Rick Bowness sits at the top of the NHL's early hot-seat chatter, and the Blue Jackets aren't giving him much cover.
A Daily Faceoff roundtable asked which coach gets fired first this season. Two of five panelists picked the Columbus coach.
Matt Larkin even floated the idea that Bowness walks away on his own. At 71, he's the oldest active bench boss in the league.
He's regularly called out his players' compete level in post-game pressers, going back to late last season. Scott Maxwell wondered if he's already lost the room.
That theory got fresh fuel when Elliotte Friedman flagged Erik Gudbranson glaring at the Columbus bench after dropping the gloves.
The numbers don't help. The Blue Jackets are 3-5-0 with a -9 goal differential and still no road win.
Don Waddell faces an ugly call. A change would give Columbus its sixth coach in four years, per Maxwell, and this group badly needs some stability.
Jeff Blashill and the Blackhawks may be the bigger crisis
Steven Ellis went with Blashill. The Hawks are 3-7-0, dead last in the Central, with a -18 goal differential.
They're 0-4-0 on the road and fell 4-1 to Montreal on Friday. Ellis suggested Bruce Cassidy would be the obvious target if Chicago made a change.
Coaching Connor Bedard has to appeal to any top candidate. That's a pitch Kyle Davidson could make tomorrow.
Paul Pidutti picked Andrew Brunette, now in his fourth season in Nashville. The Preds are 3-3-3 after getting blanked 6-0 in Boston on Thursday.
Mike Gould wondered about Ryan Huska. Calgary sits 3-6-0 with a -19 differential, even after two straight wins.
Firing a coach in October is like changing the oil because the car won't start. Sometimes it works, but usually the real problem is under the hood.
My money's on Blashill, not Bowness. Columbus can't afford a sixth coach, but Chicago can't afford to waste another year of Bedard.
Columbus hosts Vegas on Saturday, and Chicago gets Florida on Sunday. Two more losses, and this list gets a lot shorter in a hurry.
Should the Blackhawks fire Jeff Blashill before the Blue Jackets move on from Rick Bowness?
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