Eagles' New Coach Jussi Ahokas Draws NHL Player Votes

Jussi Ahokas has not coached a game in the NHL. Two NHL players named him anyway when asked which coach they would most want to play for in The Athletic's player poll, written by Chris Johnston and Mark Lazerus.

There was no consensus answer to the question, and nine current or former NHL coaches each picked up a single vote. Ahokas, described in the piece as "a fast-rising name in coaching circles," got two.

The Avalanche hired him on July 17 to take over the Eagles from Mark Letestu. He arrives from the OHL's Kitchener Rangers, where he spent three seasons and coached Avalanche prospect Christian Humphreys.

The resume behind the votes: OHL Coach of the Year in 2025, then an OHL championship and a Memorial Cup title with Kitchener in 2026. Before North America, he spent four seasons as a head coach in Finland's Liiga, with KooKoo Kouvola from 2019-20 to 2020-21 and Turku TPS from 2021-22 to 2022-23, and won the Kalevi Numminen Trophy as Liiga coach of the year in 2019-20.

Getting name-checked by NHL players before coaching an NHL game is unusual. It is also the kind of thing that tends to happen to coaches who win at every stop. Ahokas starts his first season behind the Eagles' bench this fall.