Coaching can have a huge impact on a team's fortunes, as demonstrated by the Pittsburgh Penguins when they chose Mike Sullivan as a replacement midway through the 2015-16 season. Since then, they have dominated during the regular season and won the Stanley Cup in back-to-back seasons. Is there a way to anticipate which teams might get a boost from their coaching staff in 2017-18?
Using a methodology introduced for the 2009-10 season, and explained in more detail in our 2015-16 edition, it is possible to objectively measure the experience and past success of each team's coaching staff at a high level.
How do things shape up for the 2017-18 season in the Eastern Conference? We'll examine those 16 teams here and place each staff into a specific tier:
Tier 1: Accomplished
Tier 2: Experienced
Tier 3: Balanced
Tier 4: Inexperienced or underachieving
