Looks like for Dan Bylsma, the music is over.
In what looks like the first move made by new Penguins GM Jim Rutherford, Bylsma was sent packing, this after sitting about for nearly three weeks while other more attractive coaching vacancies were up for grabs. The move for Rutherford may have been solid, as he did help build a Cup Winner, but the time wasted on informing Dan that he would be out of a job felt a little tasteless. For a guy who has been a team player for the Pittsburgh organization, being relieved at the same time former GM Ray Shero was released just seemed like the respectful, appropriate thing to do.
As it stands, instead of more intriguing coaching opportunities such as for example, the Washington Capitals, or the Nashville Predators, two of the more interesting teams in the NHL, Bylsma now gets to choose from such drek as the Florida Panthers, or the team that Rutherford has overseen into mediocrity since the Cup season in the Carolina Hurricanes. There’s always the Vancouver Canucks, everyone’s favorite dysfunctional Cup pretending darlings, mired in a maelstrom of confusion in which direction they should even go after their own management ouster.
It was a smart move by the Penguins to keep Bylsma at bay and from having a chance to deliver some quality payback as the potential coach of the Caps, but it was a move that Bylsma had earned, a right to be informed he wasn’t in the team’s plans moving forward, and as soon as they were aware of it.
That was most likely as soon as the season ended for the Pens, and no one outside of the club knows why it took this long to make that decision. Best of luck to Dan in his future endeavors, as he is sure to land a coaching gig somewhere else and soon in the NHL.
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