Who is the greatest head coach in every NHL team's history?

Caryle has coached double or more the games — regular season and playoffs — of any other Ducks coach, but of course quantity is not the best measure of success. His winning percentage isn’t as good as Bruce Boudreau’s, but Carlyle spent much more time with the Ducks, and also won the franchise’s only Stanley Cup to date in his second season with the team. That ring puts him over the top.

Well, it’s not Wayne Gretzky. Even going back to the Winnipeg Jets days, the Coyotes’ coaching history is bleak. Tippett and Bobby Francis have similar winning percentages, but Tippett coached the ‘Yotes to 12 playoff wins to a mere two for Francis, so Tippett gets the edge.

We could have gone with Art Ross (yes, that Art Ross), who coached the Bruins for 17 seasons. However, his run began in 1924, and on this list we gave preference to coaches who spent their careers in a version of the NHL that, you know, reflects what hockey actually looks like now. Plus, Julien won a Jack Adams Award as coach of the year, and his one Cup win is only one fewer than Ross.

Scotty Bowman, arguably the greatest coach in NHL history, coached the Sabres, but it was also probably his least-successful run. Even so, he picked up 210 wins and went 18-18 in the playoffs for a franchise that had not had a ton of memorable seasons. Ruff, though, was the easy choice. He coached a staggering 1,165 regular-season games for the Sabres, plus 101 in the playoffs, and with a winning postseason record at that. This includes the Sabres’ 1998-99 run to the Stanley Cup Finals, even if they lost.

The Flames have won one Cup in history. Crisp coached that team. While he only spent three seasons in Calgary, he posted a 144-63-33 record. Darryl Sutter is the franchise leader in wins, but Crisp is its best coach.

The first current coach on this list. Brind’Amour was a great player for the Hurricanes, winning two Selkes as the league's best defensive forward, but he’s also been quite successful as their coach. While Paul Maurice coached many more games, and picked up more wins, to date, he also left Carolina with a losing record. In fact, Brind’Amour already has more playoff wins than Maurice. Peter Laviolette, coach of the 2005-06 Cup-winning team, also was considered.

Unfortunately, this one has become fraught. There’s no question Quenneville is the greatest coach in Blackhawks history. He’s one of the five or six best coaches in NHL history. Quenneville led Chicago to three Cups, including its first since 1961 in 2010. Revelations related to his handling of alarming circumstances within the Blackhawks franchise during his tenure were egregious enough to get Quenneville axed from Florida. He’s become something of an NHL pariah, so much so he may never end up in the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Jared Bednar will likely be the guy in time, as he has a Cup and will be the franchise leader in games coached soon enough. However, those early years of the rebuild were a little rough. Hartley only coached four seasons and some change, but he had a .618 points percentage with the Avalanche and a .613 winning percentage in the playoffs. Plus, a Cup. For now, if only for now, Hartley is ahead of Bednar.

Torts is, by all accounts, a taskmaster who can burn out players, front offices, and fan bases. There’s a reason why he’s coached five different franchises. On the other hand, he keeps getting jobs, because the dude can flat-out coach. Every other coach in Blue Jackets history has combined for 10 playoff games. Tortorella won 13 playoff games with the franchise himself.

Hitch is actually responsible for the first playoff appearance in Jackets history, but his tenure with the Stars (including a one-season return for 2017-18 to stabilize the franchise) was his best. In his first head-coaching gig in the NHL, Hitchcock led the Stars to a Stanley Cup win in 1999, and then a hard-fought loss in the finals in 2000 — spanning two decades!

Yes, Jack Adams, the guy they named the coach of the year award after, coached the Red Wings. However, Scotty not only once coached Detroit to a 62-13-7 record, he led them to a 3-1 record in Stanley Cup Finals. When the Wings won in 1997, it was the franchise’s first Cup since 1955. And, you know, if they were to rename the coach of the year award, there’s a good chance they’d call it the Scotty Bowman Award these days.

Yes, Sather had Wayne Gretzky… and Mark Messier… and Jari Kurri… and Paul Coffey… and… well, you get it. He coached the Oilers to four Stanley Cups. Also, there’s a skill to coaching all that elite talent that can be overlooked. Sather deserves some credit for those titles for sure.

Now, you may be thinking, “Wait, Maurice is only in his second year coaching the Panthers. One surprise run to the Stanley Cup Finals, and he’s the top coach in franchise history?” To which we say, “Um, yeah.” Panthers history is not littered with great options. Nobody has ever coached more than three seasons in Florida. Two coaches are tied with 246 games coached to lead the franchise, but neither made the playoffs at all. The only other conceivable option is Doug MacLean, who led the Panthers to the finals in his first season, but was fired during his third.

He didn’t quite make the cut in Calgary, but Sutter’s the Kings’ top coach. While Sutter won his Jack Adams with the Flames, he won two Cups with the Kings, the only two Cups in franchise history. While Sutter is second in games coached for the team, he’s first in wins, and towers over the competition in postseason success.

