It’s been nearly two months since the Everett Silvertips started looking to backfill its head coach and general manager positions, and yeaahh this is definitely taking longer than it’s needed to.
The organization is showing signs of making these critical decisions, though, as well as a decision regarding their highly touted defensive prospect very shortly.
They’ve made it known they will go with two separate candidates to fill two positions instead of just having one person wear both hats like it was for three years under the recently departed Dennis Williams. Signs are pointing to the positions potentially being filled from within, too.
General manager
There have been plenty of candidates that have been on the Silvertips’ radar, according to Rajcic, but judging by the timing of what he’s said, and looking at some of the moves being made by the organization, it’s becoming apparent that these decisions (at least on the GM role) might have been made a while ago.
Mike Fraser has been the acting GM since Williams’ departure, and it’s worth noting that the organization has allowed him to take charge at the draft, in transactions and signings, such as 2024 first-rounder Mirco Dufour and second-rounder Jaxon Pisani, in his time as the interim GM.
Fraser has been a part of the Silvertips organization for six seasons now, initially hired on as the team’s head scout before the 2018-19 season. He later transitioned to the front office as the assistant GM before 2022-23.
While it’s entirely possible they go with an outside hire, the familiarity and already existing rapport Fraser has with the team and its operations might be enough for him to be considered the favorite to land the position.
Head coach
It’s not often a position of this caliber becomes available, as this is just the second time in 11 seasons a head coaching change has been made in Everett. The Silvertips have shown in taking their time that they are committed to making sure they get the hire right.
An internal hire would make sense here as well, with both assistants in Mike Field and Dean DeSilva having various experience levels throughout each of their respective coaching careers that warrant consideration.
Field notably was the associate head coach at Arizona State University for eight seasons before being brought under Williams at the beginning of last season.
Meanwhile, DeSilva has been an assistant coach in the WHL since 2018-19, but has never been a full-time head coach at any level. Much like Fraser, they might look favorably at his familiarity with the organization and his pre-existing relationships with players on the current roster.
And that brings on another point with just how important this hire is for Everett, with how much talent the current defensive-minded group features. And that’s not to mention that the next coach will likely coach exceptional defense prospect Landon DuPont during his impending Silvertips tenure. Getting a defensive-oriented mind at the helm can help alleviate the struggles the Silvertips had in these past playoffs with clogging the middle of the ice, and it could make the group even stronger than it already is.
Everett is one of just two WHL teams remaining with a vacancy at head coach, with division rival Spokane being the other.
Landon DuPont, Silvertips nearing a deal
While DuPont is the last 2024 first-rounder left unsigned to his WHL club, it’s becoming more and more evident an agreement between the Silvertips and him is imminent.
The indication is that the exceptional status defenseman from Calgary, Alberta, has enjoyed what he’s experienced from his time spent with the Silvertips organization thus far and is looking forward to the prospect of joining the club as soon as possible.
What’s the hold up? As far as is known, the decision for DuPont has nothing to do with the organization itself, but seemingly, according to Rajcic, is an issue of negotiations between his family and the WHL itself.
A player of DuPont’s caliber is more than worth the wait, and he is still expected to start the 2024-25 season with the Silvertips.
Other notable moves
With all this going on, the Silvertips have rather quietly been rebuilding with some newfound structural pieces.
It’s unlikely that Ben Hemmerling or Austin Roest make returns to the organization, as they each signed respective entry-level NHL contracts. Additionally, players like Tyler Palmer, Teague Patton, Dexter Whittle, Cade Zaplitny are leaving either due to graduating out of the WHL or signing elsewhere.
To compensate for the losses, Everett has made some quality acquisitions. This included during the draft, where the Silvertips took advantage of an offloading Medicine Hat and acquired Tigers forward and captain Tyler MacKenzie, who played in all 68 games in 2023-24, tallying 16 goals and 31 assists.
He adds a sense of leadership and experience that the organization will be looking to replenish with the losses of the aforementioned Hemmerling and Roest. He will likely be one of the three overagers to crack the Silvertips lineup come opening night.
In addition to MacKenzie, the Silvertips made a couple other trades, as they added to the forward group again this week by acquiring ’06-born forward Raiden Zacharias from Regina.
They also bolstered their goaltending by acquiring ’06-born netminder Jesse Sanche from Kamloops.
Replacing the likes of Hemmerling, Roest, and the rest of the moving-on overagers is never an easy task to accomplish. But if the Silvertips have proven anything across their history of never missing the playoffs, it’s that they know exactly how to replenish and reload, and they will continue to do so throughout the rest of this offseason.
