Hakstol out as Kraken coach

 

 

For Dave Hakstol, the only Seattle Kraken head coach in the team’s three seasons, the proverbial other shoe dropped yesterday afternoon.

General manager Ron Francis, who by all accounts had a close relationship with Hakstol going back to their time together working with the Canadien Olympic team, announced that Hakstol’s contract had been terminated after three seasons. Assistant coach Paul McFarland, who coached the power play unit, a disappointing aspect of the Kraken season, has also been relieved of his duties. Assistant coaches Jay Leach and Dave Lowry along with goalie coach Steve Briere have been retained.

“When we hired him, I thought he was a good coach and I still think he’s a good coach,” said Francis at yesterday afternoon’s press conference. “

THIS JUST IN- Emily Kaplan announced on ESPN’S hockey playoff coverage last night that Francis didn’t want to let Hakstol go, but several significant players came to Francis and said they didn’t want to return next season if Hakstol was still the coach.

Ironically Hakstol’s contract had been renewed last season when the Kraken slipped into the playoffs and then shocked the hockey world with a first-round upset of the defending champion Colorado Avalanche. Hakstol compiled a record of 107-112-27 in three seasons with the team.

Hakstol also recorded a 134-101-42 mark in five seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers. But Hakstol made a name coaching his alma mater- the University of North Dakota- leading that team to seven Frozen Fours in 11 seasons. The Fighting Sioux would send 30 players to the National Hockey League during Hakstol’s tenure.

One player Hakstol coached at UND was the son of then Flyers’ general manager Ron Hextall, who brought Hakstol into the NHL. Between head coaching stints he was also an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“Our second year, we had a good season. Better than we expected,” said Francis. “(This year) too many losing streaks and losing streaks of significant others. It just felt it was time to try a new voice.”

One of those losing streaks came right at the start of the season. The `feel good’ vibes of the previous year dissipated quickly as the Kraken went 1-4-1 in their first six starts. Shortly after thar, Seattle had a winless streak of eight games, followed by a 13-game point streak. And when the Kraken stumbled to the finish line (admittedly after they were realistically eliminated from the playoff hunt) they often appeared disinterested. The only `buzz’ around the team consisted of some of the youngsters- Shane Wright, Ryker Evans, Ryan Winterton- who were given a shot at the end of the year.

Consistency was the by-word. Some nights Seattle looked like it could beat any NHL team and other nights they looked like they would have problems competing in the Rhode Island Interscholastic League (hey, there are some good high school teams in RI).

No one who follows the Kraken was surprised by yesterday’s news, although a few jaws may have dropped at the Kraken’s season-ending conference when Francis was asked about the future of Hakstol and his coaching staff. “We’re still in the evaluation process,” was Francis’ reply, similar to a kiss on the cheek if you’re a member of the Corleone family.

Hakstol’s firing may be a bit unfair considering that the Kraken have never gone ``all out’’ on the free-agent market, bringing in elite players to make a Stanley Cup run. In retrospect, Seattle got weaker in the off-season last summer, comparing players who left the team (Ryan Donato and Morgan Geekie) and the arriving newcomers (Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Kailer Yamamoto).

While Francis has never used hackneyed cliches like ‘five-year plans,’ the Kraken have certainly leaned In that direction, stockpiling draft choices -37 in three years. Paul Bissonette on the Spittin’ Chiclets podcast, noted that Hakstol might be a good fit for a young team with his college background, but Seattle might go to a more experienced coach when they become legitimate contenders for the Stanley Cup. The Kraken have now made a coaching change, but haven’t reached contender status.

The hottest rumor surrounding the Kraken coaching situation involves Carolina Hurricanes head coach Rob Brind’Amour, who’s in the final year of an extension with the Canes. Brind’Amour was a Hurricane assistant when Francis served as general manager of the team.

Elliotte Friedman of Hockey Night in Canada posted on his Reddit account thar he believed the Kraken may be looking towards Coachella Valley head coach Dan Bylsma as a future head coach Bylsma, led the Firebirds to the AHL finals a year ago, and Coachella’s back in the playoffs this season.

Bylsma’s had a memorable coaching career. In 2008-2009, `Disco Dan’ (a nickname he acquired while playing for the Phoenix Roadrunners of the International Hockey League) was coaching the Wilkes-Barre, the  AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins. With the Pens struggling to make the playoffs, Bylsma was promoted to the NHL with two months left in the regular season. Pittsburgh then went on an unexpected run to win the Stanley Cup.

Coaching candidates with a Ron Francis connection include Boston Bruins’ assistant Joe Sacco, who was an assistant coach at Carolina, and former Dallas coach Dean Evason was a longtime teammate of Francis with the Hartford Whalers. Then there’s Leach, who was a head coach with Providence of the AHL and Lowry, who was an interim head coach with the Winnipeg Jets before coming to the Kraken.

Said Francis, “we’re going to get the right guy to move the organization along.”

New TV home for the Kraken

The Kraken also announced that they would be leaving ROOT sports TV and their non-network contests would be televised in the Seattle area, mostly on KONG-TV with selected contests on KING-5, the cities NBC affiliated. Those stations are owned by TEGNA, a media company that will also air Kraken games on its Portland and Spokane affiliated stations.

Seattle also announced that Amazon Prime members in Washington, Oregon and Alaska will also see the Kraken streaming on Prime Video. The Kraken are the first NHL team to partner directly with a streaming service.

The Kraken broadcast team of John Forslund, Ed Olczyk and J.T. Brown along with intermission commentators Allison Lukan and Nick Olczyk won’t be affected by the switch as the aforementioned are all employees of the Kraken. In their 2023 post-season rankings, The Athletic selected Forslund, Olczyk and Brown as the top local TV crew in the NHL.

The move appears to be a popular one among Kraken fans as the local cable provider Comcast raised its monthly price tag for ROOT prior to the start of last season. The Mariners became owners of ROOT around that time as well as Warner Bros. divested its 29% share of ROOT. Prior to that, Bally Sports owned ROOT and several other regional sports channels around the country before filing for bankruptcy in 2023.