The Seattle Kraken fired coach Dan Bylsma on Monday after one season behind the bench.
“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,’ general manager Ron Francis said in a statement. ‘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.”
Francis will address the media on Tuesday.
Seattle’s KING 5 reported that Jessica Campbell, the NHL’s first female full-time assistant coach, will be retained. The television station also said Jason Botterill will be promoted to general manager and Francis will become team president.
Bylsma was hired in May 2024 after two seasons with the Kraken’s American Hockey League affiliate. He replaced the Kraken’s inaugural coach, Dave Hakstol, after the team dropped from 100 points and the franchise’s first playoff berth in 2022-23 to 81 points and out of the playoffs.
But Seattle fell to 76 points this season and dropped to seventh place in the Pacific Division despite adding Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour in the offseason.
The Kraken had to deal with lengthy injuries to captain Jordan Eberle and defenseman Vince Dunn. They gave up 29 more goals to finish ninth from the bottom of the league in defense.
Bylsma, 54, went 35-41-6 in his lone season in Seattle. It was his first NHL head coaching job since 2017. He won a Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009 and had 355 regular-season wins with the Penguins, Buffalo Sabres and Kraken.
Bylsma is the third NHL coach to be fired since the regular season ended, joining the New York Rangers’ Peter Laviolette and the Anaheim Ducks’ Greg Cronin.
The Vancouver Canucks said Monday they didn’t pick up the team option on Rick Tocchet’s contract but have offered him a new deal and hope he stays.
‘We’ve gone a long way from where coaches have been compensated with the Canucks for years − forever actually − and we’re hoping that he takes that contract,’ team president Jim Rutherford said.
There were five coaching changes during the regular season: Boston Bruins, St. Louis Blues, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers.
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
