Each year, the NHL's broadcasters association awards the Jack Adams trophy to the head coach who "contributed the most to his team's success," but what about the rest of his staff? Whether it's designing systems, setting the lineup or adjusting to changing conditions on a game-by-game basis, coaching an NHL team is a group effort, and some coaching staffs have had more success and experience in this area than others.
Previously, we used various metrics to group all 16 Eastern Conference coaching staffs into five tiers, and we'll use the same method to cover the Western Conference today. Specifically, the following chart attempts to quantify each staff's level of coaching experience, on the horizontal axis, as well as the success their teams have enjoyed, on the vertical axis. The most skilled and experienced coaching staffs will therefore be on the top right, while those with the shortest lists of credentials are on the bottom left.