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The latest round of NHL rumors point towards several major changes coming around the league once the regular season ends.<\/p>\n
As the 2025-26 season winds down, several non-playoff teams could be looking to make changes behind the bench. As such, NHL rumors are flying about potential vacancies<\/a> opening up in the coming weeks.<\/p>\n With the New York Islanders and Vegas Golden Knights making surprising late-season moves, the number of coaching vacancies may not be quite as high. Still, there will be plenty of chatter surrounding several clubs.<\/p>\n So, let\u2019s take a look at three teams that could be looking to make coaching changes this offseason.<\/p>\n NHL Rumors Involving Coaching Changes in 2026 OffseasonNew Jersey Devils<\/p>\n The New Jersey Devils had a disappointing season. Pundits picked the Devils to be contenders at the beginning of the season. However, inconsistent play and freak injuries fueled NHL rumors about trades and now, a potential coaching change.<\/a><\/p>\n Second-year coach Sheldon Keefe came under scrutiny for his inability to get consistent efforts out of his lineup. While the Devils have been playing good hockey for the last month or so, it has been too little, too late.<\/p>\n While the chatter among NHL rumors doesn\u2019t purport that a coaching change could be imminent in New Jersey, the belief is that there might be the temptation to make a move. If that happens, the organization will be looking at its options moving forward.<\/p>\n Vancouver Canucks<\/p>\n Another round of NHL rumors posits a change in Vancouver. Canucks\u2019 first-year coach Adam Foote stepped in this season, replacing Rick Tocchet. However, things simply feel apart for the Canucks.<\/p>\n The debacle of a season led to the Quinn Hughes trade and could lead to other offseason player movements.<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth noting that this year\u2019s disaster is not really on Foote. He came into the job with the team already circling the drain. But try as he did, Foote was unable to rescue the club. That situation prompted insider David Pagnotta to dismiss the possibility of a coaching change<\/a> in Vancouver. However, NHL rumors aren\u2019t going away. The organization might have to address the situation, either confirming or dismissing Foote.<\/p>\n Get more NHL rumors on Heavy:<\/p>\n Red Wings Playoff Miss Could Lead to Massive Change<\/a><\/p>\n Oilers Rumors: Top NCAA Free Agent Could Be Going to Edmonton<\/a><\/p>\n Canucks Rumors: Team May Need to Make Major Offseason Move<\/a><\/p>\n NHL Rumors Suggest Shakeup for LA Kings<\/p>\n The LA Kings<\/a> have been another underachieving team this season. Pundits and analysts believed that the club would be able to maintain a significant foothold on a playoff spot in the Western Conference. However, that has not been the case.<\/p>\n Entering Sunday night\u2019s action, the Kings are tied with the Nashville Predators with 81 points. Nevertheless, the Preds get the edge for the final playoff spot.<\/p>\n That\u2019s not the situation the Kings expected to be in. That\u2019s why the organization moved to fire Jim Hiller earlier this season, promoting former assistant DJ Smith to the interim head coaching role.<\/p>\n The belief among NHL rumors is that a playoff miss could lead to a shakeup for the Kings. The retirement of longtime captain Anze Kopitar will open the door for a natural turnover in leadership, both on and off the ice.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting that a playoff berth won\u2019t guarantee Smith will be the bench boss next season. A strong playoff run, however, could buy Smith at least one more season.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tNestor Quixtan<\/a> Seasoned NHL analyst and baseball writer focused on covering clubs across each league with news, analysis, and insights. Originally from Toronto, Canada, Nestor’s singular experiences and background have enabled him to bring a different take on the sports world as a whole. Nestor’s fondness for baseball and hockey set the tone for his love and passion for writing about sports. More about Nestor Quixtan<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Canucks\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty The latest round of NHL rumors point towards several major changes coming around the league once the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543066,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5128],"tags":[894,5,4,893,27,5313],"class_list":{"0":"post-543065","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-vancouver-canucks","8":"tag-canucks","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-vancouver","12":"tag-vancouver-canucks","13":"tag-vancouvercanucks"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116355336782773108","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543065"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543065\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}