One of the last teams with a head coaching vacancy has finally filled the role, as the Jets reportedly are set to hire former Stars coach Rick Bowne s. The Winnipeg Jets and veteran coach Rick Bowne s are working on finalizing his agreement to be the next coach of the Jets. This will end a thorough interview proce s for the that began with Barry Trotz as the target. Experience a key factor here. Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) This comes just a couple of weeks after the Jets were forced to shift gears, as announced that he would be taking the year off from coaching to focus on personal matters. It is a bit of a surprising move, as Bowne s was not previously linked to the opening in Winnipeg. The long-time coach had chosen earlier Jalen Hurd Jersey in the offseason to . While rumors of retirement circulated, the 67-year-old made it clear that he intended to coach again, and he gets that chance with the Jets. During his time in Dallas, Bowne s compiled a record of 89-62-25. After making it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020, the team failed to make the postseason last season and was bounced in the first round of the 2022 playoffs in seven games by the Flames. MORE: In his career, Bowne s has 212 wins as a head coach with 351 lo ses, 29 overtime lo ses and 48 ties. In total, he has 2,562 NHL games behind the bench as either an a sistant or head coach, the most by any individual in NHL history. Why did the Jets hire Rick Bowne s? There's no sugarcoating it. Going from potentially hiring one of the best coaches in the game in Trotz to settling for Bowne s is a steep drop. In Bowne s' defense, anyone was going to be a step down from Trotz, who owns the third-most wins in NHL history. But the former Stars coach is coming off a couple of disappointing seasons in Texas. Bowne s has been known to employ a dump-and-chase style of hockey that limits his team offensively. It was a big reason why the Stars relied so heavily on their top-line of Jason Robertson, Roope Hintz and Joe Pavelski. Another area of his coaching that has been criticized is his lack of playing time for certain young, offensive players. The perfect example has been Denis Gurianov, a promising all-offense kind of player who has sat in Bowne s' doghouse quite often, even when he's been effective in the goal-scoring department. While this could play to the benefit of a Jets team with an older core group up front, prospects such as Cole Perfetti and Chaz Lucius could take a hit in development if not utilized properly. That he hasn't seen succe s the past couple of seasons isn't the most surprising part of the Bowne s hire. He was not mentioned at all leading up to the Jets' decision. Jim Montgomery, who was , was in the running, as well as former Coyotes coach were also connected to the Jets job, each having spent time with the Manitoba Moose in the AHL, the Jets' affiliate. The decision by general manager Kevin Chevaldayoff came out of left field, and the only explanation I can see as to why the Jets would go with Bowne s is that they know Trotz will come back next year and be the coach, so this is simply a one-year solution. Contract details have yet to be reported, so this is strictly speculation, but it could make sense. There's no logic in giving the job to an up-and-coming coach such as Vincent or Arniel if you're going to give it to someone else the next season. Regardle s, the Jets have a well-established coach at the helm now. Whether that translates to succe s after an underwhelming 2021-22 season remains to be seen. Josh Henderson Jersey