James Boyd and the Dual Coach/GM role

There was a time in the OHL where having a Duoalcoach/GM role was a common theme. Peter Deboer in Kitchener, Mike Vellucci in Plymouth, George Burnett in Belleville and Brian Kilrea in Ottawa just to name a few. In fact since Plymouth ('07) and Kitchener ('08) won the J Robertson Cup no team has won the league championship with a duo coach/gm in place for the whole season. Mark Hunter won while in both roles but he only made his way behind the bench after brother Dale was hired by the Washington Capitals mid season.

This past season there were only 5 such teams who had a someone share both posts. Marty Williamson in Niagara, Stan Butler in Brampton, Jeff Brown in Ottawa, George Burnett in Hamilton and James Boyd in Mississauga. With Burnett already being let go by Hamilton early in the offseason that list will shrink even more.

With added importance on scouting and extra pressures off the ice like education and the business side of hockey there is a lot more to running a team that pulls the General Managers attention in different directions. Add on top of that the daily rigors of being a head coach from strategizing to player development it is not an easy job for one to handle.

James Boyd has held both titles since then Mississauga St. Michaels owner Eugene Melynk plucked Dave Cameron from the Majors and brought him to Ottawa. With 7 years as an associate or co-coach of the Majors Boyd was the logical choice to take over as head coach. He was also given the role of General Manager.

While there is no denying that Boyd was starting out behind the 8 ball after an all in year where the Majors hosted the memorial cup and while in his first year behind the bench star player Devante Smith-Pelly made the Anaheim Ducks as a 19 year old and star 18 year old defender Stuart Percy battled injuries. Still the rebuild in Mississauga has not gone as smoothly as one had hoped. A series of uninspired 1^st round draft picks and an inability to develop assets to restock the draft cupboard for future runs has hampered the speed of the rebuild. Finally with 4 top 4 OHL draft picks on their roster there was some improvement this past season but is it enough?

How has Boyd Fared?

In his first year the Majors finished with 33 wins 28 losses and 7 overtime losses. They would go on to face the Barrie Colts in the 1^st round before bowing out in 6 games.

After a re-brand and a new owner the Mississauga Steelheads were born. With the graduation of some key players that helped them stay above .500 the previous year the Steelheads sunk farther into a rebuild finishing with a 26-34-0-8 record. They snuck into the playoffs with the 8^th seed and were promptly dispatched by the top seeded Belleville Bulls.

In season 3 more of the same as their record dropped for the 3^rd straight year finishing 24-38-0-6. Another 8^th seed and a quick 4 game defeat this time at the hands of the Oshawa Generals.

Last season in year 4 the Steelheads bottomed out finishing 25-40-0-3 missing the playoffs and securing their 3^rd top 5 pick in 3 seasons. The acquisition of Ryan McLeod who refused to report to Flint added their 5^th to this years team.

With the addition of Import Alex Nylander the Steelheads finally showed life finishing 33-20-0-5 and picking up the 7^th seed although they would ultimately fall to Barrie in 7 games although there were questions about Boyds coaching and how he handled leads that allowed the Colts to make a few comebacks.

At the draft table the team has under performed to an extent. Especially in rounds 2-4 vs the returns other OHL teams have received over the same time. 

2011

Armed with 2 1st round draft picks thanks to Nick Ebert failing to report the then Majors picked up Scott Teskey and Spencer Martin. Teskey never topped the 6 goals he scored in his rookie year and finished his career in the OJHL. While you can question the logic of taking a goalie in the 1st round Martin was a solid OHL netminder and helped push the Steelheads into the playoffs on the strength of his play a couple of times. While they had no 2nd or 3rd round picks that year they did pick up a pair of 5 year players in Jacob Graves and Josh Burnside with their 4th and 6th round selections but not much else came out of that draft outside of Nick Zottl (11th round 120 OHL games) and Chad Duchesne (13th round 124 OHL games)

2012

1st round pick Damian Bourne has turned into a solid OHL but with only 9 goals in his 19 year old season he has to be considered a disappointment as a 1st round pick from a production point of view.

