Gerard Gallant, Darryl Sutter, Andrew Brunette up for NHL coach of year

ByGreg Wyshynski ESPN logo

Thursday, May 19, 2022

New York Rangers coach Gerard Gallant, Florida Panthers interim coach Andrew Brunette and Calgary Flames coach Darryl Sutter are the finalists for the NHL's Jack Adams Award, given to the head coach who has "contributed the most to his team's success."

The award is voted on by members of the NHL Broadcasters' Association.

In his first season with the Rangers, Gallant led them to the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2017. Their .671 points percentage was the highest for the franchise since the 2014-15 season. He became just the second coach in Rangers history to post over 50 wins (52). This is Gallant's third Jack Adams nomination with his third different team, having won the award with the expansion Vegas Golden Knights in 2017-18. The Rangers have never had a Jack Adams winner in their history.

Sutter coached his first full season in Calgary after returning to the Flames' bench during the 2020-21 season. Calgary had the biggest season-over-season improvement by any NHL team in 2021-22, winning the Pacific Division. The Flames went from 19th to sixth in goals per game and from 16th to third in goals-against per game. This is Sutter's second Jack Adams nomination.

Brunette is the first interim coach since Craig Berube of the St. Louis Blues in 2019 to earn a Jack Adams nomination. He replaced Joel Quenneville as head coach on Oct. 29, 2021. Quenneville resigned after a report was released that detailed how the Chicago Blackhawks mishandled allegations that a player was sexually abused by an assistant coach in 2010, when Quenneville was the team's head coach.

In his first NHL head-coaching gig, Brunette led the Panthers to the franchise's first Presidents' Trophy as the top regular-season team in the league. They were the NHL's highest-scoring team since the 1995-96 season. Brunette is the fourth Panthers coach nominated for the Jack Adams and the third in the past seven years -- including Gallant in 2015-16.

Carolina Hurricanes coach Rod Brind'Amour won the award in 2020-21.