Lemaire will never win the affection of the aesthetes, but he took over an expansion franchise and led them to the playoffs three times in eight seasons. Frankly, the level of success he found building up a team from scratch is truly impressive, and the Wild lack for a lot of success behind the bench.

The options were abundant for the franchise with the most Cups ever. Bowman is a fine choice, as is Dıck Irvin. However, it had to be Hector Blake, affectionately known as Toe. He helped Montreal hoist the Cup five times…in a row. Then, he added three more Cups before he was done. Blake retired with 500 wins in the regular season, all while coaching the Habs. Few can claim to come anywhere near the success that Blake had as an NHL head coach.

Did Peter Laviolette have more success, in a vacuum, than Trotz? Sure, but there was still no quibbling on our end. Trotz was the first coach in Predators history. He coached them for 15 seasons and 1,196 games. Though Trotz left — and we’ll see him again on this very list — to quote Bear Bryant, “Mama called,” and Trotz has returned to run the front office in Nashville. He is the Predators, as much as any player.

The first, but not last, coach to do double duty on this list. Lemaire and the neutral-zone trap had a detrimental impact on the NHL. On the other hand, he has more than double the wins of any other coach in Devils history, and the first of three Cups in franchise history. Lemaire paved the way, for better or worse.

This was, arguably, the easiest call on this list. Arbour coached the Islanders from 1973 through 1994. He won four Cups. His 198 playoff games are more than all but one other coach has racked up in the regular season, and never in a million years would you go with Jack Capuano over Arbour.

This is the one old-school name that made the list. The Rangers have one Cup since 1940, and Mike Keenan only coached that one season. Frank Boucher, who helmed the team to that Cup, had a losing record with the Rangers. Emile Francis, who coached 10 seasons through the ‘60s and ‘70s, has the most regular-season wins, but a losing playoff record. Patrick, though, did not merely step into the goal one night when nobody else could. His 13 seasons are a franchise record, he has a winning playoff record, and won two Cups. Thus, Patrick gets the nod, even if he retired in 1939.

Technically, as of this writing Martin is an active choice, but he’s stepped in as the interim coach of the Senators after a decade away from the NHL bench as something of a franchise legend appeasing the fans. He’s more than doubled every other option in terms of games coached, regular-season wins, and playoff wins. The team does not have a Cup yet, so Martin’s extensive run of relative success is an easy choice.

Shero only coached seven seasons for the Flyers, but nobody else has topped him. Plus, he has the most wins, and also led the team to its back-to-back Cup wins in the 1970s. He coached 83 playoff games with the Flyers, and helped them become the first expansion team to win an NHL title.

This was a tricky choice. Bowman won a Cup, but lasted two seasons before moving on. Dan Bylsma leads the franchise in regular-season points percentage and has a winning playoff record, but won his Cup in a season he took over in near the end. Sullivan is the franchise leader in wins in both the regular and the postseason, and he has two Cups. Sure, Sidney Crosby and company helped, but he’s the franchise’s top coach.

This was a tricky call. Peter DeBoer took the Sharks to the finals. Ron Wilson has more wins than DeBoer. However, McLellan has the most games coached, and the most regular-season wins. While his playoff record is 30-32, his .637 points percentage leads all Sharks head coaches, so he ended up on top.

Okay, so this was the easiest call. It’s simple. Hakstol is the only coach the Kraken have ever known. Nobody else is in the running.

It’s tricky to go with a coach who was recently axed. The bad taste of that may remain in your mouth. That being said, his winning percentages are only just below Quenneville and Hitchcock, and one thing puts Berube over the top: Berube coached the only Cup winner in Blues history.

No debate here. Cooper has almost as many wins as anybody else has games coached. He’s led the team to two Cups and made it to the finals two more times. Far and away, Cooper is the best coach the Lightning have known.

When a franchise hasn’t won a Cup in over 50 years, it opens the door for an old-school name, but not a vintage name. Imlach coached the Maple Leafs from 1958 through 1969, and then for a few games in the 1979-80 season. His teams won four Cups, including the most recent in franchise history in 1967. He’s the easy call until somebody ends the Cup drought in Toronto.

Vigneault and Pan Quinn both led the Canucks to the finals. However, Vigneault has a Jack Adams, and also has more wins than Quinn has games coached in Vancouver. Those are the two options, and Vigneault’s winning ways give him the edge.

The Golden Knights, though a relatively fresh franchise, have had three head coaches. Cassidy coached the team that won the Cup. So yeah, he’s the clear front runner, and it will likely take some time, decades maybe, for anybody to challenge him.

We promised you’d see Trotz again. Though he only spent four seasons in Washington, Trotz is second in regular-season wins. Crucially, though, he’s the only Capitals coach with a winning record in the playoffs, and also won the franchise its only Stanley Cup. Trotz was a confident call for two franchises.

We end with one more guy who represents two franchises. The Thrashers era was pretty bleak. They had one playoff appearance, under Bob Hartley, and were swept. Maurice has 315 regular season wins, and nobody else has more than 291 games coached. He also has 16 playoff wins, and to date is the only Jets coach to get them past the first round.