Will NHL teams take a run at U.S. world juniors head coach David Carle?

After David Carle coached the United States to a second straight gold medal at the world juniors, Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman would be shocked if an NHL team doesn't take a run at him for a head coaching position this summer, if not sooner.

Friedman shared his thoughts on Carle with co-host Kyle Bukaukas during the latest episode of 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, released Monday.

The United States won back-to-back WJC gold medals for the first time following a 4-3 overtime victory over Finland during Sunday's final.

Friedman said the No. 1 storyline that will come out of the tournament is: "What NHL team is going to throw a pile of money at David Carle?"

"People love winners," Friedman said. "He’s got a couple of NCAA championships at the University of Denver and he’s got two back-to-back, so two total, world junior championships as the head coach of Team USA in an age where teams are really searching for coaches who can identify with and reach young players."

The St. Louis Blues interviewed Carle last year, according to Friedman, while the New Jerseys Devils also had discussions.

"I think New Jersey was always looking for (Sheldon) Keefe. I think he was always the guy, especially if Toronto made that change, but they did a conversation with Carle," Friedman said. "It wasn’t very in-depth. It was more scratching the surface, but they talked to him."

The one thing Carle has is leverage. The 35-year-old from Anchorage, Alaska, has served as the head coach for the University of Denver Pioneers since 2018 and led them to NCAA national championships in 2022 and 2024.

"The one thing that Carle could do is he could say, ‘Look, I could coach at Denver for eleventy billion years. I’ve got a young family. I’ve got a great situation. I can comfortably live for a long time. If I’m coming out of here somebody’s going to have to make it worth my while,'" Friedman said. "I just don’t understand how after this, somebody isn’t going to make it worth his while because you could say that’s juniors, coaching NHL players is going to be a bit different. The NHL players watch this tournament. They know who can coach. They know who can’t coach. They’re going to look at this guy and they’re going to say this guy can coach.

"There are a lot of players who come out of Denver or play against Denver who are now in the NHL. They’re going to look at this guy and they’re going to say he can coach."

Carle's playing career ended early when he was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy while attending Shattuck-St. Mary's prep school.

The University of Denver opted to honour his scholarship and he joined the coaching staff as a student in 2008. Upon graduating, Carle served as an assistant coach for the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers for two seasons before returning to Denver as an assistant under Jim Montgomery in 2014. Carle became head coach four years later when Montgomery left to join the Dallas Stars.

His brother Matt Carle also attended the University of Denver and played 12 seasons in the NHL with the San Jose Sharks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Philadelphia Flyers and Nashville Predators.

"You can sell David Carle to NHL veterans because he was a player. His brother, Matt, was a player. There’s a lot," Friedman said. "All you have to do is look at your television screens or watch the games. Watch the games and you can tell that this guy is an NHL coach. Somebody is going to take a run at him and he has enough power.

"The most powerful thing in negotiations is the willingness to walk away. Because of his current situation at Denver, he is willing to walk away from NHL teams if he doesn’t like not only the money but the situation. The situation is very important. What makes people sexier, Kyle? Rejection. When you think someone can reject you, you’re even after them more."