Seattle Kraken Fire Head Coach After 1 Season

The Seattle Kraken announced Monday that they have relieved Head Coach Dan Bylsma of his coaching duties. General Manager Ron Francis said in a statement “We thank Dan for his commitment and the energy he brought to our organization over the past four years at the NHL and AHL levels, 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.”

Seattle Kraken Making Changes After Season

The Seattle Kraken are expected to make changes including Ron Francis being named team president and Assistant General Manager Jason Botterill being promoted to General Manager, a source confirmed to ESPN amid multiple media reports.

However, Assistant Coach Jessica Campbell, who is the first woman to be behind a bench in NHL history, is being retained, a source told ESPN. She signed a two-year contract with the club last season. The Kraken are the 32nd NHL team that debuted in the 2021-22 season. The Kraken, who fired Dave Hakstol last season, will be searching for their third head coach in as many seasons.

Bylsma coached the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins. The Kraken believed that Bylsma could bring his AHL success into the Kraken, either returning to the playoffs or being a team that challenged for a postseason berth for most of the season. Instead, the Kraken went 35-41-6, finishing seventh in the Pacific Division and missing the playoffs for the third time in their four-season history.

Byslma is now the eighth coach this NHL season to be fired. He now joins Jim Montgomery, Drew Bannister,  Luke Richardson, Derek Lalonde, John Tortorella, Greg Cronin, and Peter Laviolette. 

Final Thoughts

Since the playoffs were out of the picture for the Seattle Kraken, they were active in the NHL deadline by trading with the Tampa Bay Lightning for first-round draft picks in the 2026 and 2027 NHL drafts while also receiving Brandon Tanev and Daniel Sprong.

The Seattle Kraken have a three-player restricted free agent class led by Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick of the 2019 NHL Draft. He was acquired in a trade this season. The Kraken have most of their team under contract next season. The Kraken also has more than $21.7 million in projected available cap space that could be used to strengthen a roster that’s trying to challenge in a Western Conference landscape that saw 11 teams finish with more than 89 points.