Coaching in the NHL can be a lot like dating Russell Crowe. You know you're going to be replaced sooner or later and you're just waiting to see in which newspaper you find out.

The hot seat in the NHL is a strange place. You can get there in no time flat, as Guy Charron, Don Hay and Mike Keenan did last season. And you can stay there for just about forever, as Paul Maurice has ever since he took over in Hartford and moved to Carolina.

Who are this year's candidates to be called the weakest link? It might be easier to start with a list of 30 and whittle it down. After all, Scotty Bowman could be "asked to retire," or he might opt out himself, if he can't handle the superstars in Detroit. A season in Dallas wouldn't be complete without regular out-of-town reports of Ken Hitchcock facing another "player uprising." Florida's Duane Sutter has to deal with not just one Bure, but two. And Joel Quenneville has seen the pressure turned up in St. Louis, where an extra $15 million in payroll means ownership would like to own that trophy that the brother-in-law currently is polishing.

But since you asked about coaches on the griddle, here's a top five:

5. Jacques Martin, Ottawa Senators
We all know that Martin is a brilliant coaching mind who was plucked by Wayne Gretzky and Pat Quinn as one of the assistant coaches for Team Canada. That says a lot right there. But let's face the facts: Winning in the playoffs is all that matters in the NHL. Martin's teams have tanked it in four out of five playoff seasons, including getting swept in the first round in April of 2001.

That's exactly how Jacques Lemaire and Robbie Ftorek got booted in New Jersey. Martin is 10-22 in the playoffs with the Senators, and that puts pressure on him from Day 1. This team needs a great regular season and it also needs to be aware that is only the first step.

4. Ron Low, New York Rangers
It's hard not to like Low -- a Dennis Farina starter kit who could walk onto the set of "Get Shorty" and not feel out of place. C'mon, this guy helped the Oilers to two stunning first-round upsets (of Dallas and Colorado), sucked it up when he had to spend a year in the minor leagues with Houston and now has one of the highest profile coaching gigs in the NHL. He's a lovable tough guy.

That said, somebody has to take the heat if the Rangers collapse once again, and it isn't going to be general manager Glen Sather. For all the changes in the offseason, Low has one of the most complex rooms in the NHL. What will it take to keep the Rangers happy? Wins, lots of wins. If he can't provide that quickly, expect someone else to get the chance.

3. Bill Barber, Philadelphia Flyers
The great thing about Barber is this: He has proven himself a great coach no matter what happens this season.

It took an act of God (or Ed Snider) to get the guy behind the Flyers bench in the first place, and his work in the regular season last year proved to everyone in the NHL that his ability to drive minor league players was no fluke. He now has a Jack Adams Award and the full attention of GM Bob Clarke.

That said, this is a different animal he's been handed this season. While it was easy to get Keith Primeau to listen to the motivational talks, it might not be quite the same with Jeremy Roenick, Jiri Dopita and Pavel Brendl. There's only so much ice time and offense to be split up by the Flyers and that already seems to be creating problems for players like Rick Tocchet. Does Barber risk alienating one of his best leaders? Are Dopita and good friend Roman Cechmanek so closely linked that Barber's decisions on one player affects how the other performs? Should Roenick walk in and become the team's No. 1 center when Barber appears confident that Primeau can handle that role?

It's never easy in Philly, baby. Just ask Craig Ramsay and Roger Neilson and Wayne Cashman and Terry Murray.

2. Michel Therrien, Montreal Canadiens
You might as well just ask for the cigarette and blindfold when you're given the Canadiens coaching job nowadays. Faced with an injury-riddled team in a city that demands winning, Therrien is likely just biding his time while waiting for the next midseason move.

That's too bad, too, because he did a really good job of keeping the team's spirits high in the second half and crafted a 24-27-6-5 record down the stretch.

That said, the Canadiens are a team that wants to be better and believes it will be better. And that just might not be possible right now. The Rangers should be improved, the Islanders should be improved. The Panthers and Thrashers and Lightning should be improved. They have made significant moves to make themselves better, while the Canadiens have lost their captain Saku Koivu to a battle with cancer and are simply hoping they will get better by staying healthy.

Who knows, they could be improved. But it's a long climb to even make the playoffs and it's hard to be patient in Montreal when you're losing. Alain Vigneault lasted three-and-half years. Therrien, who is going to be laboring under the watchful eye of new owner George Gillett, might not get that kind of patience.

1. Ivan Hlinka, Pittsburgh Penguins
The fact that the Czech born and raised Hlinka struggles to communicate with fans and the media in a strongly American town is simply the first strike against him. Any coach who has a player that is his owner is not long for his job.

The irony of Hlinka is that he did get his team to the Eastern Conference finals last season and yet there are few who can actually tell you just what role he played in that success. He supposedly feuded with Jaromir Jagr, his leading scorer, and helped push Jagr away from the team. But was that a good thing or a bad thing? Could it be that Hlinka actually has earned a stronger foothold within the team now that Jagr is gone?

The key to anything that is done in Pittsburgh is getting along with owner and team leader Mario Lemieux, and Hlinka might just be able to do that. Then again, he could be fired a month into the season when the cash-strapped Penguins start to struggle because they have added little in the offseason and have a defense that is being held together with duct tape.

Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.