The Seattle Kraken fired coach Dan Bylsma on Monday, ending his tenure after one season that concluded far out of playoff rivalry.
And that’s not the one change coming after the Kraken did not qualify for a second consecutive 12 months.
Seattle is predicted to maneuver longtime basic supervisor Ron Francis into one other function and promote assistant Jason Botterill to interchange him, based on an individual with information of the choice. The individual spoke to The Related Press on situation of anonymity as a result of the change had not been introduced.
The Kraken regressed after Bylsma took over for Dave Hakstol, who coached them for his or her first 4 seasons of existence and acquired them to the playoffs in 2023. They completed 35-41-6 for 76 factors — 20 again of the second and remaining wild-card spot within the Western Convention — after 81 the earlier season.
“We thank Dan for his commitment and the energy he brought to our organization over the past four years at the NHL and AHL levels,” Francis mentioned. “After a thorough review of the season and our expectations for next year and beyond, we’ve made the difficult decision to move in a different direction behind the bench. Dan is a great person and a respected coach. He played an important role in the development of many of our young prospects and was a big part of our early success in Coachella Valley. We sincerely wish him and his family nothing but success moving forward.”
Bylsma had been promoted from inside after teaching the American Hockey League’s Coachella Valley Firebirds to back-to-back Calder Cup Finals earlier than shedding to Hershey. He received the Stanley Cup as Pittsburgh’s coach in 2009 and remained with the Penguins by 2014, profitable the Jack Adams Award as coach of the 12 months in 2011.
This was his third head-coaching job within the NHL after an ill-fated two-year stint with the Buffalo Sabres from 2015-17. Bylsma is the third coach fired in as many days after Anaheim moved on from Greg Cronin and the New York Rangers dismissed Peter Laviolette.
Francis had been GM because the workforce’s inception, accountable for the growth draft and every little thing else in hockey operations, together with hiring and firing coaches. He acquired a three-year contract extension in ‘23 after the Kraken reached the second spherical.
Taking on for Francis, Botterill is now accountable for discovering a coach and repairing a roster that lacks elite expertise. It’ll be Botterill’s second GM job within the league after he ran the Sabres from 2017-20.
