The Seattle Kraken’s 2024-25 season ended in much the same way as their prior campaign: another year of watching the playoffs from afar, with their head coach again being shown the door—this time after just one season behind the bench. Now that the dust has settled on Dan Bylsma’s firing and Jason Botterill’s move into the general manager’s seat, speculation about who will succeed Bylsma will surely begin to heat up.
The Kraken are historically tight-lipped about who they are interviewing, but it never hurts to make some educated guesses about which coach could land behind the bench next season.
A chaotic offseason ahead on the coaching carousel
In the coming months, the coaching carousel is going to spin faster and more furiously than we’ve ever seen before. Including the New York Rangers—who already got their next guy in former Penguins coach Mike Sullivan—and the Anaheim Ducks—who opted to accept the PR fallout of putting Joel Quenneville back behind an NHL bench—eight out of 32 teams plan to enter next season with a new head coach at the helm. There’s still a chance more teams could part ways with their respective bench bosses as well.
What this means for the Kraken is that if they’re looking to lure one of the biggest available coaching names out there, they’ll face competition from around the NHL and may have to prove to their preferred candidate why Seattle is the right fit.
The good news on this front is that there’s a case to be made for Seattle as one of the more attractive destinations among the markets seeking new coaches. The organization has a strong prospect pool with young players knocking at the door, salary cap space and draft capital to improve this summer, and an ownership group committed to becoming a sustained winner in the near future.
That said, there are also draws in other cities, including the lore of more traditional markets like Boston, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh—not to mention the chance to coach a budding superstar like Connor Bedard in Chicago.
What the Kraken need in a coach
At the Kraken’s end-of-season presser, in which they officially introduced Jason Botterill as the next general manager of the team, I asked Botterill if he has any criteria in mind for his next coach. Here’s what he said:
“That’s something that we look forward to, just beginning our discussions and getting to know people a little bit better from that standpoint. I think one that’s— there’s going to be a lot of attributes that you certainly come into. I think finding someone who’s a leader down there in the locker room, has a strong voice and is certainly good at communication, but also good at utilizing the resources that this organization has. Whether you talk about R&D, the development staff, information from Coachella Valley, our strength and conditioning staff, there’s a lot of information.
“I think that a head coach [is like the] CEO down there and can certainly utilize that in building his lineup and building his roster, and we want to find someone who’s willing to utilize all that to put the best team forward on the ice for the Kraken.”
That says a lot without saying much, but it does give a glimpse into what may have been lacking in the relationship between Dan Bylsma and the front office and other departments—something Botterill hopes to correct with the team’s next hiring.
Botterill didn’t say this directly, but I have to think there’s also a desire to hire a coach who’s a relatively sure thing to get success out of this team. At this point, we know Bylsma wasn’t a unanimous pick to become the most recent coach, and it had been a long time since he had been a head coach at the NHL level. So something tells me that whoever Seattle lands on this time around will be somebody who has been behind an NHL bench recently and has had success in the league.
The candidates
Friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast and senior writer for ESPN.com, Greg Wyshynski, put together a comprehensive list of all the coaching candidates out there. It’s behind the ESPN paywall, but it’s worth a read if you have access. Wyshynski placed the candidates into categories like “The Big Bosses,” which includes Jay Woodcroft and Rick Tocchet; “The Fresh Firings,” including Drew Bannister, Derek Lalonde, Peter Laviolette, John Tortorella, et al.; and “The Well Traveled,” with guys like Bruce Boudreau, Gerard Gallant, and Mike Yeo, among others.
Since Wyshynski wrote that on April 25, there has already been some clarity in the coaching market, with Sullivan heading to the Rangers and Quenneville to the Ducks and David Carle committing long-term to stay at the University of Denver.
I’ve also often wondered if any coaches who reached the playoffs but bowed out quickly could become available—like Jared Bednar or Jon Cooper (Cooper would probably have to leave of his own volition)—but both of their general managers stated definitively that they’ll be back with Colorado and Tampa Bay, respectively, next season. Similarly, I’ve always thought Rod Brind’Amour would fit in Seattle if he were ever to hit the market, but with the Hurricanes getting deeper into the playoffs and his son playing in the organization, Rod the Bod feels highly unlikely to make his way to the Northwest.
Thinking about the list of candidates that Wyshynski put together, I’m whittling my list down to a few specific individuals that I think could end up being in the conversation to become the next coach of the Kraken. This is not based on insider knowledge, and I won’t pick a favorite or anything like that; I’m just connecting dots to figure out who could be a fit.
Rick Tocchet
Lots of folks have assumed Rick Tocchet—who recently excused himself from the dumpster fire up the road in Vancouver—will want to go to one of his former teams from his playing days, like the Philadelphia Flyers or Pittsburgh Penguins.