Sound Of Hockey will have more on these topics as news breaks.
Header photo: Landon DuPont poses in WHL gear. (Jenn Pierce/WHL)
The NHL free agency period will open on July 1, and NHL teams will be tempted to sign blue-chip free agents who become available. The allure of acquiring top-tier talent through a big-money contract can be irresistible, and while the Kraken’s options might be limited this offseason, they will still need to weigh the risks and future contributions of signing one of these top available players. The critical question remains: is spending a substantial portion of the salary cap on one superstar truly worth it?
In this post, we will delve into the intricacies of high-value contracts in NHL free agency, examining the criteria that define such deals, evaluating the pre- and post-signing performance of marquee players, and analyzing whether these investments typically yield the desired returns.
Definition for “spending big” on a blue-chip free agent
To evaluate the performance of blue-chip free agents, we need to define and isolate players who signed big contracts in free agency. For this exercise, we are going to exclude restricted free agents and contract extensions. Because the salary cap upper limit changes from year to year, we are focusing on any contracts that account for over eight percent of a team’s salary cap for the following season. Eight percent is somewhat arbitrary, but we need to cut it off somewhere, and when evaluating the details, this seemed about right.
Contract term length is a very important aspect of evaluating the risk, value, and success of a contract, but to keep it simple, we are excluding it from our analysis.
The blue-chip cohort
Since 2011, there have been 40 contracts signed for 8 percent or more of the subsequent season’s upper limit of the salary cap. The position breakdown is 26 forwards, 12 defensemen, and two goalies. With only two goalies in the sample, we are going to exclude them from the analysis. The two goalies were Ryan Miller ($6M/year in 2015) and Sergei Bobrovsky ($10M/year in 2020).
Pre- and post-contract signing
Evaluating player performance goes well beyond goals and assists, but the big-ticket free agents, particularly the forwards, tend to be the highest scorers. For the sake of simplicity, we are just going to look at points and goals by position over a three-year period before and after the contract is signed.
Forwards
Here is a look at the 26 forwards who signed big free-agency deals and their average points per game in the three years prior to and after signing the contract.
As the chart shows, there is a drop of 12 percent in the first and second seasons, and a drop of 24 percent in the third season after signing the contract. We see a similar drop when looking at average goals per game.
We are starting to see a theme, but surely some of these contracts work out, don’t they? Here is a breakout of the details by player.
Yikes. Only three of the 26 contracts signed by forwards saw an increase in points per game in the three years after the contract was signed.
Defensemen
Now let’s turn our attention to the defense. Here is a look at the points per game of the 12 defensemen who signed big free-agency deals since 2011.
Interestingly, there is an increase in production in the second and third seasons after signing the contract. My theory is that a defenseman jumping to a new team will play more conservatively in the first year with that new team as he learns to play in a different system with new teammates. In seasons two and three, he starts to get more comfortable, and the coach might also give him more responsibility and playing time.
Regardless of the reason for the increase in years two and three, defensemen still see declines in the three years after signing their free agent contract.
Note: Because defensive goal scoring is more rare, we won’t be looking at the goals-per-game comparison.
Evaluation considerations
Depending on the expectations of the team signing the big-ticket player, going after the top free agents on the market can be a decision with diminishing returns. The simple analysis only evaluates the three years after signing, but most big free-agent signings end up being for longer terms of six or seven years. The average term length of the signings I looked at was 5.6 years. It is probably stating the obvious, but the data doesn’t look any better if I widen the period of analysis.
As mentioned above, points and goals per game are not the only metrics to consider when evaluating the impact of a free-agent signing. It should also be noted that any time a player changes teams, there is an adjustment period of adapting to new teammates and coaching styles that might result in a slight drop in production.
As challenging as the outlook might be for signing big free agents, many of the signings still add something to their new team that was probably missing from their roster. For example, the Kraken need to add goals to their lineup. In a scenario where the Kraken sign Sam Reinhart this offseason, even if he sees a drop of 20 percent in goal production over the prior three seasons, that still adds 32 goals to the roster.
What are your thoughts? Should the Kraken throw caution to the wind and go for one of the big free agents that will hit the market this offseason?
As the Stanley Cup Playoffs wind down, our focus has started to turn to the offseason. We already spent a week looking at the Seattle Kraken prospect pool, and now we are dedicating this week to free agency, which is just three weeks away. Free agency is always a tricky time.
Current state
Defining the current Seattle Kraken roster that is officially under contract is a bit nuanced, but I am going to do my best. As a starting point, from the returning players from last season’s team, the Seattle Kraken have eight forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies signed for next season.
