“He’s a terrific person,” said Francis about Hakstol. “There's a lot of sacrifice that goes in not only by him, but by his wife and his family. It's never easy to make a decision like this and tell somebody that you're relieving them of their duties. It's an extremely sad day in that regard.”
Hakstol was hired as the first-ever Seattle head coach in June 2021 in preparation for the Kraken’s inaugural season. That expansion-year squad endured a rash of early injuries, and the projected top-12 forward group played together in the regular season for just two periods. The team looked stronger in the second half of the inaugural year, blending in the 10-game debut of 2023 rookie of the year Matty Beniers.
The 2022-23 season went much better for the Kraken and their fans. A highlight and key factor of the regular season's success was never losing more than three games in a row. Seattle ended seven three-game losing streaks over the year, each time winning the fourth game to stay firmly in the playoff hunt and secure the top wild-card postseason spot in the Western Conference with a strong March and April.
In a thrilling first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Kraken ousted defending champion Colorado with goaltender Philipp Grubauer starring against his former team and trade acquisition Oliver Bjorkstrand, scoring both goals in a 2-1 Game 7 win. Seattle took the Dallas Stars to seven games en route to falling just short of reaching the Western Conference final. Hakstol was nominated for the Jack Adams NHL Coach of the Year award for the 2022-23 season.
During the just-completed regular season, Hakstol and his staff faced major injuries to forward Andre Burakovsky both early and midseason (missing 33 games), plus defenseman Vince Dunn leaving the lineup during a key stretch during what was hoped to be a push to the playoffs. Oft-underrated forward Jaden Schwartz missed 20 games, and fellow alternate captain Jordan Eberle played six weeks with a broken hand after sustaining the injury in the fourth game of the season.
Seattle got off to a slow start to the third season, going 1-4-1 to begin the year and losing eight straight games from late November through Dec. 10. The Kraken responded with a franchise-record 13-game point streak, punctuated by a nine-game winning streak. From there, the season took a wrong turn, with Seattle losing eight of the next 10 games, earning just three total standings points to fall behind in the wild-card race. The season ended with the Kraken posting an 8-13-2 record from March 1 to mid-April.
“We seemed to be up and down more this year than we had [in past seasons],” said Francis.
Seattle represented Hakstol’s second NHL head coaching position. He posted a 134-101-42 record with Philadelphia from 2015 to 2019, taking the Flyers to the playoffs in two of three full seasons. Hakstol proved his coaching mettle with NCAA Division powerhouse North Dakota, leading the team to seven Frozen Fours in 11 seasons, coaching what turned out to be more than 30 future NHL players and another 40-plus who went on to play professional hockey in the American Hockey League and Europe.
Francis said the head coach search will start “immediately” and he has no definite timeline to make a choice. He allowed a coach adept at working young players into the lineup will be a priority. The Kraken prospect pipeline is already considered top third in the NHL over just three drafts and some adroit signings of undrafted free agents such as Tye Kartye and Logan Morrison.
“That’s a key to our future, right?” said Francis, who was both subdued and business-like, speaking with a gaggle of media reporters and cameras on tripods. “So we can continue to develop the prospects we think we have, and they become really good NHL players. That's going to allow us to be a really good team.
"If we're not able [including the new head coach] to unlock that potential, then we end up being kind of mediocre. It's going to hurt us moving forward. You know, we're focused on winning today and we also have an idea of the future and making sure that our prospects continue to develop and they're ready to step in to play significant roles for the Kraken.”
