By nearly all accounts, David Quinn did just what he was hired to do ... bring along a develop a young team in a full-blown rebuilding mode. He may have done too good of a job, because Dolan thought they should have been in the playoffs before they were targeted to get there. In three years, he was over .500. That was an excellent return from what he started with.
Quinn never wanted to leave BU. He turned the Rangers down twice before they threw so much money at him that he couldn't refuse. He is going to get paid for two more years. He is set for life, financially. So he can be choosy about what he does next.
Albie has put the bullseye on his back in his spring newsletter, stating that BU expects to be the best team in Hockey East next year.
I don't think Quinn potentially being available adds any additional pressure on Albie. He put it all on himself. And he is right, they should be at or near the top of Hockey East next season. If they are not, Albie knows that he is a goner.
Quinn can sit out the next year. Wait for another NHL job that he wants. Or return to college.
What people seem to forget is that Quinn is in his 50s. "GQ" may look younger, but he's no kid. If he returned to college, he would likely look at it as being his last job.
My guess is that he will get another job in the NHL. He will be viewed as someone that can develop a young team. He is a competent NHL head coach, even if he is not an elite, Xs and Os head coach.
If BU does move on from Albie, I would not expect them to turn back to Quinn. Nor would I expect Quinn to look to go back.
I agree with a fair amount of what you've posted here, especially with regards to AOC's outlook at BU, and Quinn's future likely not involving a return trip to Comm Ave. unless he views it as the final stage of his coaching career (I was admittedly surprised to see he'll turn 55 before the start of next season). Quinn will get more NHL level opportunities, even if it might not be as a HC right away. Like you said, he's set for life, and can (should) be choosy on what/where his next stop will be.
I will disagree respectfully, though, on how his time at the Rangers will be viewed elsewhere in the NHL. It's pretty common knowledge that Quinn lost control of the top half of his room these last couple of months, and his inability to get his better players to play a two-way game is what ultimately cost him the playoffs, and in the end his job. As you probably know, he had a ton of young talent on that roster, and at this time last year, we would have been in full agreement that he had them arriving ahead of schedule. Then they got lucky in the draft, and suddenly expectations were heightened.
Everyone knew after last season that the Rangers were a "soft" team, so to see Gorton and Davidson shown the gate after not addressing those glaring issues this season was hardly a surprise. Quinn was guilty by association to some degree BUT if some of his elite talented players had shown progress in adopting better two-way play - instead of tuning Quinn out and doing their own thing - they wouldn't have gotten embarrassed by the Islanders (and others) in key games down the stretch this season, and Quinn might still be in a job at MSG. But they didn't, so he isn't.
I don't want to get into a long technical discussion of what .500 means in the NHL these days, but simply put ... if OTL's are counted equally as OTW's, then DQ had one (1) winning season, and an overall losing record. As a practical matter, roughly half of the NHL teams make the playoffs, and just under half don't (it'll be 50-50 next season). NYR had a short stint in last year's expanded "playoffs" and missed the other two years. And despite getting this year's top pick, the Rangers regressed.
Quinn might get another shot at NHL head coach at some point, or he might not. He's a smart guy, and will learn from this experience, no doubt. I'm not sure other NHL GM's will be impressed by him losing the top of his room late this season, but for the start of a rebuild, he may well get another shot? Columbus is looking, and while lots of folks are speculating about Tortorella replacing Quinn at NYR, I think it's more likely Quinn could get a shot at doing something (HC/AC) in Columbus.
He certainly won't need to rush into anything at this point. Last time around, it was for the money - next time, it should be for the best possible opportunity for long-term success. I wish him luck.
