Yahoo Sports NHL Awards Preview: Greg Cronin's Jack Adams Award Chances
NHL rookie camps, training camps, and preseason are mere weeks away, and the page will be turned on the seemingly endless offseason of 2024.
The Anaheim Ducks are in the midst of the NHL's fourth-longest playoff drought (Buffalo Sabres, Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators), having missed the playoffs and been among the bottom ten teams of the NHL standings for six straight seasons.
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Like many teams at the bottom of the NHL standings in 2023-24, their goal for 2024-25 is to make significant strides toward contention and play more meaningful hockey later in the season.
To achieve that goal, several roster players, young and veteran, along with the coaching staff will have to raise some eyebrows, turn some heads, and possibly even emerge as NHL Awards candidates.
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Jack Adams Award
The Jack Adams is awarded annually to the NHL head coach "adjudged to have contributed the most to his team's success" for a given season.
Typically the award is handed out to the coach of the team that most outperforms expectations.
According to Draft Kings Sportsbook, the favorites to win the 2025 Jack Adams Award are New Jersey Devils head coach Sheldon Keefe (+600), Nashville Predators head coach Andrew Burnette (+700), and Toronto Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube (+850).
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Anaheim Ducks head coach Greg Cronin (+4000) doesn't have the longest odds of winning the award but has the second-longest behind coaches like Ryan Warsofsky (San Jose Sharks), Ryan Huska (Calgary Flames), and 2024 Jack Adams winner Rick Tocchet (Vancouver Canucks), who all have +5000 odds.
Greg Cronin
Cronin (61) was hired as head coach of the Anaheim Ducks on June 5, 2023. He was brought in to establish a culture based on work ethic, accountability, and attention to detail.
He also instituted a high-tempo system with a focus on man-to-man defensive zone coverage and high-pressure forechecking tactics to force mistakes and turnovers from the opposition.
With the new set of standards and a demanding style, growing pains took hold of the team in Cronin's first year behind the bench. While the defensive structure was less leaky than in years prior, further diligence is required and expected moving forward.
"They all said when they came in here (to meet with me) that next year will be so much easier because they know me," Cronin said during his exit interview in April. "They know my style. They know my standards. I know them. I know their reactions."
With the majority of the Ducks roster returning from the 2023-24 season and the two most impactful additions, Brian Dumoulin and Robby Fabbri, providing Stanley Cup-winning experience, the roster should be in a stronger position to hit the ground running in 2024-25. The culture shock should be significantly muted or non-existent.
Several aspects must break right for Cronin to be in consideration for the Jack Adams. It starts with the Ducks surprising the hockey world and remaining in the playoff race down the stretch of the season, as general manager Pat Verbeek stated was his intention at the team's annual "Ducks Migration" event for season ticket holders in March. Given current expectations for the club in the 2024-25 season, an unlikely playoff berth would all but guarantee Cronin the Jack Adams Award.
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The young core of the team that includes Leo Carlsson, Pavel Mintyukov, Mason McTavish, Trevor Zegras, etc. will all not only need to remain healthy but take significant strides in their development and realize their potential as truly impactful NHL players.
The Ducks ranked 23rd in the NHL in terms of power play percentage (17.9%) and 31st on the penalty kill (72.4%). They will have to find a successful formula on the power play under new offensive and power play coach Rich Clune and iron out their penalty kill structure under Brent Thompson, approaching at least league average in both categories.
Based on the potential talent on the roster and the now-established expectations organizationally, it's within the realm of possibility the Ducks finally make strides toward climbing out of the basement of the NHL standings.
Every season there's a team that surprises and makes a playoff push against all odds. If this is the season the Ducks pull off that improbable task, the Jack Adams Award will belong to Greg Cronin.
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