New York Rangers: Head Coach candidate David Quinn

The New York Rangers relieved Alain Vigneault after his fifth season with the team on April 7th. Let’s look at a potential candidate to fill that role in Boston University’s David Quinn.

One of the key characteristics the New York Rangers are looking for in their new head coach is the ability to develop talent. Both owner James Dolan and general manager Jeff Gorton have emphasized as much to the media when confronted with the question.

With that in mind, the team should look to the AHL or NCAA to fill their head coaching vacancy. The reason why is obvious: developing talent is essential to being a successful coach at those levels. One of these candidates should be David Quinn, the current head coach of the NCAA’s Boston University.

(Full Disclosure: This writer is a BU alumnus and watches 15-20 BU games per season including each since Quinn was appointed Head Coach.)

The advantages to hiring any NCAA coach like Quinn, are pretty straightforward. He, like his peers is charged with developing players from various backgrounds and skillsets on an annual basis. Quinn, coming from a storied program like BU, has had the opportunity to develop higher end talent than other schools. This makes him similar to another potential candidate Denver’s Jim Montgomery.

So, what does Quinn bring to the table that differentiates him from other candidates?

David Quinn’s résumé

First let’s take a look at what he’s done during his time as a coach.

Quinn entered the coaching ranks early after a medical condition (Christmas disease) prematurely ended his playing career. He almost immediately accepted a position as an assistant at Northeastern University for two seasons. Quinn then joined the coaching staff at the University of Nebraska Omaha for six seasons.

Quinn returned to his alma mater in 2004, serving as an assistant there to his former head coach, the legendary Jack Parker. Quinn’s tenure there was highlighted by a national championship in 2009.

He next plied his trade in the professional ranks, serving as the head coach of the then AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, the Lake Erie Monsters from 2009-12. He then served as an NHL assistant under Joe Sacco for the Avalanche for one season.

After Avalanche fired Sacco, Quinn again returned to BU. This time he replaced his mentor Parker as head coach in 2013. He has held that post ever since to the tune of an overall 105–67–21 (W-L-T) record with the Terriers.

Quinn’s accomplishments the past five seasons include: National Runner-up (2015), Hockey East Coach of the Year (2015), Hockey East Conference Champion (2015, 2018), Hockey East Regular Season Champion (2015, 2017) and four straight NCAA tournament berths (2015-2018).

In addition, Quinn has had a long relationship with USA hockey. He has served as an assistant at multiple levels throughout his career (World Championship: 1999, 2000, 2012, 2016; U-18: 2003).

He served as the head coach of USA Hockey’s U-17 program from 2002-04 and was recently named head coach for the 2019 World Junior Championship.

The Pros for Quinn

First, Quinn has been charged with nurturing and developing players for the vast majority of his coaching career. As opposed to some other candidates from the NCAA, Quinn has professional coaching experience as well.

Tactically speaking, Quinn’s best tendencies are empowering his best players to play, regardless of age or pedigree. He also accepts and acknowledges that his players will make mistakes and doesn’t unfairly punish players for making them.

Quinn has a knack for assembling potent line combinations and then having faith in his players to keep them together. He notably put together the potent line of Evan Rodrigues, Jack Eichel and Danny O’Regan (now all with the Buffalo Sabres), who he rode to the national championship game in 2015. Last season, he fit together 2018 top prospect Brady Tkachuk, Jordan Greenway (Minnesota Wild 2015 2nd round pick and 2018 USA Olympian) and Drew Melanson (Hartford Wolfpack signee) who powered the Terriers to an unlikely NCAA tournament appearance.

Quinn likes to employ and unleash offensive defensemen, even at the expense of some defense. During his tenure at BU, he hasn’t been shy in letting players such as Matt Grzelcyk, Charlie McAvoy (Boston Bruins), Dante Fabbro (Nashville 2016 1st round pick), Chad Krys (Chicago 2016 2nd round pick) and David Farrance (Nashville 2017 3rd round pick) play their offense-oriented game.

Unlike some of his NCAA counterparts, Quinn is more adamant about rolling four lines. Most college coaches frequently shorten their benches in crunch time, especially during tournaments. This was especially evident this past season in both the Hockey East Conference and NCAA tournaments where Quinn utilized his depth. Him realizing the need for and trusting in his role players enabled him to deploy his heavy hitters when needed, facilitating their late run.

The Cons against Quinn

There are some caveats to having Quinn as a head coach however. Despite his successes thus far at BU, Quinn still has yet to win “The Big One” (i.e. A National Championship). This is despite having the wealth of talent mentioned above, along with other players such as Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Jake Oettinger, Kieffer Bellows, Patrick Harper, Shane Bellows and Calder Trophy finalist Clayton Keller.

Most concerning is that Quinn’s teams have the tendency to play down to their competition. Additionally, they are often incapable of pulling off convincing weekend sweeps of teams or sustaining extended winning streaks.

From game to game the teams’ offensive output and defensive competency can be polar opposites on consecutive nights. The Terriers have also exhibited the propensity for taking too many penalties.

While Quinn does tend to stick to combinations when they are working, when they are not, his lineups can vary drastically from game to game.

The Next Coach of the Rangers?

I believe the Rangers do their due diligence and invite Quinn for an interview. The ties between Boston University and The Rangers are relatively strong. Former Terrier and Ranger Chris Drury is part of the Rangers’ front office. Additionally, the Rangers have employed former executive Steve Greeley who was a key recruiter for Quinn.

The Rangers even have a personal connection with Quinn. He signed as a free agent with the team in 1992, playing 19 games with the then AHL Binghamton Rangers.

However, Quinn leaving his alma mater to become an NHL head coach at this point in time, would be a very shocking development to me. Despite the allure of an NHL coaching salary, by all accounts coaching at BU is Quinn’s dream job.

Next: New York Rangers’ stock market: Prospect edition

The Rangers don’t have to look far for an example of taking a risk on a NCAA coach. The Philadelphia Flyers hired Dave Hakstol in 2015 and he has guided the team to two playoff appearances in three seasons. There is plenty of risk involved but Quinn is a promising candidate who deserves a shot at an NHL job.

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