8 Names Gophers Men's Hockey Should Look at For The Next Head Coach

Gophers men's hockey is expected to move on from head coach Bob Motzko after eight seasons. That means one of the top jobs in the entire sport of college hockey will be vacant this offseason. Here's an early list of candidates Minnesota could look at.

Make him say no

Pat Ferschweiler (Western Michigan)

Ferschweiler has turned Western Michigan into one of the top programs in college hockey with four straight NCAA Tournament appearances and a national championship in 2024-25. The chances of him leaving Kalamazoo seem slim, as it is his alma mater. However, he is from Rochester, Minnesota, so it would be worth a call to see if he wants to come back to the State of Hockey.

Realistic sitting head coaches

Ben Barr (Maine)

Barr is going to be a name near the top of everyone's list. He grew up in Faribault, Minnesota, where he attended Shattuck-St. Mary's. He played college hockey at RPI in the early 2000s before working his way up the coaching ranks. He has been the head coach at Maine for five seasons, and he has led them to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances. At 44 years old, he would make a lot of sense in maroon and gold.

Garrett Raboin (Augustana)

Raboin is a rising name in the coaching space. He was an assistant at Minnesota from 2018 to 2022, and he worked under Motzko at St. Cloud State from 2012 to 2018. He's from Detroit Lakes, Minnesota, and he's certainly familiar with the Land of 10,000 Lakes. This season is his third as the head coach at Augustana, and he has the Vikings firmly on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament, despite playing at the Division I level for only three seasons. He's only 40 years old.

Nate Leaman (Providence)

If the Gophers want to go outside of the state, Leaman could be a great option. He has been a Division I head coach since 2003-04. He was at Union for eight seasons before becoming the head coach at Providence in 2011-12. He won a national championship in 2015-16, and the Friars are consistently a contender in the Hockey East. If they want to go the more veteran route, he's 53 years old and makes sense.

Reid Cashman (Dartmouth)

Cashman is from Red Wing, Minnesota, and he has quietly turned Dartmouth into a juggernaut in his fifth season at the program. He's only 43 years old, and the Big Green are heading to the NCAA Tournament with a 21-7-4 record this season.

Wild card candidates

Matt Cullen (Moorhead High School assistant)

Cullen has never been a head coach at a significant level, but he does have more than 20 years of experience playing in the NHL. He has helped lead Moorhead High School to back-to-back Class AA state championships as an assistant on the staff. Two of his sons, Wyatt and Brooks Cullen, are currently committed to the Gophers, and his youngest son, Joey, might be the most talented of all three. If Minnesota wants to go way off the board, Cullen is the man.

Grant Potulny (Hartford Wolf Pack of the AHL)

Potulny was a name that many fans mentioned for a while when he was the head coach at Northern Michigan, but his run ended there after seven seasons, having failed to make the NCAA Tournament. He was a star player at the University of Minnesota in the early 2000s, and he was an assistant coach at the school from 2009 to 2017.

Darby Hendrickson (Nashville Predators assistant)

Hendrickson won the Minnesota Mr. Hockey award in 1991 at Richfield High School. He then played at the University of Minnesota for two seasons. He was an NHL veteran and an assistant coach with the Wild for more than 10 seasons. He's 53 years old, and he could certainly be a wild card candidate for the job.