It happened 1:42 into the second period. That was the time when Shane Wright scored his first professional goal. No, it wasn’t at Climate Pledge Arena for the Kraken, but rather the Scotiabank Saddledome in Calgary, where he was playing for the Coachella Valley Firebirds. Wright was making his American Hockey League debut on Tuesday, and it was the first game he played in his 14-day conditioning assignment. The Kraken had sent the fourth overall pick of the NHL Draft to the Firebirds on Sunday.
Back in Seattle, earlier in the day, Seattle coach Dave Hakstol talked about the AHL assignment.
“Great, great opportunity for him to go and play some real valuable minutes at a high level, in an important role down there,” Hakstol said. “He’ll get that opportunity to start with tonight.”
Wright played on a line with Ville Petman and Kole Lind Tuesday, and the goal he turned in wasn’t cheap.
After a neutral zone turnover, Wright turned on the jets the other way and beat the reigning AHL Goalie of the Year and former Everett Silvertip legend Dustin Wolf over his shoulder.
It was a goal that might be overlooked on any other AHL night, and while it tied the game at 1-1, Coachella Valley would ultimately lose the game 5-3. But it had to be a huge relief for the 18-year-old rookie.
He’s played in seven NHL games with Seattle and has one assist to show for his work in very limited minutes. It’s not the script that everyone expected for a player that hopes to have a stellar NHL career ahead of him.
Just to be able to send him to the AHL for two weeks, the Kraken had to scratch Wright for five straight games. You would understand if he was down or frustrated because of his lack of playing time. If he is, he’s never shown it. Wright practices hard daily, has never let up, and is all smiles in the dressing room with his teammates.
“It’s not always easy to do on a daily basis, and he’s been able to do that on a daily basis,” Hakstol said. “That’s where I compliment him, to be able to have that mindset every day, to be able to wake up and come to work with a real positive outlook and a good work ethic is really, really important.”
The goal was the highlight, but Wright played strong throughout the night. After scoring, he made another play where he nearly split two defenders, forcing one to take him down, and drawing a penalty. He forced a turnover on a forecheck that led to a chance on goal and made a couple heady passes that led to shots on goal.
After being sent down on Sunday, Wright was able to get one full practice in with the Firebirds before Tuesday night’s game. He will next hit the ice on Thursday with a rematch in Calgary against the Wranglers.
He stands to get into five games with Coachella Valley before his time is up there, and then the questions will rev up again. Is he ready after a little time the AHL? Will he crack Seattle’s lineup and get meaningful playing time? Will he be sent back to the Ontario Hockey League for the rest of the season?
The answers are all still up in the air. But, there is a possibility that the Kraken loan Wright to Team Canada to play in this winter’s World Junior Championship, which will give him another opportunity to play against top talent closer to his age group.
“That’s an option that’s available,” Hakstol said. “But you know, I’m certainly not jumping to that yet. Lets go one step at a time here. And this was the right timing for Shane to go and be able to play some real valuable minutes in Coachella. And that’s what we’re focused on now.”
Eyebrows were raised around the hockey world when the Seattle Kraken announced in Aug., 2021, that Dan Bylsma was joining the organization and would serve as assistant coach for the Charlotte Checkers. The news immediately got some wheels turning—at least here at Sound Of Hockey—that perhaps Bylsma could be putting himself in line to become the first head coach of the Coachella Valley Firebirds.
Lo and behold, some 10 months later, the Firebirds and Kraken officially announced on Tuesday that Bylsma will be handed the reins.
The Coachella Valley @Firebirds have named Dan Bylsma as the first-ever Head Coach in franchise history!
At the time he joined Charlotte, it was a bit surprising that Bylsma, who won a Stanley Cup as the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2008-09, would take an AHL assistant role. It seemed like a step back for the former NHL coach, but in retrospect, it was plain to see how he was positioning himself.
“Talking to [Kraken general manager Ron Francis] last season about the opportunity to coach in Charlotte, [Coachella Valley] was on my mind,” Bylsma said Tuesday. “We needed a coach for the development of players in Charlotte last season, but I knew down the road that we’d be going to Coachella, and that would be there.”
Bylsma’s foresight and gamble on himself paid off.
