Dan Bylsma was named coach of the Seattle Kraken on Tuesday.
The 53-year-old, who won the Stanley Cup as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2009, replaces Dave Hakstol and is the Kraken’s second coach since they joined the NHL as an expansion team for the 2021-22 season.
Bylsma will coach in the NHL for the first time since 2016-17 with the Buffalo Sabres. He is 320-190-55 in 565 NHL games with the Penguins and Sabres.
“I think coaching in the National Hockey League is a great honor and privilege, and it’s a partnership with the organization and the general manager,” Bylsma said, directing his statement to Kraken general manager Ron Francis. “And I think over the last three years, I’ve been really honored that you think I’m the right person to do that for you and your team, so I appreciate that.”
Bylsma has spent the last two seasons coaching Coachella Valley, Seattle’s American Hockey League affiliate. Last season, Coachella Valley reached the Calder Cup finals and this season they reached the Western Conference finals. The first game of that series is Wednesday in Palm Springs, California, against Milwaukee (Nashville Predators). Bylsma will remain in his position with the AHL team until the playoffs.
“I’m a pretty present and focused person in the now, in the moment,” Bylsma said. “For (the Coachella Valley), for the players, it’s all about now and this moment.”
Bylsma believes his time in the Coachella Valley will give him an advantage when he returns to the NHL next season.
“I’m familiar with a lot of the players and staff here and I think we have a chance to build something special together,” he said. “I would like to thank everyone at the Coachella Valley Firebirds for welcoming my wife and I with open arms, and I would like to thank (owner) Samantha Holloway and the entire Kraken ownership group, as well as Ron Francis, for trusting me with this opportunity.”
The Kraken (34-35-3) fired Hakstol on April 29. They failed to reach the Stanley Cup playoffs, finishing sixth in the Pacific Division, one season after advancing to the Second Round of the Western Conference, a seven-game loss to Dallas. Stars.
“I think there will be a lot of similarities (in playstyle), and we’ll discuss some of the things here as we go forward, things that we might want to tweak that maybe we weren’t doing as well.” Francis said. “Last year our offense certainly fell off, so we need to find a way to change some things in the offensive zone to get it back… (Bylsma) brings passion to the court every day, his teams play hard every day . They play.”
Bylsma was the coach of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Penguins’ AHL affiliate, when he replaced Michel Therrien in Pittsburgh on February 15, 2009; At 38 years old, he was then the youngest coach in the NHL. The Penguins finished the 2008-09 season 18-3-4 and defeated the Detroit Red Wings in seven games to win the Cup.
Two seasons later, he won the Jack Adams Award and was voted NHL Coach of the Year as the Penguins went 49-25-8 despite missing 350 man games due to injuries and losing forwards Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin in the last 35 games of the regular season. .
He coached the Sabers for two seasons (2015-17), missing the playoffs each season.
After his time in Buffalo, Bylsma was an assistant coach for three seasons with the Detroit Red Wings (2018-21), then was hired by Seattle as an assistant with Charlotte of the AHL in 2021-22, when he was affiliated with the Kraken. and Florida Panthers.
Bylsma confirmed that when he took the job with Charlotte, he hoped it would lead to a coaching position in the Coachella Valley.
“One might wonder why, perhaps, my path led me to Charlotte,” Bylsma said. “But really, it was… I was grateful to Ron at the time for just giving me the opportunity to coach again. I had taken a few years off from being a head coach, and I really decided that I wanted to give it one more chance to get back to it.” being a head coach and that’s really what brought me to Charlotte. I had my eye on CV, I’ll say that.”
Bylsma said Jessica Campbell, his assistant coach in the AHL, emerged as a possibility to join his staff in Seattle. If she does, she would be the first woman to be an assistant coach in the NHL.
“The (Kraken) coaching staff, Jay Leach and (Dave Lowry) are people I would like to talk to in the future,” Bylsma said. “And the potential of bringing someone else into the organization to complement the players, to complement myself as a coach, and Jessica has been part of that conversation, (Coachella Valley assistant) Stu Bickel has been part of that conversation “They’ve done that in recent years in player development there, Tye Kartye and Ryker Evans are proof of that, and that’s why they’re part of the conversation about moving forward with the staff here.”
Francis said he and Bylsma would discuss the rest of the coaching staff, as well as a replacement for Bylsma with the AHL team, at a later date.
“Dan and I have had conversations about our current staff and who might be available,” Francis said. “I haven’t had any conversations with Jessica about that at this point. However, I think the work that she’s done… the reason we hired her, we didn’t hire her because she’s a woman, we hired her because I think she’s a good coach. She has an interesting background not only in skating, but also in skill development, and that’s been a big part of what they’ve been able to do with Coachella Valley.”
Bylsma also coached the United States at the 2014 Sochi Olympics and was an assistant with the New York Islanders (2005-06) and in the AHL with Cincinnati (2004-05) before joining Wilkes-Barre/Scranton as an assistant in 2006. .
He played 429 NHL games as a forward for the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Mighty Ducks after being drafted in the sixth round (No. 109) by the Winnipeg Jets in the 1989 NHL Draft. He earned the nickname “Disco Dan” while playing for Phoenix of the International Hockey League from 1994 to 1996.
The San Jose Sharks are the only team without a coach. Since the regular season ended, the Sabers signed Lindy Ruff on April 22, Travis Green joined the Ottawa Senators on May 7, the Toronto Maple Leafs named Craig Berube to the job on May 17, Sheldon Keefe He was signed by the New Jersey Devils on May 23. and Scott Arniel became coach of the Winnipeg Jets the next day.
NHL.com freelance correspondent Darren Brown contributed to this report.
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