The Buffalo Sabres already made one significant change this season with the firing of Kevyn Adams, who was replaced by Jarmo Kekalainen. That change naturally came with questions about Lindy Ruff's standing and his job security as head coach.
Kekalainen has made it clear that everything is under evaluation, but it also seems he is not going to rush into any changes. Right now, he doesn't necessarily need to anyway, as the Sabres are on a four-game win streak and are steadily digging themselves out of the basement of the Eastern Conference.
However, if Kekalainen has a certain coach in mind to be the eventual replacement, like Peter Deboer or John Tortorella, he has to be aware of what else is going on around the league. That includes keeping an eye on two teams that might be looking at coaching changes sooner rather than later.
Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have made the playoffs in nine straight seasons, and that streak is seriously in jeopardy. The Maple Leafs are currently seventh in the Atlantic Division with 35 points and only one point ahead of the Buffalo Sabres.
Entering this season, the Maple Leafs were coming into this season as a bit of an unknown with the departure of Mitch Marner. He was certainly going to be a tough player to replace, but the Maple Leafs are going to go from a 108-point season to be on pace for 87 points.
The team has some serious flaws, and a head coach change might be what is needed to shake things up. After their latest loss, the Maple Leafs seem to put the blame solely on the players when asked why they weren't playing with passion by saying, "Ask those guys, not me."
It will be interesting to see how much longer the Maple Leafs go before making a change if they hope to turn their season around.
Los Angeles Kings
Jim Hiller has seemingly been on the hot seat all season as the Kings are looking to get back to the playoffs in Anze Kopitar's final season in the NHL. Unfortunately, the Kings have not been able to play up to expectations as they are fourth in the Pacific Division, as they have lost four of their last five and have a 5-5-5 record over their last 15.
The Kings, similar to the Sabres, went through a front office change recently by bringing in Ken Holland during the summer. Instead of bringing a coach of his own, Holland kept Hiller even after questionable decisions during the playoffs that cost them the series against the Edmonton Oilers.
Now, with the Kings continuing to struggle and right on the playoff bubble, they may need to make a change to save their season. Similar to the Maple Leafs, they would be very interested in Peter DeBoer as their next coach, who has extensive playoff experience.
Even with two teams seemingly on the verge of coaching changes, the Buffalo Sabres should not be rushing to make any changes. They are playing better and Kekalainen has made it clear he plans to shake up the roster.
The Sabres need to be thoughtful with who their next head coach is when that time comes and go through an extensive search. An in-season change usually doesn't allow time for that and the Sabres would be short-sighted to replace Lindy Ruff now.