Currently not under contract but under “team control” are Eeli Tolvanen and Matty Beniers, who are restricted free agents. We expect both players to be qualified and eventually signed before the season starts, so we will pencil them in without an eraser. Additionally, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we think Shane Wright is a lock to make the team next season. Shane is on his entry-level contract (ELC), so we have a number we can punch in for him.
That leaves the Kraken with 11 forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies slated for the roster in October. There are exceptions, but most teams carry the league roster maximum of 23 players by having 14 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies. Assuming no trades or other roster changes (e.g., buyouts, offseason injuries), this leaves the Kraken needing three forwards and one defenseman to fill the roster.
Restricted free agents
In a perfect world, the Seattle Kraken would sign their restricted free agents, Beniers and Tolvanen, before free agency opens on July 1 so they know how much money they can spend without going over the salary cap. But we know the world is not perfect, and these types of negotiations tend to linger all offseason, so for the purposes of this exercise, we will use placeholders. For any contract projections, I use Evolving-Hockey.com, which tends to provide the most accurate estimates for short- and long-term deals. The contract projections are behind their subscription model, but if you are interested in more detail and intel, check it out. It is a great site with a ton of information well beyond the contract projections.
The contract projections for Beniers vary dramatically based on the term length of the contract. Beniers could sign a “bridge deal” that will end with him still being a restricted free agent, or he could sign a long-term deal of seven or eight years. We have seen a lot of speculation about a bridge deal being likely, but I don’t think any of that is based on insider information on the negotiations and expectations. For our placeholder, we will conservatively take the most likely estimate from Evolving Hockey, which is $7 million for seven years.
Tolvanen is clearer cut, with EvolvingHockey estimating the most likely scenario as a four-year deal at $4.3 million per year. Let’s punch those numbers in.
What’s left and how could they spend it?
On Saturday, the NHL and NHLPA announced the upper limit of the salary cap for the 2024-25 season will be $88 million. With some basic arithmetic, we can estimate that the Kraken will have roughly $10 million in cap space to fill the remaining four spots. That is roughly $2.5 million per player, but of course, the team is not required or expected to spread that money evenly.
It is unlikely, but the Kraken could allocate most of that money to one player and then sign three players close to a minimum amount. For simplicity, let’s call the “close to” league minimum a $1 million cap hit per player. That would leave $7 million for one player. That would not be enough to sign the likes of top goal scorers Sam Reinhart or Jake Guentzel, but it is in the ballpark for Jonathan Marchessault and Matt Duchene. Both players are 33 years old, and even if they would want to come to Seattle, I think it is more likely that general manager Ron Francis will look elsewhere.
A more likely scenario is that Francis signs two players close to the league minimum and then spreads the additional dollars across two players. The top six defensemen seem set, with Ryker Evans slotting into the regular spot taken by Justin Schultz last season. It also appears likely that the team signs a player close to the league minimum to take the seventh-defenseman role.
Technically, Cale Fleury is already signed for next season but spent most of this last season in Coachella Valley and therefore off the Seattle Kraken’s books. He is a likely candidate to compete for that seventh spot that can step in when injuries arise. Even if Fleury is slotted into that spot, I expect Francis to sign one or two defensemen to compete for that position and to provide some insurance in case of multiple injuries.
The forward roster spots are much more challenging to forecast. There could be a situation where one of the spots is filled by a prospect in the pipeline. Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison, Jani Nyman, or even Carson Rehkopf could fit that profile. If one of the prospects doesn’t snag a place on the team, the Kraken could try to bring back Devin Shore or someone similar to fill that “close to” league minimum spot. That would leave roughly $8 million to spend on the remaining two forward spots.
I have been mentioning the possibility of targeting Jake DeBrusk over the second half of the season and still think he is a candidate. Evolving Hockey forecasts around a $5.8 million AAV for DeBrusk, which would leave only $2.2 million for that final forward position. There might be decent hockey players available for $2.2 million a year, but not many of them put up the goals the Kraken need to add this offseason.
Other variables and considerations
Any variance to the actual AAV for Tolvanen and Beniers will impact the cap spend available in free agency for the Kraken.
Outside of the Expansion Draft and trade deadlines, the Kraken have not made a lot of trades. Based on comments from Ron Francis in postseason availabilities, this offseason feels different. More than a couple of times, Francis mentioned leveraging the prospect pool to make this team better. Obviously, dollars going in and/or going out will impact the cap space available in free agency.
