It was reported on Monday by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that the Calgary Flames are about to enter the next stage of their coaching search this week. Per Friedman, the Flames have narrowed their list of potential head coaches down to 4-5 names.

Who could these names be? Who are the front runners to land the job? Let’s take a look.

Huska has been a front runner since the Flames fired Darryl Sutter last month. He has been with the Flames organization since the 2014-15 season where he became head coach of the Adirondack Flames. He has been on the NHL bench as an assistant coach since the 2018-19 season.

Huska has primarily worked with the Flames defencemen and has run the penalty kill.

He is an incredibly smart, thoughtful, well-spoken coach who seems like would be a perfect for a team looking to improve it’s communication between the coaches, players, and management.

Huska interviewed for the head coaching position in Detroit last season and was reportedly the finalist for that job. It’s only a matter of time before he is hired by a team. Whether that is going to be Calgary remains to be seen.

The back-to-back AHL coach of the year is likely to be a finalist for the NHL head coaching job in Calgary. Love has burst on to the scene as a desirable coaching candidate across the hockey world. It has been reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli that Love has received outside interest in his services. (ESPN’s Kevin Weekes has also tweeted that there’s “plenty” of league-wide interest in Love.) We are not sure if he has officially interviewed with other teams, but he has clearly become a desirable candidate.

Love spent three seasons as the head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades and the last two behind the bench of the AHL’s Stockton Heat and Calgary Wranglers.

Love has shown the ability to build a positive culture with the Wranglers which is something the Flames will be looking for their next head coach to do.

I think some people are under estimating Muller in this process. He has been with the Flames for the last two seasons as an associate coach under Sutter. Muller has the attitude and leadership style that the Flames are looking for in a new head coach. He is personable, positive, and has experience being a head coach at the NHL level. But he also has the ability to be a disciplinarian and set standards.

He had a great playing career and now a coaching career which he can take advantage of if he were to become the next head coach of the Flames.

The Flames have had their eye on Travis Green for a long time. Calgary interviewed Green for the head coaching position in 2016 when they ultimately hired Glen Gulutzan.

Green had success as a head coach in the WHL with the Portland Winterhawks and in the AHL with the Vancouver Canucks affiliate in Utica.

Green fits the description of what Friedman described as to what the Flames are looking for in their next coach. He is a demanding coach who expects a lot from his players. He was known for being a defensive minded coach with the Canucks for four+ seasons.

Vincent is an interesting name that not many Flames fans would have considered to be the next coach of the Flames. He has been coaching for over three decades with stops in the QMJHL, AHL and NHL.

He is a veteran coach from an experience standpoint but has yet to run an NHL bench. Vincent has paid his dues and is a solid candidate for the Flames job.

I think Ryan Huska will be the next head coach of the Flames. It has felt that way since the start of this process. This coaching search feels very similar to the general manager search. I think it goes to an internal candidate has been with the organization since the 2014-15 season. He has paid his dues and is ready to take the next step in his coaching career.