Darren Dreger

It's a great question, Mark.

I don't think anybody really knows what the direction is, to be honest.

And I mean, by anyone outside of John Chayka and Matt Sundin and, you know, the group that's intimately involved in this hiring process.

You know, as Chayka said, when they fired Craig Berube, you know, his media availability, the web was going to be wide.

They were going to kick all sorts of stones and look in every corner and make sure that they interviewed everybody.

Okay, so why wouldn't you have a conversation with Peter Laviolette, given his experience as a Stanley Cup champion?

I would be intrigued by Patrick Watt.

I mean, he wasn't the fit for the New York Islanders as they moved forward.

They thought it was better that they go with Pete DeBoer, who's got more experience in that sense.

You know, Patrick was an intriguing guy.

He certainly would get the juices flowing inside the division.

But we're looking at a couple of guys who are involved in a bigger process.

And what I was reminded of earlier today by somebody who was involved is that they still don't have a timeline.

Like Chayka and company, they're invested in what's going on this week at the draft combine in Buffalo, and then the draft isn't that far down the path.

So even to establish when they want to have a head coach in place, they don't have a timeline for that.

So that tells you that they're going through whatever their process is, as extensive as it is.

And even like the follow-up interview with Patrick Waugh,

With respect to everything that has gone on in the hockey world, I think Patrick Watt told him, look, of course I'm interested in a second interview here, and that's likely going to be face-to-face.

But he wants to get through all the Claude Lemieux funeral arrangements and everything that's gone on to saying goodbye to a good friend.

So there are lots of things that are factoring into this.