Although there does not appear to be any obvious buyout candidates coming up for the Seattle Kraken, any potential buyouts would open up some cap space.
I have implied that the Kraken will spend up to the cap this offseason, but the team might keep some dry powder available going into the season to create more flexibility. The dry powder could be used if other teams need to clear cap space to do their own wheeling and dealing.
It should be clear by now that there are a lot of moving parts to manage the cap space between now and the start to the 2024-25 regular season, but hopefully this gives you a good primer into how the Kraken will approach free agency and any offseason moves related to the cap space. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to use the comments section and we can continue the dialogue there.
After almost daily NHL postseason hockey action since the start of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, this past week has been a long one. The Florida Panthers are finally set to face-off against the Edmonton Oilers on Saturday.
Here is the series schedule:
Game 1: Saturday, June 8 – Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers – 5 p.m. PT
Game 2: Monday, June 10 – Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers – 5 p.m. PT
Game 3: Thursday, June 13 – Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers – 5 p.m. PT
Game 4: Saturday, June 15 – Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers – 5 p.m. PT
Game 5: Tuesday, June 18 – Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers (if needed) – 5 p.m. PT
Game 6: Friday, June 21 – Florida Panthers at Edmonton Oilers (if needed) – 5 p.m. PT
Game 7: Monday, June 24 – Edmonton Oilers at Florida Panthers (if needed) – 5 p.m. PT
There’s a ton of distance between Sunrise and Edmonton, but every time the teams travel between Florida and Edmonton and vice-versa, there will be two days of rest. This could extend the series to a maximum of 17 days. It will be interesting to see how this extended schedule affects the rhythm of the players.
How they got to the Final
The Florida Panthers’ path to the Stanley Cup Final was through the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Boston Bruins, and most recently through the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers. The Panthers have looked like the better team in each series and earned their result. As the higher-seeded team, they will receive home-ice advantage, where they hold a 7-2 record in the playoffs.
The Edmonton Oilers’ road to the Stanley Cup Final started in Los Angeles, then went through Vancouver before a hard-fought series against Dallas. Facing a heavily favored Stars team in the Western Conference Finals, Edmonton looked to be hanging on by a thread at times. But hang on they did, winning three straight to close out the series.
The Florida Panthers swept the season series, but take that with a grain of salt. With only two games, it is really too small of a sample to take anything meaningful away. Here are some interesting notes from those regular-season matchups:
Aleksander Barkov only played one of the two games due to injury. Connor McDavid had two goals in the game Barkov missed (Nov. 20). In the Dec. 16 game with Barkov in the Florida lineup, Connor McDavid was limited to one assist.
Many of the stars for both teams showed up and contributed multiple points in the games between the two teams. However, Matthew Tkachuk was held to a single assist.
In both games, Edmonton started their backup goaltender, former Seattle Thunderbird, Calvin Pickard.
After both games, Edmonton would go on to lose one additional game and then rattle off substantial win streaks. After the Nov. 20 loss, the Oilers won eight straight, and after the Dec. 16 loss, they won 16 straight games.
How they match up
It was mentioned in the previous NHL playoff previews that since Kris Knoblauch’s hiring on Nov. 12, the Edmonton Oilers have been the best team in the NHL. They have amassed 58 wins (regular season plus playoffs). The Florida Panthers are second with 55 wins (regular season plus playoffs).
Florida Panthers (Reg/Playoffs)
Edmonton Oilers (Reg/Playoffs)
Goal Differential
+67 / +16
+56 / +16
Power Play
23.5% / 23.3%
26.3% / 37.3%
Penalty Kill
85.2% / 88.2%
82.2% / 93.9%
Goals For Per Game
3.23 / 3.24
3.56 / 3.50
Goals Against Per Game
2.41 / 2.29
2.88 / 2.61
Shots Per Game
33.7 / 33.2
33.8 / 28.9
Statistically, the teams were pretty even in the regular season. Both can score and prevent goals. Special teams for Edmonton have been elite, scoring 19 power-play goals while killing 93.9 percent of all penalties.
The Edmonton Oilers led the league in shots per game in the regular season with 33.8 but have lost almost five shots per game during the playoffs. Florida, on the other hand, was second in the league and has continued to maintain its shots on goal in the playoffs. In Edmonton’s last game, it only mustered 10 shots against the Stars and played a defense-first style.
When it comes to scoring, both teams are close and averaging over three goals a game in the playoffs. Florida’s top scorer is Tkachuk with 19 points. Edmonton is top heavy and has four players with 20 points or more.
