The Seattle Kraken fired Dave Hakstol after finishing 17 points out of the playoffs. The list continues to grow in the NHL coaching carousel, and more teams could join it.
One more NHL team is looking for a new coach this off-season.
The Seattle Kraken are the latest, announcing on Monday they've relieved Dave Hakstol of his duties. GM Ron Francis will begin the search immediately.
Francis thanked Hakstol for his hard work and dedication to the franchise.
“Following our end-of-the-season review, we have decided to make a change at our head coach position,” he said in a press release. “These decisions are never easy, but we feel this is a necessary step to help ensure our team continues to improve and evolve. Dave is a good coach and a terrific person. Dave is a good coach and a terrific person. We wish him and his family all the best.”
Assistant coach Paul McFarland also won't return to the Kraken next season.
Hakstol is the Kraken's first coach in franchise history, holding the role since June 2021. While the Kraken first started out as an expansion team, Hakstol helped lead the team to a 107-112-27 record over three seasons. He was also nominated for the Jack Adams Award in 2022-23 for coaching the Kraken to a 40-point improvement in the standings from their inaugural season.
Seattle surprised the NHL by eliminating the Colorado Avalanche in the first round last year as well. But in this season, the Kraken didn't have that opportunity again. They finished with 12 fewer wins than last year with a 34-35-13 record, missing the playoffs by 17 points.
Hakstol, 55, is the third coach fired since the season ended, following David Quinn in San Jose and Don Granato in Buffalo. He is also the 10th coach this season to be relieved of their duties, following former bench bosses such as Craig Berube in St. Louis, Todd McLellan in Los Angeles and Jay Woodcroft in Edmonton.
The Sabres hired Lindy Ruff last week, but there are still four teams without a permanent head coach. The Los Angeles Kings, St. Louis Blues, New Jersey Devils and Ottawa Senators have had interim coaches since making their coaching changes, and Jacques Martin won't be the next permanent coach in Ottawa.
That list could still grow, based on discussions teams have after missing the playoffs or getting eliminated from them. There's a lot of speculation on what happens to Mike Sullivan with the Pittsburgh Penguins after missing the playoffs in back-to-back seasons and Toronto Maple Leafs coach Sheldon Keefe with the team losing 3-1 in its first-round series against the Boston Bruins. There are also ponderings about whether the Columbus Blue Jackets would part with Pascal Vincent after going 27-43-12, but the team is still searching for a new GM, and that will reportedly be their decision.
Hakstol joins a list of available coaches with past NHL coaching experience, including Berube, Granato, Woodcroft, McLellan, Gerard Gallant, Dean Evason, and Bruce Boudreau. Other up-and-coming coaches could get a chance, such as David Carle at the University of Denver and John Gruden, whose season just finished with the AHL's Toronto Marlies.
The Kraken may look for a coach who can address the team's offensive issues at 5-on-5 and on the special teams. As Glenn Dreyfuss noted on The Hockey News' Kraken site, the team was shut out seven times this season and only scored once in 19 other games. They finished fourth-last in goals-for, a stark difference from last season, when they ranked fourth. They also ranked just 17th in power-play percentage and 20th in penalty-killing this season.
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