I’ve asked this several times to various media but I’ll post it here:
What qualities does Scott Arniel possess that makes him this high of a priority to TNSE to hire?
As an assistant/associate coach he's been in the playoffs 8 of the last 9 years. That includes one finals appearance and a conference finals appearance.
As an AHL coach he lead the Moose to the finals 2008-2009. He also made the playoffs each year he was a head coach for the Moose.
Let's not act like there isn't some good pedigree here.
The only blemish on his resume is that he fell on his face in his first NHL head coaching gig. He wouldn't be the first up and coming coach for that to happen to though. It happened to hlguys like Gallant, and Cassidy as well and they are excellent NHL head coaches.
I get that Trotz is in the twilight of his coaching career and he may not have long left. But if his commitment is only going to be for as little as two years... well, one could make an argument that we could just skip right ahead to Arniel. I'd hope Trotz signs on for 5 years which will be enough time to really mold the the team properly. Two years is basically an interim role IMO.
It fits our window though and he likely brings a lot to our org as a manager as well. We can compete for the next two with an elite coach and then retool after with a younger coach.