Winnipeg Jets Coach Rick Bowness Retires: Who Could Replace Him?

Rick Bowness David Banks-USA TODAY Sports

The NHL’s longest-tenured bench boss is calling it a career, as Winnipeg Jets coach Rick Bowness announced his retirement on Monday morning.

The 69-year-old posted a 98-57-9 in two seasons behind the bench in Winnipeg, leading the club to consecutive short-lived playoff berths – as the Jets failed to make it past the first round in back-to-back years. After leading the Jets to the fourth-best regular season this past season and with his team winning the William M. Jennings Trophy, Bowness was named a Jack Adams Award finalist for the first time in his career on Friday.

Bowness has coached the most games of anyone in the history of the NHL (2,726), while also joining Scotty Bowman and Pat Quinn as the only coaches to coach a game in five different decades. He served as a coach for eight different franchises, making three career trips to the Stanley Cup final – as an associate coach with the Vancouver Canucks in 2011, as an assistant with the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2015 and as a head coach with the Dallas Stars in 2020.

“Every day in this league is a blessing. It is,” Bowness told reporters in Thursday’s season-end availability. “We’re treated so well. We’re in the best hockey league in the world. Never ever ever take a day for granted in this league. And I never have. And I never will. I just love the game and it’s been my life.”

The news shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise. Not only did his contract carry a team option for the 2024-25 season, but Bowness and his family endured a few health scares this past season – with Bowness being gone for a month after his wife, Judy, suffered a seizure in October, in addition to a week-long absence in March after he underwent a minor procedure.

And while Bowness has deservedly been praised for the culture change he’s infiltrated since taking over in the fall of 2022 – the Jets could use a fresh set of eyes behind the bench.

So, who will it be?

Scott Arniel James Carey Lauder-USA TODAY Sports

Since he was at the helm during Bowness’ absences, associate coach Scott Arniel seems like the plausible front-runner for the job.

But despite the 61-year-old having loads of experience as an associate and assistant coach for the New York Rangers and Washington Capitals – he’s only got a year and a half experience as a head coach when he ran the Columbus Blue Jackets bench from 2010 to 2012. That didn’t go so well with a 45-60-18 record.

Arniel has strong ties with the organization, having played for the Winnipeg Jets 1.0 and coached the Manitoba Moose 1.0. But if the Jets want to reinvent themselves, they’d be wise to look elsewhere.

Given how the last two years went and the team’s intentions to contend – having signed franchise cornerstones Connor Hellebuyck and Mark Scheifele to long-term deals — the Jets needs a demanding coach that can get them over the hump.

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Gerard Gallant makes a lot of sense. Before being fired by the New York Rangers after the 2022-23 season, the 60-year-old led the Blueshirts to the Eastern Conference final in 2021-22 and also led the Vegas Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup final in their inaugural season of 2017- 18. Gallant is lauded for being a players’ coach who has a gift for getting players to pull on the same rope, as we saw in Vegas’ first season. Some critics may point to his handling of young players Kappo Kakko and Alexis Lafreniere, but they were raw talents who weren’t quite ready for primetime situations.

Craig Berube fits the bill as well. Berube famously led the St. Louis Blues to a Stanley Cup championship in 2018-19, a miraculous feat given that the Blues were one of the NHL’s worst teams when he took over mid-year. Berube is an incredibly demanding coach who preaches accountability — two traits that this Jets team needs right now to build on the culture Bowness built.

Dean Evason may not seem like an obvious favorite, but if you look at the way he had the Minnesota Wild playing over the last few years despite their three consecutive first-round exits, it makes a lot of sense. Evason was able to get a Minnesota roster that lacked a plethora of stars — save for Kirill Kaprizov — to establish itself as a hard team to compete against that plays a true-team game.