Kraken GM breaks silence over Dave Hakstol firing amid disappointing season

A common theme on Monday afternoon is that the Kraken organization has a ton of respect for Dave Hakstol. General manager Ron Francis spoke highly of his former head coach in his statement. “It’s never an easy day, it’s never an easy decision,” he said, via NHL.com. “We let a guy who’s a good coach and a really good person go, and it’s not easy.”

Hakstol came to the Kraken as the franchise’s first head coach. He coached for parts of four seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers before his time in Seattle. Hakstol helped the Flyers make the Stanley Cup Playoffs twice, including a third-place finish in the Metropolitan Division in 2017-18.

Hakstol’s first season with the Kraken certainly didn’t inspire confidence. However, their 2022-23 season drew a ton of praise for the Alberta native. In fact, he was named as one of the finalists for the Jack Adams Award for coach of the year. The award ultimately went to Boston Bruins bench boss Jim Montgomery.

“If you know Dave, he’s very thorough in his approach, he’s very detailed,” Ron Francis said, via NHL.com. “… He’s the kind of guy that’s going to roll up the sleeves and work and not complain, and I think he did that. But, just, we felt it was time to go in a different direction.”

Kraken head coach among others fired

Dave Hakstol became the 10th head coach in the NHL to be fired this year. He is just the second head coach to receive a pink slip following the end of the regular season. The Buffalo Sabres moved on from Don Granato once their season ended. Buffalo decided to replace Granato with veteran head coach Lindy Ruff.

Hakstol certainly won’t be short of options as he looks for a new job. Some options could be had by the team’s current interim coach. The Los Angeles Kings, for instance, are in the Stanley Cup Playoffs with interim Jim Hiller running the show. However, there are still a few intriguing jobs out there.

For instance, Hakstol could head to the New Jersey Devils. New Jersey had a similarly disappointing 2023-24 NHL season, leading to their firing of Ruff. The former Kraken head coach could work wonders for Jack and Luke Hughes, Simon Nemec, and Timo Meier.

Another potential option is the St. Louis Blues. The Blues fired Stanley Cup champion Craig Berube during the season following a loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Hakstol could help lead a core consisting of Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and Jake Neighbours into the postseason.

Dave Hakstol could be back behind an NHL bench sometime soon. The former Kraken head coach has proven he can be a fine leader in this league. Either way, it’ll certainly be interesting to see what’s next for both Hakstol and Seattle moving forward.