Latest coaching news impact Joel Quenneville’s NHL future

On Tuesday, chatter emerge that one NHL team had kicked the tires on hiring Joel Quenneville. But the road will have to be different for Quenneville when it comes to a return in the league. He resigned earlier in 2021-22 as head coach of the Florida Panthers in wake of the Chicago Blackhawks’ sexual abuse case. He was the head coach of the Hawks when the sexual abuse of prospect Kyle Beach by then-video coach Brad Aldrich took place in 2010. It has also been reported that Quenneville sat in on the management meeting held to discuss the initial reports, which resulted in little to no response or actions by the Blackhawks.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made it clear after Quenneville’s departure that he would need to meet with league executives to see if he deserved to return.

With a team in the mix to hire him, the time for that aforementioned meeting might be coming.

However, something else happened on Tuesday that might impact Quenneville’s future in the league.

When rumours floated around that Coach Q could be back, fans and pundits were certain the Vegas Golden Knights were the ones kicking tires on Quenneville. But on Tuesday night, the Golden Knights officially hired Bruce Cassidy as their bench boss. He was surprisingly fired by the Boston Bruins, with whom he spent the past six seasons as head coach last week.

And so, if the Golden Knights were indeed the ones who wondered about Quenneville - is he ruled out for an NHL comeback?

The Winnipeg Jets, Philadelphia Flyers, Detroit Red Wings and Boston Bruins also have openings, as do the Chicago Blackhawks but I think we can’t count them out all things considered… However late on Tuesday night, the Flyers reportedly put things in motion to hire John Tortorella.