Black Monday ended with a bang in hockey circles, as Los Angeles, Florida, and Vancouver handed their head coaches their walking papers.
The dismissals came after Dallas fired bench boss Lindy Ruff on Sunday, while the incoming Vegas Golden Knights have a coaching vacancy of their own.
We've matched the right fit for each destination:
Dallas Stars
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Out: Lindy Ruff | In: Ken Hitchcock
What's old is new again.
Ken Hitchcock coached the Stars to the Stanley Cup in 1999 and could be the perfect candidate again after the Texas club relieved Ruff of his duties.
Related: Stars announce Ruff won't return next season
Hitchcock was fired by the St. Louis Blues earlier this season after spending parts of six seasons in Missouri. While he never led the Blues to their first Stanley Cup, he made his best impression a year ago, when St. Louis advanced to the Conference Finals.
Hitchcock preaches a strong defensive game, which should help shore up the Stars' woes in their own zone. His style has been criticized for stifling offensive players, like Stars center Tyler Seguin, but the success Hitchcock had with Blues superstar Vladimir Tarasenko should quiet those concerns.
A return to Dallas would mark the fifth stop for Hitchcock after previous stints with Philadelphia and Columbus. The tenured bench boss sits fourth all time in wins, behind only Scotty Bowman, Joel Quenneville, and Al Arbour.
Florida Panthers
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Out: Tom Rowe | In: Dallas Eakins
Tom Rowe is out as head coach, but the Panthers' trust in analytics is still very much alive.
In that sense, Dallas Eakins is the perfect match. The up-and-coming head coach would see his second stint as an NHL bench boss in joining the Panthers after his previous gig leading the Edmonton Oilers.
Related: Panthers name Dale Tallon GM - again
Things have changed since his 2015 dismissal. Eakins has spent the past two seasons guiding the AHL's San Diego Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks' minor-league club, pushing the club to the second round of the playoffs a year ago. The squad is poised for a return to the postseason this year, having won 40 of 65 contests.
Eakins, 50, was fired in his second season with the Oilers, perhaps in recognition that he wasn't quite ready for the top job in the NHL at the time. He wouldn't be the first coach who made his NHL coaching debut too soon. Just ask Calgary Flames head coach Glen Gulutzan, who had a short-lived stint as coach of the Stars at age 40. Gulutzan resurfaced as the Flames' head coach this season, and has been one of the top bench bosses of the campaign.
An added bonus? Eakins is a Florida native who spent parts of three seasons of his playing career with the Panthers.
Los Angeles Kings
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Out: Darryl Sutter | In: Bob Hartley
One of Rob Blake's first jobs as the new general manager of the Kings will be to appoint the franchise's next head coach. He could turn to a familiar face in veteran Bob Hartley.
Hartley's last stint behind an NHL bench came in 2015-16 with the Flames, but Blake's most familiar with Hartley as the coach who led the Colorado Avalanche to the Stanley Cup in 2001, a squad which counted Blake among its defensemen.
Related: Kings fire Dean Lombardi and Darryl Sutter, name Rob Blake new GM
Hartley's resume boasts his winning pedigree, in not only a Cup with Colorado, but also championships in the QMJHL, AHL, and Swiss League.
The experienced bench boss pushes an imposing style that could fit the Kings perfectly. The reality is much of Los Angeles' core is locked up long term, from forwards Dustin Brown, Marian Gaborik, and Anze Kopitar, to goaltender Jonathan Quick.
It'd be up to Hartley to unleash the most from that group and push the Kings back into the winner's circle.
Vancouver Canucks
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Out: Willie Desjardins | In: Travis Green
The Canucks have begun to embrace a youth movement on the ice, and that could soon extend to the bench as well.
Within the organization, Vancouver has one of the most promising up-and-coming coaches in AHL bench boss Travis Green.
Related: Canucks fire head coach Desjardins
He was a hot commodity last offseason, interviewing for the head coaching job with Avalanche, and those inquiries are sure to continue in the future, unless Green climbs the organizational ladder with the Canucks.
Green has spent the past four seasons in Utica, with his best season coming in 2014-15 when the Comets advanced to the Calder Cup Finals. Prior to joining the AHL, Green led the Portland Winterhawks to the WHL championship in his first year as a head coach in the junior ranks.
Green's success at the developmental levels and his ability to teach and communicate with young players, not to mention his near 1,000 games of experience as an NHL forward, shows he has plenty to offer the Canucks.
Vegas Golden Knights
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In: Darryl Sutter
Darryl Sutter's time in the unemployment line won't last long. It can't when your name is etched on the Stanley Cup in two of the last five years.
That winning pedigree pushes Sutter to the top of the list as the first coach for the expansion Golden Knights. For a team that will largely be made up of rival teams' spare parts - at least initially - Sutter's strength to slow down the game and grind out victories would be invaluable for a squad short on skill.
Related: Golden Knights considering '6 or 7' head coach candidates
That same tactic was used in the early years of the Nashville Predators, when former head coach Barry Trotz had the Predators punching above their weight class.
To his credit, and often unmentioned, Sutter's squads in Los Angeles have ranked first in possession. His familiarity with the Pacific Division, which the Golden Knights will join, is an added bonus.
The longtime bench boss sits 11th in all-time coaching wins, with 634 victories to his name. His resume also includes stops with the Flames, Chicago Blackhawks, and San Jose Sharks.
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