They did seem to hit on 2nd round pick Jared Walsh but draft picks Bobby MacIntyre (2nd), Thomas Schemitsch (5th) Dawson Carty (6th) and Greg DiTomaso (8th) have all thrived on other teams.

2013

1st round pick Sean Day while talented has failed to live up to the hype that allowed him to be granted exceptional status. 2nd round pick Jesse Barwell is in Saginaw and Austin Gerhart is no longer in the OHL. The Steelheads did however hit a home run with 7th round pick Natian Bastian.

2014/2015

Hard to judge these drafts but the early returns are encouraging. While 2014 2nd rounder Luke Kutkevicius has been shipped out Hague and Osmanski make for a solid and deep blue line.

Where do they stand now?

After their first improvement in the James Boyd era you could say the Steelheads have an enviable amount of '98 and '99 born talent. With Alex Nylander and Michael McLeod projected as 1^st round NHL draft picks in this Junes NHL draft (you can add in Nathan Bastian although he is a '97) '98 born defender Sean Day is a former exceptional player who while polarizing oozes potential. Late '98 born defender Nic Hague is a projected top pick in the 2017 NHL draft while their pair of '15 OHL 1^st round selections Ryan Mcleod and Owen Tippett impressed in their rookie seasons as both put up 20 points as 16 year olds.

This team whoever is not without question marks. With OA goalie Jack Flinn and his OHL leading 3571 minutes graduating who will be the Steelheads goalie? Joseph Murdaca was acquired from Saginaw but with only 436 minutes of OHL action under his belt and a career .867 save percentage is he really the guy you want between your pipes when you are primed to win the east?

Leading scorer Alex Nylander while on the verge of being drafted out of the OHL is eligible to play in the AHL next season. Unlike most players he was loaned to the Steelheads by his SEL team thus making him AHL eligible. A similar situation arose a few years ago when Finnish defender Julian Honka was drafted out of the WHL.

Offensively Sean Day took a step back this season picking up only 22 points after putting up 36 in his 16 year old season. His development hasn't gone as planed which has been a theme in Mississauga with their 1st round picks (Tesky, Bourne) He spent some time away from the team after Christmas and you have to wonder if his heart is really in Mississauga.

With Bastian about to enter his 19 year old season and the high end talents of Nylander and Mcleod and their NHL potential you have to wonder how much longer their window extends beyond this season. If they go all in this season and lose all 3 will they have the assets to supplement their remaining pieces for a run the following season?

At the end of the day while James Boyd is a talented hockey man I am not sure if I want him in both roles with the Steelheads championship window in front of him. After years of poor finishes he has fallen on the assets required to build a champion but I am not sure he will be able to get them over the top. At least not while in both roles.

What to do with James Boyd

The easiest option would be for James to step down as the Steelheads head coach and let James Richmond take over behind the bench. Richmond was brought in as an assistant this year after a 3 year run as the head coach of Aurora in the OJHL. A 3 year run that netted him to coach of the year awards and a 114-36-12 record. James also received strong consideration for the Oshawa Generals opening last year and is a highly regarded coach.

This scenario will allow Boyd to concentrate on finding value in adding pieces to what is already a potentially great team. Maximizing the return for the assets he has will be imperative if this team wants to extend its championship window.

Another option would be to move away from Boyd all together and find someone else to take the team over the top. This scenario was done by the Niagara Icedogs when they let go Dave Brown shortly after the 2010 draft and brought in Marty Williamson. The Icedogs had a good young core and Marty was brought in to put them over the top. They ultimately failed to win the championship but they have made the playoffs every year and have been very competitive the last 2 seasons (although you could argue they haven't lived up to expectations).

The final option would be to keep Boyd on as the head coach and find someone to take over the GM duties. This however isn't a very realistic option as a GM usually wants their own coach and would make Boyd a bit of a lame duck.

At the end of the day the Ownership of the Mississauga Steelheads must decide what is in the best interest of the team and given the nature of today's OHL what puts this team in the best position to win not just this season but going forward.

As for those who are reading this what would you do? Do you feel it is in a teams best interest in today's OHL to have someone in the dual role?