It appears the door is once again open for Ralph Krueger to make his NHL return behind the bench.

According to TSN Hockey Insider Bob McKenzie, the Southampton Football Club chairman is open to potentially taking a head coaching job this off-season.

"I’m told that he’s interested in coming back to be a head coach, but only if the fit is right," McKenzie said on Insider Trading.

Krueger, 59, most recently coached Team Europe to a surprise second-place finish in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey.

His lone head coaching job in the NHL came with the Edmonton Oilers during the lockout-shortened 2013 season, when he posted a 19-22-7 record.

In May 2017, Krueger said he had been offered two NHL coaching jobs, but turned them down to remain in England.

“It was nice and honourable that I was offered two NHL jobs this postseason and I was happy they didn’t forget about me, but I turned them down,” Krueger told NBC's ProSoccerTalk at the time. “It just feels like we’ve only just got started here [at Southampton] and especially with the management re-organization we just did, there is kind of like there’s something here where we are going to take it to another level.

“I still love the game and I have lots of friends still in the playoffs, I am keeping a close eye on them. My son [Justin Krueger] is playing at the World Hockey Championship for Germany right now in Germany, but it is Southampton. At the moment this is doing it.

"I don’t think you ever close the door on anything in your life, but I love being here.”

Krueger didn’t reveal which two teams offered him coaching spots, though TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun said at the time the Buffalo Sabres were interested in speaking with him about their vacancy.

He also worked as a consultant to the coaching staff of the Canadian men’s hockey team that won gold at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.