of a three-year contract that has an option for the 2027-28 season, Evason finished fifth in Jack Adams Award voting last season — and should have been higher — after guiding the injury-riddled Jackets to just two points short of a playoff spot in a season that began in tragedy. He’s been a terrific fit.

• Jim Hiller, Kings: He’s in Year 2 of a three-year extension he signed after the 2023-24 season, during which he had taken over as interim coach for Todd McLellan in February of 2024. Hiller wasn’t hired by new Kings GM Ken Holland, but they have history from the Detroit Red Wings in 2014-15, when Hiller was an assistant coach. The Kings finally getting out of the opening round of the playoffs next spring would be important here. Maybe they’ll avoid the Edmonton Oilers this time around?

• John Hynes, Wild: Hynes is another one entering Year 2 of a three-year extension. Minnesota could certainly use an opening-round playoff win, as it hasn’t reached the second round in 10 years. But I would also say I think Hynes has a lot of leeway with Wild GM Bill Guerin, who is on his third coach (second hired). They have a strong relationship by all accounts.

• Martin St. Louis, Canadiens: He’s been such an integral part of what appears to be a successful rebuild. His hire was a gamble by GM Kent Hughes, given St. Louis had no prior pro coaching experience, but it’s paid off. I would assume if St. Louis doesn’t extend at some point, it’s because he’s had enough of the gig himself. But he seems to be enjoying it so far.

• Andrew Brunette, Predators: He has another year on his deal after this season plus an option year for 2027-28. There were some who wondered if last season’s disastrous results would cost him his job, but GM Barry Trotz believed strongly in Brunette’s offensive mind when he hired him before the 2023-24 season and obviously wants to give him the full opportunity. This is just me completely speculating, but I wonder, if Trotz ever decides he wants to make a coaching change, whether ownership in Nashville would want him to go back behind the bench. He’s one of the most successful coaches in NHL history (fourth all-time with 914 wins). But I also think Trotz turned the page on that part of his career. A bounce-back season by the Preds will be a good thing for both Brunette and Trotz.

• Ryan Warsofsky, Sharks: The Sharks are on the rise, and I think Warsofsky will be part of things long-term. He’s entering Year 2 of a three-year deal.

• Andre Tourigny, Mammoth: He’s entering Year 2 of a three-year extension. There’s a lot of excitement in Utah entering this season, as there should be, but also pressure to make the playoffs.

• Bruce Cassidy, Golden Knights: Cassidy’s five-year deal expires after the 2026-27 season. He coached Vegas to a Stanley Cup championship in 2023. It feels like pretty quiet waters there, but it’s all about winning in Vegas, and the always-contending Golden Knights have been aggressive in their young history with coaching changes. (Gerard Gallant and Peter DeBoer each lasted two and a half years.) So while I think Cassidy is in good shape there, I’m not ready to make any predictions!

• Spencer Carbery, Capitals: He’s entering Year 3 of a four-year deal and won the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year last season. He’s regarded as one of the true rising stars in the coaching fraternity. While it’s possible the Capitals have some regression this season, I’m not worried about Carbery’s future, to say the least.

• Scott Arniel, Jets: Arniel is entering Year 2 of a three-year deal, and the perennial contending Jets responded very well to him last season, winning the Presidents’ Trophy before bowing out in the second round against Dallas. Obviously, the Jets are like any other contender in craving a Cup run, but all things being equal and knowing that the organization likes stability, I see a long-term fit here unless something dramatic happens.

So, are we getting a quieter season on the coaching front? Let’s hope so. Firing the coach has become way too prevalent in the NHL as a fix-all. Perhaps the escalating salary cap and teams having more breathing room under the cap will allow for more fix-the-team trades instead.

(Top photos of Lindy Ruff and Jon Cooper: James Carey Lauder / Imagn Images and Joel Auerbach / Getty Images)