Kraken 24/25 HC speculation

[Fuhrious]

Not to be trite or dissing the board, but does anybody care who is gonna coach this team next year?

Honestly, there aren’t any currently unemployed candidates that overly excite me. Nobody that jumps out as a “I hope Francis gets THAT guy”. It’s kind of why I thought they should just stick with Hak, until word got out that a handful of players wanted him gone?

 

[Fuhrious]

Just saw that he re-upped in Carolina. Would've been a nice fit.

Who re-upped in Carolina btw? I don’t see any signings, coach or player, reported anywhere?

 

[Kevinsane]

Who re-upped in Carolina btw? I don’t see any signings, coach or player, reported anywhere?

Rod Brind’Amour. He was on the wish list for some as the Kraken’s next coach.

 

[Fuhrious]

Rod Brind’Amour. He was on the wish list for some as the Kraken’s next coach.

Gotcha, I really had to dig a bit to find it reported. Weird.

 

[kihei]

Not to be trite or dissing the board, but does anybody care who is gonna coach this team next year?

I just don't want the Kraken to hire a retread coach who thinks that this team has to play boring, clog-the-neutral-zone hockey to survive. And I would like a coach who can develop young players and not nail them to the bench after their first mistake.

 

[Scomerica]

I just don't want the Kraken to hire a retread coach who thinks that this team has to play boring, clog-the-neutral-zone hockey to survive. And I would like a coach who can develop young players and not nail them to the bench after their first mistake.

Wouldn't mind a fresh coach rather than one from the old boys club. Given how risk averse our GM is I doubt that happens though.

Ultimately I just want it to be fun to watch. Last year was kind of boring.

 

[Irie]

Not to be trite or dissing the board, but does anybody care who is gonna coach this team next year?

I definitely do.

I watched probably over 150 of the 164 regular season Kraken games from the first two seasons, but I barely watched half of the games this past season, as I couldn't stand watching Hakstol unable to make adjustments and the team's only gameplan be "outwork" the other team. I want to see the guys work smarter together as a team, and not just harder as individuals.

It was frustrating hockey to watch, and I am someone who can usually watch just about any hockey game anywhere and be entertained and just enjoy it for what it is.

That said, I will watch the games this next season, and I am not even hoping that the new coach has them in a playoff hunt(being realistic here). What I really hope to see is a coach that gets the young guys playing well and won't bench them when they make mistakes, and uses those mistakes as opportunities to teach. I would love to see a lot of the prospects get some limited callup time this season and see what the organization has in them. A good development year for the kids and another top ten draft pick next season would not be the end of the world for me.

 

[majormajor]

I definitely do.

I watched probably over 150 of the 164 regular season Kraken games from the first two seasons, but I barely watched half of the games this past season, as I couldn't stand watching Hakstol unable to make adjustments and the team's only gameplan be "outwork" the other team. I want to see the guys work smarter together as a team, and not just harder as individuals.

It was frustrating hockey to watch, and I am someone who can usually watch just about any hockey game anywhere and be entertained and just enjoy it for what it is.

That said, I will watch the games this next season, and I am not even hoping that the new coach has them in a playoff hunt(being realistic here). What I really hope to see is a coach that gets the young guys playing well and won't bench them when they make mistakes, and uses those mistakes as opportunities to teach. I would love to see a lot of the prospects get some limited callup time this season and see what the organization has in them. A good development year for the kids and another top ten draft pick next season would not be the end of the world for me.

I hope we see kids take off too and that has to be a growing priority, but I'll add a couple things to that.

One is that we really don't have a lot of good upside young guns yet. It's Beniers and Wright and that's about it. Maybe Firkus has a good camp and surprises next year.

The other is that I have watched rebuilds for clubs that started rebuilding 4+, 5+, heck 10+ years ago like the Jackets, Senators, Devils, and Sabres. The "fun young player scoring party" stage is the easy part. Getting them to play highly structured winning hockey after that is the hard part. All of those clubs are failing at it to some degree. The looser it gets for high flying hockey, the longer it takes to reintroduce structure when you want to start winning games.

It's tough. The West is getting stronger and we don't have a lot of young guns. I wonder if we might find more success sticking with a more highly structured veteran heavy team, and gradually adding whatever young talent we can get to that.

I still haven't been talked out of Dean Evason.