I’m not totally convinced, though. Those clubs finished last and second-to-last in the Metropolitan Division this season, and while the Flyers have some exciting young talent, they appear far from being competitive again. Meanwhile, the Penguins are heading into several seasons of misery as they phase out their aging core of veterans.
I know the Kraken have missed the playoffs in three of their first four years and were near the bottom of the Pacific Division this year, but I still believe they’re heading toward consistent playoff contention. The potential for an immediate payoff from joining the Kraken feels higher than for other teams seeking coaches.
Tocchet, 61, makes sense for Seattle because he clearly believes in open communication with the players and brings a harder-nosed approach that could push both veterans and rookies. It speaks volumes that although the Canucks are coming off a disappointing year that featured several soap operas, the Vancouver front office very much wanted him back.
There’s also a history between Tocchet and Seattle, and we do believe the front office is interested in hiring him. Remember, Tocchet was expected to be named the team’s first head coach back in 2021, but in the 11th hour, for some unknown reason, the Kraken changed course and went with Dave Hakstol.
Tocchet has a career coaching record of 286-265-87. In two and a half seasons with the Canucks, he went 108-65-27 and won the Pacific Division in 2023-24. That season, Vancouver defeated the Nashville Predators in the first round of the playoffs before being ousted by the Edmonton Oilers in seven games.
Jay Woodcroft
Another available coach who appears to be a hot commodity this offseason is Jay Woodcroft, who has a shorter track record than Tocchet but a good one nonetheless.
Woodcroft, 48, has an interesting story. He started his coaching career as Detroit’s video coach back in 2005. He then became an assistant under Todd McLellan in San Jose and followed him to Edmonton two months after both were let go by the Sharks in 2015. His first pro head-coaching gig came with the Oilers’ AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, in 2018. After a successful stint as interim head coach of the Oilers—he guided them to the Western Conference Finals—he was made the full-time head coach the following season.
The Oilers thrived under Woodcroft in his one full season behind the bench, racking up 109 points in the standings before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup winners, the Vegas Golden Knights, in the second round of the playoffs.
Things got off to a very rocky start in Edmonton in 2023-24, though, and after a 3-9-1 record dropped the Oilers to the bottom of the Pacific Division standings, Woodcroft was shown the door. Interestingly, the last game he coached that season was against the Kraken at Climate Pledge Arena, a game Edmonton won 4-1. Regardless, Woodcroft was fired the next day.
I remember being in his last press conference at CPA, and he seemed to know the firing was coming. He had clearly had enough with Sportsnet columnist Mark Spector and answered all of his questions with one word: “No.”
Woodcroft does appear to be a good fit with Seattle as well, in that he strikes me as a forward-thinking coach. I am curious, though, how he can fare without the luxury of having superstars like Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
Peter Laviolette
Beyond those two fairly obvious names, I have a hard time finding a perfect fit among other available candidates. There’s a big group of coaches who have been fired recently, including veterans like John Tortorella and Peter Laviolette. I could eat my words, but I don’t think I see the Kraken hiring Torts.
I don’t really see them hiring Laviolette either, but they certainly would know what they’re getting in a guy like him. Laviolette has coached nearly 1,600 regular-season games in the NHL and 170 playoff games. He had long stints in Nashville, Carolina, and Philadelphia, then a three-year stay in Washington and two years with each of the New York teams, most recently getting fired by the Rangers after a 39-36-7 season. He won the Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes in 2006 and coached the Flyers and Predators to the Stanley Cup Final in 2010 and 2017, respectively.
Jay Leach
I’m including Jay Leach here because he was a candidate last year and is well regarded by the Kraken organization for the work he did with the blue line as an assistant under former head coach Dave Hakstol.
When Leach did not get the head coaching job last summer, he returned to the Boston Bruins organization, where he had previously been the head coach of their AHL affiliate in Providence.
I think Leach will be a good head coach, but I also still think Seattle is looking for somebody with a proven NHL track record right now. This is why I don’t foresee them hiring Leach or other up-and-comers like Mitch Love (currently an assistant coach for Washington) or Pat Ferschweiler (just won the NCAA championship with Western Michigan).
What do you think, folks? Who will the Kraken hire, and who else do you think they’re considering as candidates to be their next head coach?
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
All my money is on Tocchet. It will be a great fit for both him and Seattle. The talk about him possibly wanting to go back east or be with a former team is nonsense. His son lives in Seattle. He has history with Botterill and Francis and probably sees many things in the same way. They still need to follow “the process” and Seattle being a classy organization will want to minimize any potential feather ruffling with Vancouver management and ownership. I’ll be shocked if it doesn’t happen.
Sent by Seattle G…morning after Coachella game from Abbotsford 😄
Yeah, I agree.
