While the league is enjoying an incredible postseason, there are teams who didn?t make the playoffs that are trying to fill holes on their staff. Atlanta Thrashers Immediately following the regular season, the Atlanta Thrashers named Assistant General Manager Rick Dudley as their new G.M., taking over for Don Waddell who stepped into a presidency role with the club; previously, Dudley served as Assistant G.M. in Chicago for three years. At the same time, Atlanta announced the firing of head coach John Anderson, which gives Dudley his first task as G.M. ? hiring a coach. This week, Ben Wright of atlantathrashers.com interviewed Dudley, who indicated he had three or four guys in mind for the position, and wasn?t in a hurry to finalize his decision right away. He names Chicago Wolves? (Thrashers? minor league affiliate) coach Don Lever as a candidate. There have been some very recent success stories of young AHL coaches coming in and having a great impact; Pittsburgh?s Dan Bylsma and Ottawa?s Cory Clouston to name a couple. Dudley indicates that he prefers someone who is a ?teacher,? which makes sense because this is a really young team. On the weekend, ESPN?s Pierre LeBrun mentioned AHL coach Guy Boucher (Hamilton Bulldogs) as a candidate, along with Boston Bruins assistant Craig Ramsey. However, with both teams still in action in their respective leagues, Dudley will have to wait until after the playoffs are over before he gets to interview either. It wouldn?t surprise me to see Scott Arniel (see below) or Lever win the job. Columbus Blue Jackets The Atlanta Journal-Constitution indicates that Manitoba Moose coach Scott Arniel looks poised for an NHL job next season, and may be the top choice on a couple of lists. The writer indicates that Jackets? G.M. Scott Howson has already received permission from the Canucks to interview the coach of their AHL affiliate (Manitoba Moose). But look out for Atlanta here as well, as Dudley used to coach Arniel in Buffalo. CBC?s Elliott Friedman believes that Boucher has the upper hand here, while a popular choice appears to be former Jacket and current Portland Pirates (AHL) coach Kevin Dineen. Last season?s interim head coach Claude Noel will surely get an interview as well, but a 10-8-6 record in his only NHL coaching job isn?t going to guarantee him anything. Tampa Bay Lightning Tampa Bay is in need of a head coach as well, but before they look for one they need to fill their open G.M. spot. TSN?s Darren Dreger wrote that Steve Yzerman is atop the list of candidates, but it is unclear whether Yzerman wants to move that far away with his home and family being in Detroit for the last twenty-something years. No one can confirm Stevie Y?s interest, as he won?t comment on anything until the Red Wings? season is officially over. Dreger lists former Minnesota Wild G.M. Doug Risebrough and Toronto Maple Leafs? Assistant G.M. Dave Nonis as the other top candidates. After successfully bringing home the gold medal as G.M. of Team Canada at the Olympics, Yzerman appears ready to take the reins of an NHL club. Ideally, he wouldn?t leave the Wings? organization, but it has been confirmed that current G.M. Ken Holland and his assistant Jim Nill are in line to receive contract extensions, so Yzerman would have to go elsewhere if he wants a G.M. job. But could he move up the ladder higher than that? Former coach Scotty Bowman believes so, but we won?t get to hear anything confirmed by Yzerman himself until Detroit is out of the playoffs. New Jersey Devils The Devils are also in the market for a new coach, and it is believed that the coach of their AHL affiliate John MacLean is a top candidate. Before leading Lowell to the playoffs in his first season as head coach, he was an assistant coach for New Jersey for seven seasons, so he would bring consistency to the organization. Not only that, he spent 13 seasons of his NHL career in a Devils uniform, where he was a 3-time 40-goal scorer and 2-time All-Star. However there are some that believe New Jersey will hire a veteran coach to give the team its? best shot at contending while Martin Brodeur is still playing. Ken Hitchcock has been mentioned in numerous outlets, but now Mike Keenan is throwing his name out there as someone who is interested. In my opinion, the Devils need to start focusing on the future, and MacLean would bring them a chance at longevity behind the bench. However, my gut tells me that Hitchcock gets the job. I am hoping to do the Scoop bi-weekly, so if you have any topics you would like me to discuss, drop me an e-mail at [email protected] or on twitter at @nickobergan