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7 Midseason Coaching Changes that Immediately Saved Dead NHL Franchises

by Spencer Toth - 1/23/2026

Midseason coaching changes that immediately saved dead NHL franchises Craig Berube

There are many ways to tell when an NHL franchise is failing, and a mid-season coaching change is a true sign of desperation. Whether it be due to a lost locker room, a recent cold streak, or simply due to the fact that the upper management wants a fresh face, a mid-season coaching change rarely turns into instant success. Most of the time, it is a Hail Mary, which will be re-evaluated in the offseason. 

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Once in a while, a midseason coaching change is exactly what the doctor ordered. There have been several instances where a mid-season coaching change has ignited a seemingly dead team and allowed them to finish off the year strong. Here are the seven midseason coaching changes that instantly revived dead franchises. 

#1 Craig Berube (2019, St. Louis Blues)

This is the gold standard for midseason coaching changes, and nothing will ever come close to Craig Berube’s impact on the 2019 St. Louis Blues. Mike Yeo led St. Louis to a brutal start, with Berube taking over in November. Flash forward to January 1st, and the St. Louis Blues were not only struggling, but they were dead last in the NHL and ten points out of the playoffs in the Western Conference. 

Then everything changed. 

The Blues became the best team in hockey over the second half of the season, storming to a 5th-place finish in the West. They won 11 straight in February, including four shutouts on the back of stellar play from Jordan Binnington. Berube had saved the franchise, but he wasn’t done yet. The Blues would go on to win the Stanley Cup after firing Yeo earlier in the season, with Berube up for the Jack Adams Award thanks to his stellar turnaround. The 2019 championship ended a 52-year wait for the city of St. Louis, bringing them their first and only Stanley Cup. 

#2 Dan Bylsma (2009, Pittsburgh Penguins)

Dan Bylsma was coaching an AHL franchise to kick off the 2008-2009 season, but finished the year as head coach for the Stanley Cup champions. The Penguins were floundering at the bottom of the standings when Michel Therrien got the boot. In came Bylsma, a promising but inexperienced NHL head coach. The Penguins finished the year 18-3-4 to book themselves a playoff spot, and the rest was history. Having Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin on the roster certainly helped, but Bylsma deserves all the credit for building the foundation for a decade of dominance in Pittsburgh. 

#3 Darryl Sutter (2012, Los Angeles Kings)
Darryl Sutter led the Los Angeles Kings on one of the most improbable Stanley Cup runs in NHL history. The Kings were a boring, low-energy team in December 2011 when they fired Terry Murray. Sutter came in and turned Los Angeles into a defensive powerhouse, changing the identity of a struggling franchise. The Kings snuck into the playoffs in the eighth seed in the Western Conference, and were matched up with the mighty Vancouver Canucks. Los Angeles made it look easy, winning the series 4-1 while only allowing 8 goals. They followed that up with a sweep of the Blues in the second round, allowing only 6 goals, and eventually went on to win the Stanley Cup with only four defeats. They allowed only 30 goals in 20 games en route to the Cup, as Sutter executed an incredible defensive gameplan on a nightly basis. 

#4 Mike Sullivan (2016, Pittsburgh Penguins)

Pittsburgh saw how hiring Dan Bylsma turned them into Stanley Cup champions, and they did it again with Mike Sullivan in 2016. The Penguins were going nowhere when they fired Mike Johnston in December 2015, as they were playing flat hockey despite having a roster full of talent. Sullivan came in and simplified their hockey, unlocking the speed and potential of the Penguins. The results were immediate, as Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the first one coming months after Sullivan’s arrival. There have been many successful coaching changes in the past, but it doesn’t get much better than earning back-to-back Stanley Cups upon being hired. Only the Florida Panthers and Tampa Bay Lightning have won back-to-back Stanley Cups since 2000, putting the Penguins amongst the most illustrious dynasties. 

#5 Scotty Bowman (1972, Montreal Canadiens)

This is the original ‘midseason save’ to turn a team around. It is hard to ever call Montreal a dead franchise, especially since they had won multiple Stanley Cups in the last decade before Bowman’s hiring. However, they were a mid-table side in 1972, and Bowman came in and stabilized a franchise that was ready to hit the panic button. The following year, Montreal won the Cup before winning four in a row with Bowman later that decade. What appeared to be a panic hire in 1972 turned into one of the smartest coaching changes in NHL history. 

#6 Jacques Lemaire (1994, New Jersey Devils)

Lemaire took over in the middle of the 1993-94 season when the Devils were going nowhere fast. The franchise was in its 11th season in New Jersey, and had only reached the second round once in that span. It was clear that something wasn’t clicking in New Jersey, and everything changed when Lemaire was hired. 
Lemaire turned a lost franchise into a perennial contender, winning New Jersey’s first-ever Stanley Cup in 1995. They then won the Atlantic Division in three consecutive seasons after not doing so before. While Lemaire left New Jersey in 1998, his impact on the roster was still felt as New Jersey won a pair of Stanley Cups in 2000 and 2003 to cap off an incredible decade of hockey that all started with Lemaire’s mid-season hiring. 

#7 Bruce Boudreau (2008, Washington Capitals)

This one didn’t end with a Stanley Cup until a decade later, but there is no denying that the Capitals wouldn’t be the imposing dynasty they are today without Boudreau’s hiring in 2008. Washington wasn’t just bad when Boudreau was hired; they were flat-out terrible. Three straight seasons with fewer than 30 wins had sucked the life out of this franchise. All that changed when Boudreau was hired, as the Capitals won the Southeast Division four consecutive years. The unleashing of Alexander Ovechkin also had a role to play, but it takes more than one prolific goalscorer to take a team from worst to first. Boudreau has the second-highest winning percentage for a coach with at least 900 games, but was never able to turn that success into playoff glory. 

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