I often listen to Canuck talk on 650 radio out of Vancouver.
Yesterday the talk and rumors there felt like Seattle was going to be his choice. His connections with Francis and Botterill are a big part of it. Plus sounds like he wants a long term deal as well.
And now you’re broke…
Tocchet certainly would seem the best candidate… for a lot of teams. One name I’m not hearing much but I think has a decent chance of ending up in the job is Don Granato.
He may not be the best fit, but he may be the best available.
Also, there is someone already with the organization who has NHL head coaching experience… and I’m not talking about Dave Lowry.
LaViolette is the best bet. Proven well beyond the other availables and a hard charger. A can’t miss for this organization as it stands now.
…as long as they don’t ask Kakko.
I don’t understand what it is about Tocchet that people consider him a good head coach. Or do they? Is it coaching related or because he sits on a panel analyzing games for TNT? I honestly can’t figure it out.
I think some of it has to do with the turnaround in Vancouver. When he took over from Boudreaux he changed the systems and the demands and after about 15 games it really started to show for the remainder of the season and through the following season. Now, his first full season – last season – I think maybe there was some of what Seattle had going on in their 100 point season – “puck luck” – but nonetheless, he seemed to have made an obvious difference in the results in Vancouver.
This season I think unfortunately for him, there was an irreconcilable conflict between Miller and Petterson and when you add in an injured Hughes… it was just a bad mix. As much as managing personalities is a coaches job, some situations are beyond managing.
Just my thoughts.
Are you referring to Edzo or someone else?
Yes… Eddie O.
Eddie O as our coach…. God I hope not. He’s so old school in his philosophy, pretty much opposite to all the good coaches in the NHL. You don’t win games by dumping the puck out and shooting as soon as you cross the blue line. He pretty much says every pass should not have happened except the ones that turn into goals…. 😂 funny how hindsight is 20/20.
Edzo has a pretty good gig going with TNT and the KHN. Doubt he is considering going back to coaching.
I am begging you, not Tocchet. He created the dumpster fire in Vancouver and cannot solve fueds with top players. He is an unfriendly coach where most players hate him and the only ones that like him and supprt him stayand are bottom teir olayers being used to motivate someone that does not fit the syste, and Botterill will have to do many trades to get rid of players Tocchet cnnot coach or will not coach. Unfortunately the mistake will happen because there is nothing better that old hockey buddies hiring someone from the past.
My personal feeling is to hire someone yooung and fresh that understands the new NHL and not a fossil.
I would not pin that on Tocchet there has been a lot going on in Vancouver for a long while, smoldering embers that wouldn’t go out. I think they made the wrong choice by getting rid of Bo back when Miller and Bo were fighting, miller is pure cancer. All the fighting for years has just made that locker room a toxic place, Tocchet stepped into a difficult situation and was able to control the room for awhile.
The dumpster fire in Vancouver is on the FO for not managing the mess they made with JT Miller and Perry and let it fester for years. Sometimes you have a locker room cancer. We had one, they had one
We’ve done young-ish, no winning track record. We’ve done winning track record, but not since the Truman administration. It seems we need to go the recent winning track record route. Laviolette. Would have to reconcile with Kaako, unless they didn’t see what I thought I saw, and aren’t bringing him back. Gallant. Liked what I saw with Rangers before letting him go. Tocchet. Seems like a good fit, but one of the comments here has me concerned about him. Torts. Softy (not the radio host) Seattle couldn’t handle him. Wondering if VGK gets booted by EDM if Sundance’s sidekick will be available.
Who’s the youngish coach they’ve had? They’ve done the retread thing 2x in a row, now looking for a third.
This team has to get realistic on where they stand: they are not close, they’re regressing and the roster is aging. Botterill supposedly wants to get “aggressive “ yet is considering another retread?
Look younger, fresher, someone like a Carle or a Mitch Love. If you have to have experience then a Todd Nelson or maybe a Jay Woodcroft. The most transformative coaches are newer (no more than 1 NHL stop) and need to be able to work with young, developing players.
Would much rather they take a chance on a Martin St Louis type who’s going to really play the kids than another recycle like Tocchet who’s just going to ride the vets. Take the down year, bottom out and let the new coach install a fresh system.
Which two teams are these?
245 GF – 265 GA = -20 GD, 30 RW
247 GF – 265 GA = -18 GD, 28 RW
I think the thing that makes Tocchet so appealing is before he came along everyone was clamoring for the Canucks to tear it down… and then they won the Pacific. I’m not sure this team is as far away as people think. The front office certainly doesn’t think so.
