As much as I love the idea of Pando, I can’t see him leaving the BU gig personally. Massachusetts born, BU guy getting to coach his Alma mater? Probably his ideal job.
Jay Leach is a really interesting one from all that I’ve read recently. I’m warming up to that idea.
Money talks. Pandolfo was a pro player, but his career earnings are in the $13M range. Good, for sure, but not "money is no object" territory.
Prior to college he was an assistant coach with the Bruins, probably making like 300k. Then he went back to college, presumably for a pay raise, but a college hockey coach would be VERY lucky to make 1M a year, probably more likely to be in the 400k-700k range for a first time head coach, judging from publicly available salaries at other institutions. Even the lowest paid NHL coaches make 1.5M+ and the top end guys are worth $4M+.
And that's ignoring the obvious appeal of coaching at the highest level in the world. Lot of guys, especially ex-pro players, have a drive to be the best, to compete against the best.
I can't know what's in his heart, and maybe he will happily coach BU for 30 years, but I wouldn't be surprised if he left eventually. Leaving this year, though? That does seem a little less likely to me.