The list of speculated new Flyers coaches grew by one over the weekend, as Sportsnet's Damian Cox reported the team's interest in hiring former Edmonton coach Dallas Eakins.
It's easy to look at a coach like Eakins and be skeptical. After all, he didn't accomplish anything but last-place finishes with the Copper and Blue, as well as a mid-season firing on Dec. 15. His career record behind the Oilers' bench stands at an abysmal 36-62-14 — just a .321 winning percentage.
When the Oilers hired him in the 2013 offseason, he was heralded as a savior of the franchise, and a capable mind behind the bench. But the roster he was provided didn't leave much to work with — despite featuring top picks in Taylor Hall, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Nail Yakupov — thanks to organizational ineptitude. Hell, he found himself stuck with this familiar face in goal for 20 games.
Eakins was touted as an NHL-ready coach when the Oilers hired him from the American League's Toronto Marlies following the 2012-13 season (which saw the Marlies eliminated in Round 2 of the Calder Cup playoffs at the hands of eventual-champion Grand Rapids). He started with the Marlies in 2009-10, and took them from a missed playoff spot to the Calder Cup final within the span of a season (2010-11 to 2011-12). Following his four-year stint in Hogtown, his record stood at 157-114-15-26.
At the least, Eakins should get a look at returning to the AHL and coaching the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, assuming the organization decides to part ways with Terry Murray. His track record in the AHL is proven, but it may be more of a stretch, considering the other offers he's more than likely to get from NHL teams.
One more factor that works in Eakins' favor is his work with young players. With the quality of work that he's done with the Marlies, one can infer that we can work well with young players. Considering the plethora of young talent that the Flyers will be looking at in training camp and bringing up over the next several seasons, giving them the chance to play under a coach who's demonstrated a proficiency in working with young players would make sense.
There's no doubt that taking a chance on the 48-year-old Eakins would be a gamble. It's a coin flip (or shootout attempt, if you will) that you'd get either the AHL Eakins or the NHL Eakins. But when you take the organization's fondness for big-scale risks into account, hiring a coach like Eakins would be sensible.
Sure, Eakins hasn't lived up to his hype during his time in Edmonton. But he's proven himself as a winner in the long run, and would be a good fit for behind the Flyers bench. Give him a bigger sample size, and he'll pay off in the long term.
Follow Rob Riches on Twitter @Riches61
