According to Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff, the Seattle Kraken are one of the teams considering hiring Jeff Blashill to be their head coach.
Alongside the Kraken, Seravalli reported that the Chicago Blackhawks and their general manager, Kyle Davidson, met with Blashill as they continue their thorough search for a head coach. The Blackhawks are searching for a coach who will begin to help the team head in the right direction, led by their superstar Connor Bedard.
Blashill, 51 years old, has coached at multiple levels, providing him with experience coaching veterans and young players. He served as the head coach of the Detroit Red Wings for seven seasons, accumulating a record of 204-261-72 and earning a postseason birth just once. Unfortunately for Blashill, when he became the Red Wings' head coach, they were entering a transition phase and entered a long rebuild. He could not get them out of that phase and was ultimately fired following the 2021-22 season.
Following his firing, he joined the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant coach. Prior to his job as the Red Wings bench boss, he served as the head coach for the Grand Rapids Griffins in the AHL, the head coach for Western Michigan in the NCAA, the head coach and general manager of the Indiana Ice of the USHL and an assistant coach for Miami University (Ohio) and Ferris University.
He's also worked as a coach on the international stage, serving as an assistant coach for Team USA at the Ivan Hlinka Memorial, World Juniors and the WJAC-19. He was named the head coach for Team USA at the World Championship three times.
His vast experience coincides with what the Kraken are looking for. He has NHL experience, which should help them remain competitive, but has also worked as a coach at levels that require player development, the other factor the Kraken are strongly considering.
After witnessing Joel Quenneville, Mike Sullivan and Rick Tocchet sign elsewhere, the Kraken continue to do their due diligence on all the available head coaches.
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