Seattle Kraken coach Dave Hakstol, a nominee for the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 2022-23, was sacked by the team on Monday, less than a year after signing a contract extension.
The Kraken finished with 19 less points in 2023-24, missing the playoffs by 17 points.
The season began slowly, with a 13-game point streak, an eight-game winless stretch, a nine-game winning streak leading up to the Winter Classic, and another eight-game drop in March.
“We appeared to be up and down more this year than we had been,” general manager Ron Francis said at a news conference.
Francis described the coaching change as a difficult decision, emphasizing that he did not believe the players had tuned out Hakstol.
“They worked hard for him.” “We just didn’t get the results we wanted,” Francis explained.
He stated that the hunt for a new coach will begin immediately but did not provide a deadline for a hire.
Hakstol became the expansion Kraken’s first coach. They entered the NHL as the 32nd team in 2021-22 and finished last in the Pacific Division with a record of 27-49-6. They improved by 40 points previous season, finishing with 100 points, and earned a playoff spot in their second season.
The Kraken also said assistant coach Paul McFarland, who oversaw the NHL’s 17th-ranked power play, won’t be back next season.
Hakstol is the third NHL coach to be fired since the end of the regular season, joining the Buffalo Sabres’ Don Granato and the San Jose Sharks’ David Quinn. The Sabres hired Lindy Ruff as coach.
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