The Vegas Golden Knights have fired head coach Pete DeBoer after three seasons, as first reported by TSN’s Darren Dreger on Monday afternoon.
The move comes after the Golden Knights missed the playoffs for the first time in franchise history after qualifying for their first four seasons of existence.
Vegas was done in by a late-season swoon that saw it lose six of its last nine games to end a 94-point season on the sourest of notes.
DeBoer stepped in for Gerard Gallant during the 2019-20 season, helping the Knights reach the Western Conference Finals two years after making the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.
The 53-year-old went 160-98-50 during his time in Vegas, which was the fourth head-coaching stop in his career.
DeBoer coached the Florida Panthers before a four-year stint with the New Jersey Devils, where he won an Eastern Conference title in 2012.
He won the Western Conference with the San Jose Sharks during his first year with the team in 2016 and remained there until the 2019-20 season when he was dismissed mid-season.
The list of high-profile head-coaching candidates grows even more with DeBoer on the market.
Last week, the Islanders surprisingly fired their head coach in Barry Trotz before naming his lead assistant, Lane Lambert, to the position on Monday.
Other notable free-agent coaches include Paul Maurice, Alain Vigneault, Claude Julien, John Tortorella, and more controversial options like Joel Quenneville and Mike Babcock.
