Bylsma will be looking to get the Kraken back to the Stanley Cup Playoffs, where they advanced in their second season in their history, in 2023. They were eliminated in the Western Conference Second Round by the Dallas Stars in seven games. Seattle missed the playoffs last season, resulting in Dave Hakstol, their first coach, being fired April 29.
“The players here have fully energized me by their mindset, their personality, their drive and desire to not only be the best they can be, but to get this team to be the best we can be as a group,” he said. “I was still energized before, but I’m even more energized because of meeting these guys, seeing who they are and what they are and the possibility of what we can become.”
Bylsma spoke with NHL.com this week about coaching again, familiarity with the Kraken roster thanks to his time with Coachella Valley and Jessica Campbell becoming the first woman to be a full-time assistant coach in the NHL.
You mention being energized. Did you lose that desire to coach at some point in the past?
“Well, there have been times when I’ve purposely and sometimes not purposely changed my demeanor a little bit with the team, with the group. I look back on that as a mistake now and don’t want that to be the case anymore going forward.”
You mean whatever you were feeling was coming out toward them?
“Yes. I’d say whether by hook or crook, sometimes the game can force, you can be humiliated by the game and that can change your demeanor. At times, I changed it of my own accord. I lament that the last two years have reenergized my focus on what it means to be the head coach for both the individual and the player. That’s the way it will be going forward.”
Were there coaching opportunities before Coachella Valley, or were you pulling back from looking?
“I can’t misrepresent and say there were opportunities I said no to. That was not the case. There were opportunities I didn’t pursue to the fullest extent. That was the case.
“After Buffalo, I took a year off from coaching and was still contemplating whether I wanted to go back and I credit (former Red Wings coach) Jeff Blashill for asking me to come to the World Championship (with the United States men’s team in 2017) and asked me to join the staff in Detroit (in 2018), as getting me back into the mindset of what it means to be a coach and to get back to being a coach. That was a big turn for me, personally, and my mindset of being a coach. I had taken that year off. I got back in with the invitation from Jeff to get to the World Championships, and that reignited where I wanted to go on my journey.”
You’ll be coaching some of the players you had in Coachella Valley the past season or two. How much does that familiarity help?
“I actually feel like grateful for the familiarity of the last three years being here at training camp, with most of the guys that are here. I’ve talked with Jared McCann, at least from the beginning of the year of the last three years. Most of the guys, there are only a few who haven’t been here for three years, and obviously a few have been added. I’m a little familiar with them, they’re a little familiar with me. That helps a lot.
“Shane Wright and Tye Kartye and Riker Evans, Joey Daccord, it’s really good for me to know and believe in them, what they’ve done as players, how they’ve worked over the last few years, the successes they’ve had. I think they know me as well, that they know what I expect, and they can help kind of lead the way with what the expectations are for the players. Gustav Olofsson, he had a great camp because he knew exactly what was expected of him, what he needed to do, and he went out and did it.
“Shane Wright, I feel the same way (about). He is a great player, he is going to become a great player, He’s done that over the last year in CV, but I think together, there’s a good comfort feeling. He knows what I expect of him as a player, and the comfort of knowing he can do it. He knows what the expectations are, and he can go out and do it. If he does it, it’s going to mean success for him as a player. He’s had a huge maturation process since training camp two years ago. He’s the same dude, but there’s just a ton more confidence in him as a person and as an individual and he’s showing it.”
You’re entering the third season with Jessica Campbell on your staff. How has she improved since first joining you in Coachella Valley?
“I would just say that being able to establish the rapport and respect and relationship with the players. In order to do that, you have to have skill and knowledge to be able to give it to them. Did she grow in that area or just prove it over the course of two years that that’s what she’s capable of doing? That’s what she’s probably helped me the most on.”
She said you told her she got the Kraken assistant coaching job over dinner with your wife, Mary Beth, and it was an emotional night for her.
“Well, I mean we had a lot of conversations, and she probably didn’t know she was getting interviewed for a handful of those conversations as the season wound down in CV. For a good two and a half weeks, I didn’t know I was getting the (Kraken) job either. So, we had some conversations, then we had some after I did get the job, which she probably didn’t know were interviews. She probably should have (laughs).”
So, what’s it going to feel like to be back behind the bench come puck drop on Tuesday?
“I mean, I guess the clock’s going to be running for the first time at 1:30 (PT) on Tuesday on opening day, but even the exhibition games have been really good for me personally to get behind the bench with NHL guys. What the guys have shown me in the last 14 days has just been really refreshing for me and really energizing for me and excited about what we can do as a team going forward because of it.”
