Bylsma closing in on AHL championship with Kraken affiliate
Former Penguins coach grateful for chance with Coachella Valley long after Stanley Cup win
ByPatrick Williams
NHL.com Independent Correspondent
Dan Bylsma had decisions to make a few years ago about where his coaching career was headed.
He had been an assistant coach with the Detroit Red Wings for three seasons (2018-21), but it was with the Pittsburgh Penguins where Bylsma made a name for himself. Arriving as an in-season replacement during the 2008-09 season, he them to a Stanley Cup championship. He then compiled a 49-25-8 record in 2010-11 with Pittsburgh that won him the Jack Adams Award as the best coach in the NHL.
He won 51 games in two of the next three seasons but was fired in 2014. Along the way, he coached the United States at the 2014 Winter Olympics and had three more stints representing his country as an assistant at the IIHF World Championship, which featured bronze medals in 2015 and 2018.
However, two losing seasons followed after Bylsma moved on to become Buffalo Sabres coach (2015-17) and after his tenure with Detroit ended, he was faced with a decision.
He wanted to teach again.
As a player, after all, Bylsma experienced the learning process. He was a sixth-round pick (No. 109) by the Winnipeg Jets at the 1989 NHL Draft, worked his way through the minor leagues and went on to play 429 NHL games. He later had a chance to be an assistant coach for parts of three seasons (2006-09) in the American Hockey League with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, teaching Penguins prospects. As the NHL's top development league, it was a great fit.
"I like where it's brought me to," Bylsma said of his coaching journey. "One thing that I enjoyed about my journey and being in [Wilkes-Barre/Scranton] is the development process and the player and the team and getting in on with the player. It's all about the player.
"They're on a journey. They have goals to get to the National Hockey League, so there's an amount of work and attitude [to] getting better at what you are as a player, and that's enjoyable."
Last season, the expansion Seattle Kraken housed their prospects with Charlotte in a dual affiliation with the Florida Panthers. That plan was put in place while the Kraken worked to set up their own AHL affiliate, Coachella Valley, while a new arena was being built in Palm Desert, California, just outside of Palm Springs.
So, with Seattle able to place an assistant with Charlotte, Bylsma fit that role and worked there in 2021-22. After the dual affiliation was completed, he became Coachella Valley's first head coach and is closing in on AHL championship.
Game 3 of the best-of-7 Calder Cup Finals is at Hershey (Washington Capitals) on Tuesday after Coachella Valley won the first two games by a combined 9-0 margin at home. It finished second in the AHL during the regular season with a 48-17-5-2 record and 103 points.
"I've been really energized by getting back with Charlotte last year," Bylsma said. "And with this group of guys, you get to be in with the player, put a player on a plan, and have him work toward getting to his ultimate goal of getting to the National Hockey League.
"The joy of doing that with (undrafted AHL rookie of the year) Tye Kartye is what I love about coaching."
It's a long way from when Bylsma reached the top of the coaching profession. He's back riding the bus, working a demanding AHL schedule in a spotlight not nearly as bright.
"Some humbling, for sure," Bylsma said with a smile. "I thanked the guys in Charlotte last year and I'm going to thank these guys this year because they remind me and they energize me about what coaching is all about. Getting in on the ground floor with a player, working with a player, working with a team and having them respond, having them buy in and develop as individuals and develop as a team is what I got last year by going back to Charlotte."
And after experiencing the highs and lows of the NHL coaching life, Bylsma said that he has what he wants with Coachella Valley.
"I'm not looking for that to be anywhere else," Bylsma said. "Coming back to the American Hockey League has inspired me. It's gotten me back [to] and reminded me of what I enjoy about coaching and what I like about coaching and the challenges of coaching, and I'm super excited about that. I've got it here. My goal as a coach is I don't ever want to lose that. I think I needed to be reminded of that a little bit as my coaching journey has gone on. I think that realization and getting that passion back for working with the players, getting on the ground level with the players and developing the players is giving me great satisfaction, and [I am] perfectly happy with it being right here."
"[Teaching is] what I love about coaching, so it doesn't really matter what level that's at. But I think it's super-evident at the American Hockey League level, and so it's been it's been awesome for me to get this opportunity to be able to do that."
