As of now, the only known head coaching change in all of college hockey is longtime Vermont bench boss Kevin Sneddon, who last month announced his retirement after 17 seasons with the Catamounts.
Some offseasons are busier than others in college hockey. No one knows for sure how much movement there will be this summer, but depending on who replaces Sneddon in Burlington, the dominoes could fall.
As mentioned previously, there are quite a few very qualified candidates to be the next head coach at the University of Vermont. A few of those could potentially set in motion subsequent changes in college hockey.
If Massachusetts associate head coach Ben Barr leaves to go to UVM, expect the Minutemen to hire Harvard assistant coach James Marcou, an alum, as a replacement. If it's Eric Lang, that will create an opening at the head coaching position at American International.
Providence assistant Ron Rolston, Norwich head coach Cam Ellsworth, Binghamton Devils head coach Mark Dennehy and Montreal Canadiens assistant Dom Ducharme are the other leading candidates.
NEHJ learned last week that UVM associate head coach Kevin Patrick has resigned. He likely wouldn't have been retained by the new coach, regardless, but the Notre Dame alum will pursue other options. Assistant coach Jeff Hill is staying on for now to help with the transition. While he'd like to remain on staff, that will ultimately be up to the new hire.
Yale assistant Ryan Donald moving on
Yale assistant coach Ryan Donald will leave the Bulldogs to become the first head coach of the BCHL's expansion franchise in Cranbrook, NEHJ learned Monday morning. Donald, a former Yale player, had been on Keith Allain's staff since 2016.
Other openings?
The two biggest question marks out east will be whether Red Gendron is back at Maine and if Colgate will retain Don Vaughan. Both coaches had futures in doubt heading into the 2019-20 season, but saw improvements on the ice.
Gendron reportedly has one year left on his deal to be head coach of the Black Bears. If he retires or isn't retained, expect associate head coach Ben Guite to take over in Orono. Alfie Michaud will move up to become the top assistant.
Maine has no shortage of qualified candidates to become the second assistant in that scenario. However, the best option would be Tyler Walsh, who is the assistant coach for Blaise MacDonald at Colby. Walsh, a Maine alum, has Division I experience as the director of hockey operations at Canisius and spent two years with USA Hockey's NTDP.
Regarding Vaughan, his contract is reportedly up after this season. Sparked in part due to new assistant coaches Dana Borges and Brett Riley, the Red Raiders had some semblance of success in 2019-20. Was it enough to save Vaughan's job? That's still to be determined.
