James Boyd, free agent GM
He has spent almost half his life in the Ontario Hockey League as a player, coach and general manager. And after departing the Mississauga Steelheads as their conference-winning GM, James Boyd is testing the free-agent waters.
“To confirm, I am not returning to the Steelheads,” Boyd told HockeyNewsNorth.com. “I am exploring a number of options.”
One of those options could include the Ottawa 67’s, who are looking to hire a GM and coach following the recent departure of Jeff Brown, who held the dual role.
Postmedia has reported that Boyd has an interview set up with the 67’s regarding possible employment.
With Boyd as GM and James Richmond as first-year coach, Mississauga won the Eastern Conference playoff championship before losing to the Erie Otters in the OHL finals this spring.
The still young, 41-year old Boyd looms as an attractive free agent on the OHL market for his solid, stable work as an associate coach, head coach, assistant GM and GM over a span of 16 seasons.
He also played in the OHL for four years.
Mississauga, meanwhile, has quickly moved on from Boyd’s decision to depart by handing the GM position to the aforementioned Richmond.
Trusting the 52-year old Richmond with the dual role of coach-GM and giving him a new five-year contract looms as a major risk of sorts for the Steelheads.
Having spent just two seasons in the OHL with Mississauga — one as an assistant under Boyd when he was coach-GM and the other as the head guy — Richmond has no prior management experience at the major junior level.