 

[Irie]

I hope we see kids take off too and that has to be a growing priority, but I'll add a couple things to that.

One is that we really don't have a lot of good upside young guns yet. It's Beniers and Wright and that's about it. Maybe Firkus has a good camp and surprises next year.

The other is that I have watched rebuilds for clubs that started rebuilding 4+, 5+, heck 10+ years ago like the Jackets, Senators, Devils, and Sabres. The "fun young player scoring party" stage is the easy part. Getting them to play highly structured winning hockey after that is the hard part. All of those clubs are failing at it to some degree. The looser it gets for high flying hockey, the longer it takes to reintroduce structure when you want to start winning games.

It's tough. The West is getting stronger and we don't have a lot of young guns. I wonder if we might find more success sticking with a more highly structured veteran heavy team, and gradually adding whatever young talent we can get to that.

I still haven't been talked out of Dean Evason.

I'm not suggesting a roster full of kids playing shinny hockey. Good mentor vets are a must, and limiting the amount of kids in the lineup per game is important. Giving some of the prospects a taste of the league with limited callups without burning that first year of UFA requirement could be a good thing for both their development and fan interest in getting to know the team's future.

It has to be done right, as there are a lot of pitfalls in exposing a lot of kids to the league in the same season, and like you said, it is easy to fall into the trap of "play the kids", and not realize the damage that strategy can have longterm on the rebuild without safety nets in place.

I expect there will be a sleeper player that seems to come out of nowhere and makes a big jump this season in development, maybe Morrison, Kartye or Fleury, not a top name, but a younger player that fits in a 3rd line or 3rd pairing role. Maybe a guy like Nyman gets a midseason call-up and has a good stretch in a sheltered role. I don't have playoff aspirations for the current team this season, so giving several of the younger guys some injury replacement time is not a concern for me in that they would be throwing away the season.

Hiring a guy like Evason only to have him bench the young players when they push for offense while overplaying guys like Marcus Johnasson is not enticing to me. Probably should have just taught Hakstol how to coach the trap instead

 

[The Marquis]

After watching the Leafs presser with Berube, I’m kinda bummed we didn’t land him. Dude might have been a good fit here

 

[Interior Cascadian]

Not to be trite or dissing the board, but does anybody care who is gonna coach this team next year?

I care. But I’m mostly still fuming they let Hak go in the first place.

 

[The Marquis]

We all definitely care, we’re just mostly Cascadians and acting like we care is a GD chore.

 

[gstommylee]

After watching the Leafs presser with Berube, I’m kinda bummed we didn’t land him. Dude might have been a good fit here

We would have to out bid the leafs if we wanted him that badly and does seattle want to pay that much for a HC?

 

[The Marquis]

We would have to out bid the leafs if we wanted him that badly and does seattle want to pay that much for a HC?

I think the Kraken likely have an open book for paying a head coach, but do they want to coach the team they see? I’d I’m Berube, who’s already been a Leaf, and knows the media there, etc, I’m going to Toronto regardless of money. Be a hero, or a villain. If I’m me, I pick Seattle because I know better.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I think the Kraken likely have an open book for paying a head coach, but do they want to coach the team they see? I’d I’m Berube, who’s already been a Leaf, and knows the media there, etc, I’m going to Toronto regardless of money. Be a hero, or a villain. If I’m me, I pick Seattle because I know better.

Coaching is a high-pressure job on its own. Add Toronto's high expectations and vocal fanbase to that, and I am not sure I would pick to coach them. It is like the boom/bust equivalent of drafting players. Either you win the cup, or you are a failure.

I don't really know who is on Francis' radar, but my hope is that he is someone new and someone who has experience coaching kids already. I feel that Bylsma would be a lazy decision but also one of "He has won a Stanley cup .. yada yada yada. He already has done a great job coaching the kids in Coachella .. yada yada yada."

I would not be surprised if Francis is just waiting for Coachella to wrap up the playoffs till Bylsma is announced as the coach.

 

[Kevinsane]

Coaching is a high-pressure job on its own. Add Toronto's high expectations and vocal fanbase to that, and I am not sure I would pick to coach them. It is like the boom/bust equivalent of drafting players. Either you win the cup, or you are a failure.

I don't really know who is on Francis' radar, but my hope is that he is someone new and someone who has experience coaching kids already. I feel that Bylsma would be a lazy decision but also one of "He has won a Stanley cup .. yada yada yada. He already has done a great job coaching the kids in Coachella .. yada yada yada."

