If the Rangers contemplate replacing John Tortorella behind the bench with an individual lacking head-coaching experience, Doug Weight could become a candidate.
A potential roadblock to even an interview is that Weight is under contract to the Islanders, where he has served the last two seasons as an assistant coach and senior advisor to the general manager.
When Garth Snow was asked if he would grant the Blueshirts permission to talk to Weight if they so request, the Islanders’ GM responded via text, “Hypotheticals are a waste of time.”
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Weight, a positive influence in the development of the Islanders’ young talent and an outstanding power-play mind, played the first two years of his 19-season NHL career with the Rangers before being sent to the Oilers for Esa Tikkanen at the 1993 trade deadline.
Weight played nine years in Edmonton, with Glen Sather serving as GM for the first eight of those seasons.
* While former Sabres coach Lindy Ruff and former Canucks coach Alain Vigneault go through the process of interviewing for openings that exist in Dallas (for both men) and Vancouver (for Ruff), Mike Eaves could emerge as an under-the-radar candidate.
Eaves has been behind the bench at Wisconsin for the last 11 seasons, where he coached current Blueshirts Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh.
Prior to coaching the Badgers, Eaves had three-year terms as an assistant for both the Penguins and Flyers.