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4 coaches who can follow in the NHL footsteps of Martin St. Louis, Joe Pavelski
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- 4 coaches who can follow in the NHL footsteps of Martin St. Louis, Joe Pavelski
4 coaches who can follow in the NHL footsteps of Martin St. Louis, Joe Pavelski originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
On Sunday, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman reported that former Dallas Stars and San Jose Sharks star Joe Pavelski was going to receive an interview with the Toronto Maple Leafs regarding the head coach role.
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Though Pavelski has no coaching experience in the NHL, the thought process behind the idea was to find someone with a similar background to Montreal Canadiens head coach Martin St-Louis .
St-Louis didn't have a history in coaching at the NHL level before the Habs hired him. However, he was a very accomplished player in his time and has served as head coach for the Mid Fairfield Rangers U-13 team and the Peewee hockey team, coaching his sons.
Even with his lack of experience behind an NHL bench, St-Louis has been a great bench boss for the Canadiens. He's able to relate to his players and bring out the best in them. This past season, he led the young Habs to an Eastern Conference final appearance.
So, if other teams are now interested in a similarly styled coach to St-Louis, along with Pavelski, here are a few other coaches who fall under comparable circumstances. All records and information are provided from eliteprospects.com .
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Justin Williams And Ryan Smyth
Justin Williams has held a role with the Carolina Hurricanes , working as a special assistant to the GM for the past six years. In the midst of all that, he's also coached his son, Jaxon, for some time now.
Williams was the head coach of the Carolina Jr. Hurricanes in 2024-25 and 2023-24 at the U-16 and U-15 AAA level, respectively.
Alongside Williams as an assistant coach in 2024-25 was Ryan Smyth, a former teammate of Williams from their time with the Los Angeles Kings in the early 2010s.
Justin Williams, Ryan Smyth IMAGN 060926
Imagn Images
Dustin Brown
Speaking of Los Angeles , former Kings captain Dustin Brown has also spent time coaching minor hockey.
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In 2024-25, Brown had a stint with the Buffalo Jr. Sabres as the head coach of the U-16 AAA team. Brown coached his son, Jake, on that team.
The two-time Stanley Cup champion also spent some time that year as an assistant coach for the Jr. Sabres, but with the U-13 team, coaching another one of his sons, Cooper.
Zach Parise
Former New Jersey Devils and Minnesota Wild star Zach Parise has coached the youngest age group on this list and is the most recent player to serve as a head coach.
This past year, he's been documented as the head coach of the Minnesota Blades' U-12 White team in the Kings of Spring competition.
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Parise coached one of his two sons, Jaxson, on that Blades team.