I would not be surprised if Francis is just waiting for Coachella to wrap up the playoffs till Bylsma is announced as the coach.

I concur. Lazy, safe, predictable choice. I really hope the Kraken are more visionary than that.

 

[The Marquis]

Why so much hate for Bylsma? It’s not as if he’s a bad option at all.

 

[sigma six]

Why so much hate for Bylsma? It’s not as if he’s a bad option at all.

Like 4 or 5 straight early playoff exits in Pit, despite all the HOF talent they drafted from their mega-tank era.

Shown the door after only two middling seasons in BUF.

 

[Fuhrious]

Not that he was linked to the Kraken at all, but reports that Keefe is going to NJD.

 

[majormajor]

Like 4 or 5 straight early playoff exits in Pit, despite all the HOF talent they drafted from their mega-tank era.

Shown the door after only two middling seasons in BUF.

He might be a bad coach for all I know, but my recollection of those two first round exits was that Fleury was atrocious.

That Bylsma even got the Sabres to middling level might seem like a miracle in retrospect. They were much worse before and after him.

 

[kihei]

I think the Kraken likely have an open book for paying a head coach, but do they want to coach the team they see? I’d I’m Berube, who’s already been a Leaf, and knows the media there, etc, I’m going to Toronto regardless of money. Be a hero, or a villain. If I’m me, I pick Seattle because I know better.

I wonder what the Leafs paid Berube. North of 5 million? I bet it is somewhere in that range because he likely had no shortage of suitors. He's going to get a lot of grief for that money, so I don't envy him.

I keep thinking the Kraken will go with Bylsma because he represents the path of least resistance and because he is easy to justify. Not a speck of visionary thinking required or risked. Maybe, given the options, it doesn't make much difference. The last team of any kind that I consciously thought "jeez, those guys are well coached," was this year's University of Connecticut's basketball team coached by Dan Hurley...the constant movement, the variety of options, the speed and efficiency of execution, the selflessness, the entire team buying into all that with zeal. No one came to mind like that in hockey. Well, Scotty Bowman did, but that's such ancient history it might have taken place in another universe. So I probably should just shut up about hockey coaches and hope for the best.

 

[KrakenSabresMike]

He might be a bad coach for all I know, but my recollection of those two first round exits was that Fleury was atrocious.

That Bylsma even got the Sabres to middling level might seem like a miracle in retrospect. They were much worse before and after him.

Before you crap on that Sabres team look at that roster and how many are key pieces in recent or current cup contending teams. The coaching has been has been a disaster there disco Dan included. He was a real failure with the talent they had. Roster attached

And worse after was Ralph Kruger who may be the worst coach in the league in the last 10 years - no joke - not the standard we want here to
Compare success against. Disco Dan was also not connected to his players at all in Buffalo creating a big issue and his system is very meh ( ask penguins fans as well - they warned us when he took over the Sabres and ended up being very right)

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Why so much hate for Bylsma? It’s not as if he’s a bad option at all.

Same reasons as what @sigma six mentioned. His limited success with the Penguins makes me apprehensive of hiring him as the Kraken HC. And yes, he has done a good job with the Firebirds but that team has a lot of talent on it.

At this point I have mentally accepted the fact that Bylsma is going to be our next HC. Francis took a "risk" in hiring Hakstol with his limited success in the NHL. I expect him to do a 180, go with someone more experienced like Bylsma. I can already see his statement when making the announcement:

- Years of NHL experience
- Both AHL and NHL playoff success and Stanley Cup winner (and hopefully Calder Cup)
- Good work with the kids at the Pro level (AHL)

He is pretty much the opposite of Hakstol in a lot of ways.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Seems like the guy almost everyone thought wa the logical choice might become the guy.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1793426878793171114

Sharks, Kraken continue to evaluate coach candidates — The Fourth Period

The Sharks and Kraken have interviewed multiple candidates for their Head Coach vacancies.

www.thefourthperiod.com

I think we can all act really surprised when Francis annoucnes the new head coach being his good buddy Dean Evson.

 

[The Marquis]

Wasn’t Evason ranked as the most attractive head coach physically by some computer program that judging attractiveness based on facial symmetry? There was a thread on the main board a couple of years ago.