The Winnipeg Jets have their new head coach. An important next step will be whom Scott Arniel chooses to be part of his support staff.
It’s pretty much a given Wade Flaherty will continue on as the Jets’ goaltending coach, a position he has held since the franchise relocated from Atlanta in the spring of 2011.
And Marty Johnston will also be retained, presumably in a position with added responsibility as he begins his third year on the staff.
But Brad Lauer will not be back. GM Kevin Cheveldayoff says there was a mutual parting of the ways discussed this past weekend, and that did not come as any kind of surprise.
Lauer was in charge of a power play that finished in the bottom third of the NHL during his two seasons running that department.
The writing was somewhat on the wall when now-former head coach Rick Bowness told Paul Edmonds just before the start of the playoffs that the Jets’ lack of proficiency with the extra skater ultimately cost the team first place in the division.
But the penalty kill wasn’t a whole lot better — slipping from seventh the previous season to 21st under the direction of Arniel. And during this morning’s news conference the new head coach owned that.
So it would see obvious the two new hires will need to be part of the special teams solution in going forward.
The good news is, Arniel says his phone was buzzing with texts from potential candidates from almost the moment his promotion became official late Friday afternoon. And some of those calls might just surprise us as to who they came from.
Also promising is the new Jets head coach fully understands he needs to make those decisions quickly — to get out in front of the other teams looking to round out their coaching staffs for the coming season.
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