Anaheim Ducks part ways with head coach Dallas Eakins

The Anaheim Ducks have announced they will not renew head coach Dallas Eakins' contract.

The 56-year-old had spent the prior four seasons at the helm of the Ducks, replacing Randy Carlyle ahead of the 2019-20 season. Eakins and his club failed to reach the postseason in any of those seasons.

"This was a very difficult decision, one that comes after careful and considerable deliberation," Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said in a statement. "At the end of the day, I simply feel that a fresh perspective and new voice will be beneficial for the team."

Eakins concludes his time as Ducks coach with a 100-147-44 record. This past season, he led the Ducks to the worst record in franchise history, finishing 23-47-9, including a 13-game losing streak to end the season resulting in the league’s worst record.

"We thank Dallas for his eight years with the organization as head coach of both the Ducks and Gulls," Ducks owner Henry Samueli said. "We know Dallas will succeed in his future endeavors, as character people often do."

Joining the organization in 2015 as head coach of the AHL’s San Diego Gulls, Eakins experienced tremendous success at the minor league level, something he has done consistently throughout his coaching tenure. His inability to translate that into NHL success has ultimately been his undoing, having now moved on from his third NHL organization. Eakins never reached the postseason while working behind an NHL bench as an assistant with Toronto or head coach with Edmonton or Anaheim.

In fairness to the veteran bench boss, this year’s Ducks club was worse in ways far beyond their record. By almost every defensive metric, the Ducks were historically terrible. That includes setting the NHL record for most shots allowed by a team in a single season, running away with the historic mark with nearly a week to go in the regular season.