I agree. If Shane doesn’t “sophomore slump” too hard, they could be a lot closer than people realize. All that line shuffling from this season has given us an indication of which players have chemistry together, and I think that if they are put into a system that better caters to their talents they will be able to get those snowballs of success rolling in a way that never happened this season. The roster is not like the rosters of teams that play this new transition-based style, and honestly, I do not see the sense in doing what everyone else is already doing anyway. Nobody gets to the top in sports by following a trend. Systems follow a kind of cyclical pattern. For that reason, I am thinking somebody more old school like Boudreau behind the bench would be a good fit.
Apart from that, all of the sudden I have a far deeper dislike for the Anaheim Ducks than I did just a couple days ago. There is something nauseating about the organization now, for some reason, and I don’t think it has to do with any cheap shot antics this time. I wish them nothing but misery.
Tocchet seems alright. The thing with Vancouver is they have been an absolute mess pretty much their entire existence. They go through coaches like potato chips. Careers of promising young players have been destroyed there regularly. The lucky ones manage to get themselves traded. God forbid a player there is anything but a good ol rough and tumble Canadian. The fan base and the media are always turning on the team for not delivering, but the one thing that has been consistent up there through the years is the fan base and the media. Thank God Seattle is so much more chill. That pressure cooker environment makes all but the most grounded crack. Tocchet wanted out and I don’t blame him at all. Maybe he could bring Elias Peterson and Quinn Hughes here along with him.
The media narrative up there has gone from “do what it takes to keep Hughes happy” to “trade Quinn Hughes for picks now because he is going to leave anyway” in like the matter of weeks. It is crazyness.
Honestly zachian you don’t have a good read on Vancouvers history or current situation at all. Grew up in the city lived through fan support throughout thick and thin and it was always the main event. Yes people would complain when the team was not performing but tell me that’s not different than Seattle and the Seahawks. Vancouver has not in any way always been an absolute mess, where are you even getting this from? It’s not a bad thing to be a hockey crazed market. Yes it’s a dumpster fire right now and they definitely need to clean up the house, so you want to take on the mess? Just look at the cap hits your proposal has and honestly tell me that works? Peterson cap hit is almost 12M per year had 45 points and was a big factor in the Canucks dumpster fires but…. Yeah let’s add him to the kraken? Seriously?
Adding this because it’s so laughable….
“ They go through coaches like potato chips”
Vancouver goes through coaches like potatoe chips… we should not be talking crap until we stop eating potato chips.
“God forbid a player there is anything but a good ol rough and tumble Canadian”
Like the Sedins, Naslund and Bure?
Lol. Sorry it’s probably unfair of me to pan a whole fan base just because of what is likely just a very vocal minority. I was a Canucks fan from like 2010 up until Seattle got a team, and I still pretty regularly check in on what’s going on with them. I’m basing these (admittedly very sour sounding) opinions off of what I’ve read on the Vancouver equivalent of blogs like this one and comment sections like this one. It seems like it’s all torches and pitchforks… there is always SOME drama. After so many roster turn overs and coaching changes, seems to me like maybe the problems they have lie in the places they haven’t tried to change. I think my opinions come from just feeling defeated and exhausted. When I started following the Kraken, I was looking at the team to the north thinking “great now we have to play THOSE guys for the next ten years.”. Now I’m like, what happened??
I don’t follow football, I imagine the media market for the Seahawks is equally tough.
I really like Elias Peterson, I think he is a great player who could thrive in a less critical market. I say “Hey man, why don’t you move on down here, Seattle is a wonderful place to play…”
In your defense, Canucks fans are the only fan base that trashes their own city whenever the team loses a championship series. It is difficult to deny that they are a bit over-reactive when it comes to sports. It is a zeitgeist that stands in rather stark contrast to the sports scene in Seattle where fans tend to be Pollyanna homers when it comes to their teams and star players. They are more likely to blame conspiracies or traitors than players and coaches when their teams lose. I can imagine that it would be quite a bit more pleasant for players in the Northwest to play south of the border than north of it.
I was at both of those “riots” (not taking part just downtown watching hockey a saw it take place) I can honestly say that the riots had very little to do with the Canucks. It was just idiotic people that wanted to smash windows etc and were taking advantage of very large numbers of people in the city core. Lots of smiling happy faces breaking stuff, most of them didn’t care about the Canucks at all.
Seattle has had riots as well, bottom line is you should not be chastising a fan base because of a few idiots taking advantage of a situation.
Say goodbye to Kakko if Laviolette is hired ha!
Reports are that Tocchet is going to Philly, who’s next?
Mitch Love is going somewhere with what is left with the open coaching positions. A former Everett Silvertip with a tough defensive physical mentality. I am growing on him, but I hear Pittsburgh is going to make a hard pitch to also nab him.
Should Rod Brind’Amour’s name be added to the list of possible Kraken coaches?