Dallas Eakins Fired as Anaheim Ducks Coach After Franchise-Worst Season
The Anaheim Ducks announced on April 14, 2023, that Dallas Eakins will not return as their head coach for the ensuing season. After the team's slide from being a dominant force in the 2010s, Eakins was hired in 2019, but his four-year stint was marred by disappointment. Despite his efforts, the team never advanced past sixth place in the Pacific Division, and they missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year. This resulted in a 23-47-12 record and a last-place finish in the NHL standings. The Ducks' defense under Eakins was, by a number of metrics, the worst in the NHL for the twenty-first century during the recently concluded season.
The Ducks declined to renew Eakins' contract when it was due to expire at the end of the 2022–23 season, despite the fact that he had been elevated from his role as head coach of the AHL team in San Diego in 2019. Despite his efforts, the Ducks continued their decline from a dependable NHL force in the 2010s to a rebuilding team that finished this season with a franchise-worst 58 points. During his tenure, Eakins had a record of 100–147–44. Although Eakins was hired to help the squad, the Ducks finally came to the conclusion that a change was required to return the team to its previous level of success.
In almost every way, the Ducks' season was a complete failure. While placing 31st in terms of goals scored (209), they allowed an NHL-worst 338 goals, and their goal differential was the worst in the league since the 1999–2000 Atlanta Thrashers (minus–143). The team's one bright spot is that they stand the best chance of selecting Connor Bedard, the Regina Pats center, who is regarded as the most intriguing prospect in hockey since Connor McDavid, in next month's draft lottery.
The Ducks' first significant shift in what is anticipated to be an interesting offseason of transition was the termination of Eakins. After missing the playoffs for five straight years, the team is currently being rebuilt for the long term by Verbeek, who took over for the fired general manager Bob Murray in February 2022. In November 2021, Murray submitted his resignation after being charged with verbally abusing team personnel. Eakins never voiced dissatisfaction at being given a team that had the necessary tools to compete in the NHL and continued to support Verbeek's rebuilding strategy publicly.
Eakins was only the third coach to hold the permanent position under Ducks owners Henry and Susan Samueli, who acquired the franchise from Disney in 2005, and only the tenth head coach in team history. The Ducks captured the first Stanley Cup ever won by a California team in 2007 and five straight Pacific Division victories from 2013 to 2017. Eakins has not been replaced, but his dismissal ushers in a new era for the Ducks as they try to rebuild a group that can once again contend for the playoffs.