An impressive coaching resume
Bylsma boasts an impressive resume. After a 12-year pro playing career that included 429 NHL games with the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Mighty Ducks, he went right into coaching as an assistant for the AHL’s Cincinnati Mighty Ducks. During the 2008-09 season, Bylsma was promoted mid-season from head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, replacing the fired Michel Therrien. The NHL Penguins responded well to Bylsma, and he led them to their first Stanley Cup since 1992.
The Grand Haven, Mich., native won the Jack Adams Award in 2010-11, coached Team USA at the Sochi Olympics in 2014, and was the fastest coach ever to reach 250 career NHL wins.
In June, 2014, he was relieved of his duties by the Penguins and eventually signed on as the head coach of the Buffalo Sabres starting in 2015. He lasted two seasons there before returning to his hometown Detroit Red Wings, where he was an assistant coach for three seasons before joining the Kraken organization.
Coachella Valley Firebirds coach Bylsma will focus on development
Now back in the AHL, Bylsma knows the focus is on helping young players reach their potential. “A huge responsibility in the organization for the Seattle Kraken is the development of the players and development of the young players coming into the organization,” he said. “Getting an opportunity to do that as a head coach in the American Hockey League is something I take a great deal of pride in, and I’m excited about that opportunity to do it.”
Bylsma has already been working with young Kraken players in Charlotte, where he guided prospects like Alexander True, Cale Fleury, and Max McCormick, three players he thinks are close to being full-timers in the NHL. Getting those types of players over the hump and onto the next level now falls more squarely on Bylsma’s shoulders, but he is ready for the challenge and has been in this position before.
“I think when we look at it from an organization standpoint, it’s such a critical part of the process for us,” added Francis. “We draft these young men, and we ask them to go and play in the American Hockey League, and we try and draft and develop them to get to the NHL. So having a guy with that sort of pedigree—he’s coached at all levels, AHL, NHL, World Championships, he’s won a Stanley Cup, he’s been coach of the year in the NHL—we feel very fortunate we have somebody like Dan to lead that charge and help the development of our young players.”
Plenty of work left to be done in building the Coachella Valley Firebirds
When the inaugural Kraken season ended, Francis went through a laundry list of AHL-related projects ahead of him for this offseason, as he is now tasked with building out the Firebirds from scratch. Deciding on a head coach was one of those items, but that was just the start.
“I would say [the list of responsibilities] is slightly shorter, but it’s still a long list,” Francis said. Some hires left to be made include an athletic trainer, assistant coaches, goalie coaches at both the NHL and AHL levels, a video coach, a skills coach, and—oh, by the way—almost a full roster of players.
Adding one more wrinkle to what will surely be a challenging first season for Coachella Valley, their home venue, Acrisure Arena, will not open until at least December, and their practice facility will not open until at least mid-October.
So, Francis said the AHL team would start the season in Seattle and “play some games up in this area,” making the Kraken Community Iceplex the home base for the Firebirds initially. They will then transition to Coachella Valley when their practice arena opens.
There are plenty of questions left to answer before the Coachella Valley Firebirds can take flight. For now, with Bylsma as the team’s first head coach, one big question has been resolved.
When the NHL Seattle franchise was in its infancy, the only thing fans seemed to want to talk about was what the name of the team would be. The organization did a brilliant job of keeping the moniker and logo close to the vest and somehow avoided any leaks in advance of the official announcement in July, 2020. The name of the Coachella Valley AHL franchise wasn’t guarded quite as closely, as all signs pointed toward the team being called the Firebirds.
On Friday, Tim Leiweke, CEO of Oak View Group, joined local leaders from around Coachella Valley to officially unveil the Coachella Valley Firebirds name and logo.
Welcome to the family, @Firebirds! Can't wait to visit you in Coachella Valley!
The logo was designed by Brian Gundell, who also created the secondary Kraken logo and was responsible for the recent re-brand of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks.
The logo is red with orange accents and features a menacing, fire-breathing bird rising out of flames. The bird has an icy blue eye, an obvious nod to the Seattle Kraken, for which the Firebirds will serve as the top minor-league affiliate. The logo also gives a nod to the mid-century modern design that is so prevalent around the Coachella Valley.
The logo and name are meant to compliment the Kraken by being the “yin to the Kraken’s yang.” While the mythical Kraken lives in the depths of the ocean, the Firebird soars above.
