The Grand Rapids Press’s Peter J. Wallner spoke with Red Wings assistant GM and Grand Rapids Griffins GM Ryan Martin regarding the next steps that the Wings will take in order to find Todd Nelson’s successor:
“We will certainly look first inside the organization,” he said Thursday. “This is my 14th year with Detroit and I don’t know if we’ve ever been in a position to promote someone from within – Jeff Blashill was, obviously, a different type of hire. Whenever we’ve had an opening at this level it’s most immediately that we go outside the organization first.”
He said Griffins assistants Ben Simon and Bruce Ramsay have expressed interest.
Martin also noted a trend to college coaches and away from NHL assistants:
“I think the NCAA pipeline is just a different dynamic than it was and frankly, I don’t think there are as many NHL assistant coaches that are doing that (go down to AHL to be a head coach),” he said. “I think part of that is opportunities in the NHL seem to be more plentiful. Staffs are getting bigger and so that just has not been the trend lately.”
