After weeks of consideration, the Seattle Kraken have hired Dan Byslma to serve as the second head coach in franchise history, following the firing of former head coach Dave Hakstol earlier this month. Hakstol failed to qualify for the playoffs for the second time in three seasons and oversaw a decline in the Kraken’s offensive performance, which spelled the end of his tenure with the organization.
The Kraken gig was one of several appealing NHL head coaching vacancies, with a burgeoning farm system and a committed ownership group serving as the main draw for the job.
Let’s dive into what Kraken fans can expect from Bylsma in his first head coaching stint in the NHL since the 2016-17 season with the Buffalo Sabres.
Bylsma in the Midst of AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs
Bylsma, 53, currently serves as the head coach of the Kraken’s American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate in the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
The club accrued an astonishing 94-32-11-7 record over its first two seasons of existence, finishing second overall in the league standings in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 campaigns. Bylsma has also guided the Firebirds to back-to-back Western Conference Finals and came within a single win of capturing the 2023 Calder Cup, a failure that the team will look to rectify starting with Game 1 of the Western Final on Wednesday night (May 29).
The Firebirds have been an offensive juggernaut during Bylsma’s tenure, finishing third in goals per game last season before leading the league in that category this season. Given that the Kraken ranked 29th in goals per game this past season, any influx of exciting attacking philosophies and skilled prospects should be welcomed heartily by the fanbase.
Bylsma Had Mixed Tenure with the Penguins and Sabres
Beyond his recent stint with the Firebirds, Bylsma brings a lengthy resume of NHL head coaching experience. Bylsma boasts a career record of 320-190-55 over 565 NHL games split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Buffalo Sabres from 2008 to 2017.
Bylsma’s greatest success at the NHL level came in the 2008-09 season with the Penguins. He steered a talented, but underperforming core of burgeoning stars led by Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin to the Stanley Cup after taking over from the more rigid Michel Therrien midway through the campaign.
The American bench boss led the Penguins to four 100-point seasons in six years but was on pace for five when including his shortened first season. Despite achieving great regular season successes and winning the Jack Adams for his work during the 2010-11 season, Bylsma’s Penguins only reached the Eastern Conference Final once more following his initial postseason success, and he was fired after a second-round exit in the 2014 Playoffs.
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After acting as the head coach of the United States for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Bylsma was hired to lead the Sabres, who were fresh off of the heels of a historic tanking effort in the 2014-15 season. He only won 35 and 33 games in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, respectively, which led to another firing, though the shambolic state of the Sabres organization over the past decade and change should earn him some leeway.
Bylsma’s most recent NHL work was as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings between 2018 and 2021. He then served as an assistant with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers for the 2021-22 season before being tabbed to lead the Kraken’s AHL operation.
Critics will note that Bylsma is an uninspired choice spit out from the familiar carousel of NHL head coaching retreads, but there is no doubt that he has spent ample time working his way back up the ladder. In spending time nurturing the Kraken’s prospects in Coachella Valley, Bylsma gathered a newfound appreciation for the modern player and said he should be better equipped to avoid his previous mistakes.
If nothing else, the familiarity should give Bylsma the confidence to promote his youthful charges quicker and give the Kraken a much-needed jolt after a season of stagnation.
Who Could Join Bylsma’s Coaching Staff?
With Bylsma’s promotion, there is increased attention on the future of Jessica Campbell, the Firebirds’ lead assistant, and the AHL’s first full-time female coach. Despite lacking the top-level experience of other candidates, she brings a unique perspective due to her turbulent and unconventional path to the realm of professional men’s hockey.
Bylsma confirmed at his introductory press conference that Campbell would receive consideration for a job on his coaching staff and also mentioned another Firebirds assistant coach, Stu Bickel, as a potential candidate to join his staff in Seattle.
Jay Leach, a member of Hakstol’s staff, interviewed for the head coaching job and joins the other remaining assistant (Dave Lowry) in being under consideration to stay behind the Kraken bench in his current role.
The Kraken are clearly leaning towards rewarding and promoting their own internal candidates, and after witnessing the success of the Firebirds over the past two seasons, who can blame them?
Bylsma Has a lot to Prove in Seattle
While Bylsma has earned many admirers for his work as an NHL assistant and in the AHL after an unceremonious end to his first run as a head coach, some may take more convincing.
Bylsma’s biggest accomplishment – the Penguins’ 2009 Stanley Cup win – can just as easily be chalked up to a roster filled with multiple current and future Hall-of-Famers in Crosby, Malkin, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury, and Sergei Gonchar. He deserves credit for successfully implementing a more effective approach, but virtually the same group had lost in the Stanley Cup Final just one season prior.
It’s a massive understatement, but the Kraken don’t quite have the same caliber of offensive firepower or defensive acumen on the current roster. Jared McCann led the team in goals (29) and points (62), while Vince Dunn is the best defender on the roster. Both have been borderline all-stars in the past, but neither should ever be mistaken for the primary option for a legitimate Stanley Cup contender.
Bylsma’s miserable stint in Buffalo, coupled with multiple second-round losses following his Cup win, punctured his image as a capable leader outside of the influence of his hallowed players, but his work in the minors suggests he’s evolved and adopted the paradigm for modern coaching.
The skeptics could make the argument that the Kraken could have done better, especially as an organization on the cutting edge of hockey analytics. Still, Bylsma has demonstrated the ability to adapt; will his third head coaching gig lead to the same successes as the first?