Coachella Valley Firebirds primary logo
Coachella Valley Firebirds secondary logo
By calling the team the “Coachella Valley Firebirds,” instead of the Palm Springs Firebirds or something similar, the organization looks to be more inclusive for the whole region.
“Over the last two years, and after listening to fans, our leadership, and partners, we’ve been heavily involved in identifying the best team name and brand to represent the nine cities of the Coachella Valley,” said Leiweke. “As a proud resident of the valley, I think the Firebirds has a meaningful representation for the beauty and what people experience when they come to our great community.”
Leiweke also indicated that the franchise has received 3,000 season ticket deposits, and he is hopeful that they sell out all their games, a rarity among AHL franchises. Members of a local youth team, the Desert Blaze, briefly joined Leiweke on stage. Leiweke reminded those in attendance that a practice facility was also being built as part of the massive arena construction project, and that it would serve as the new home of organizations like the Blaze.
The AHL team’s website was officially launched at cvfirebirds.com, and merchandise is already on sale.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds are expected to begin play during the 2022-23 season, though Leiweke indicated to the Sound Of Hockey Podcast in October that the arena is unlikely to be ready for the start of the season.
After running through several forecasted protection lists and countless mock expansion drafts, I found that there are a few NHL teams that do not have much to offer the Kraken this July.
Part of the task of Ron Francis and company is to identify any expansion candidates that are projected to either have future potential or are being underutilized with their current teams. While some of these players are buried on depth charts in the NHL behind other players, others might be stuck in the AHL.
Here is my projected list of five potential AHL candidates that could be selected in the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft this July.
Tyler Benson – LW – Edmonton Oilers
There are a lot of questions facing Edmonton’s approach to the Expansion Draft. Will they sign Ryan Nugent-Hopkins to a contract extension before the Expansion Draft? Does Edmonton protect four defensemen in the Expansion Draft to protect Caleb Jones? The former could answer the latter. If RNH is not re-signed, then they are more likely to protect four forwards and four defenseman which will expose Tyler Benson.
Benson is having quite the season in Bakersfield with 23 points in 19 games. He has consistently produced since turning pro but has failed to break into the NHL on a consistent basis with only one point in seven NHL games last season. Benson, a former Vancouver Giants star in the Western hockey Leauge, is a smart player but is not yet at the elite skill level of a lot of NHLers which will limit his ability to play at that level. His projection in the NHL is a solid third liner.
Ty Ronning – RW – New York Rangers
The Rangers do not have much to offer in the Expansion Draft which makes taking a chance on Ty Ronning not much of a risk. Ronning, another former Vancouver Giant, has been called up to the NHL taxi squad three times this season but has yet to crack the NHL lineup. He has only played in seven games for the Hartford Wolfpack this season but has nine points including six goals to show for it. This speedster is undersized and will be turning 24 in October.
Adam Mascherin – LW/C – Dallas Stars
Dallas is another team that does not have a whole lot to offer in the Expansion Draft. Mascherin has 12 goals in 20 games playing for the Texas Stars in the AHL. His weakness is his skating skills which he makes up for in the strength of his shot and scoring goals. He could pan out to be a solid middle-six forward in the NHL.
Jonah Gadjovich – LW – Vancouver Canucks
We have been zeroing in on Kole Lind in Vancouver for a while now, and for good reason; he is good. Lind has eight points in eight games with the Utica Comets of the AHL and was recently called up to the Taxi Squad. We have come to the realization that the Canucks will figure out a way to protect him which probably means exposing Tyler Motte or trading Jake Virtanen.
Meanwhile, Jonah Gadjovich has been having himself a pretty good season in the AHL. Gadjovich has eight goals in nine games for Utica. He’s a bit of a feisty throwback that plays a well-rounded game while getting under the skin of opponents.
Cam Dineen – D – Arizona Coyotes
Most of us at Sound Of Hockey believe the pick out of Arizona will be backup goalie Adin Hill. If the Coyotes end up trading starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper, then Arizona will protect Hill which does not leave much to select from on the Coyotes roster.
22-year-old defenseman Cam Dineen could be the best option for the Kraken. Dineen is an offensive-minded defenseman that should have a future in the NHL.
These dark horse AHL candidates will not excite any mainstream hockey fans come draft day, but they offer very little risk with lots of upside potential down the road. They could be shrewd moves that pay off in a few years.