Connor McDavid – 5G, 26A, 31 points
Leon Draisaitl – 10G, 18A, 28 points
Evan Bouchard – 6G, 21A, 27 points
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 6G, 14A, 20 points
Zach Hyman comes into the Final with 14 goals and four assists for 18 points and gets and honorable mention as a top producer for the Oilers. He leads the playoffs in goals.
What they need to do to win
At this point in the season, both teams have a legitimate claim to win the Stanley Cup. Here are some keys for each team to be able to lift hockey’s greatest prize.
Florida Panthers
Continue to roll, they have looked liked the better team in every series.
Play disciplined hockey. The Panthers are not afraid to mix it up, but this year’s playoff team is more reserved than last year’s. Tkachuk and Sam Bennett will do their thing, but they are out there to win games, not to stir up chaos.
Get more solid play of Sergei Bobrovsky.
Edmonton Oilers
Special teams need to continue to click.
Stuart Skinner needs to remain the starter for the entire series and instill confidence for his team.
Edmonton’s game is focused on a high-octane offense, so they need to keep shooting the puck and not fall into a defensive game that can allow a talented Panthers roster a way back into games.
McDavid needs to carry on his scoring ways when up against Barkov.
Prediction
Part of this is going with who I want to root for, as either team has a shot to lift the Cup. Connor McDavid is arguably the best hockey player in the world, and having him win a Stanley Cup checks a major box in his career.
I believe the Edmonton Oilers will hoist the Stanley Cup at home in six games over the Florida Panthers.
Sound Of Hockey Patreon NHL Bracket update
The Sound Of Hockey Patreon NHL Bracket Challenge became a little clearer with the elimination of the Dallas Stars and New York Rangers who were picked in a whopping 60.0 percent of the brackets to win the Stanley Cup.
There are two brackets that correctly picked an Oilers versus Panthers Stanley Cup Final. Congratulations to users mipmipmipmip and friend of the pod, dontgoglove. Both users only have one incorrect series pick, but user mipmipmipmip correctly predicted the length of three series and earned nine bonus points to put themselves in first place with 279 points. If Edmonton hoists the Stanley Cup, mipmipmipmip will win the bracket challenge.
However, we will have a tie-break situation on our hands if the Florida Panthers win the Stanley Cup. With possibly the best bracket name, Garth’s life jacket currently has 179 points and has the Panthers winning the Cup. A Panthers win would give Garth’s life jacket 100 points and move them into a 279-point tie with mipmipmipmip.
If you do not get the reference to Garth’s life jacket, I highly recommend checking out Tenny’s talks on YouTube, where Ryker Garth Evans can be seen wearing a life jacket in a kiddie pool.
Sound Of Hockey picks update
John, Darren, Curtis and myself (Blaiz) picked the Dallas Stars to win the Cup and were incorrect. Shame, Shame, Shame. Cameron Riggers picked the Edmonton Oilers to win the Stanley Cup and is looking pretty smart at the moment.
To save some face, Curtis and I did pick the Panthers to make it to the Stanley Cup Final. One out of two is not bad.
Stanley Cup Pick
Cameron Riggers
Edmonton in 7
Darren Brown
Edmonton in 6
John Barr
Panthers in 5
Curtis Isacke
Panthers in 6
Blaiz Grubic
Edmonton in 6
Wrap Up
It is an exciting time when the Stanley Cup will come out, and a new champion will be crowned. There are two obvious front runners for the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the playoff MVP, in Connor McDavid for the Edmonton Oilers and Aleksander Barkov for the Florida Panthers. Whichever of those two players has the better series probably leads his team to a championship. Sit back and enjoy the ride.
For a quick AHL update, the Coachella Valley Firebirds are up 3-1 in the AHL Western Conference Finals and could be headed for a repeat of last season’s Calder Cup Finals against the Hersey Bears. The Hersey Bears are also up 3-1 in the Eastern Conference Finals, so both teams still have work to do but are in good positions.
With just one more round of Stanley Cup Playoff hockey left to go, it’s challenging to wrap one’s head around the fact that the Seattle Kraken have not been in contention for the Stanley Cup Final since April 3. That’s two full months since Seattle was mathematically eliminated, during which the Edmonton Oilers and Florida Panthers have continued on in battle and now stand one step away from hockey’s pinnacle.
General manager Ron Francis surely wants his team to at least be relevant in 2024-25, but to avoid another early bow out by the Kraken, there are a lot of levers that need pulling. As the NHL season nears its official close, things will start to get busy again in front offices across the league, and offseason wheeling and dealing will commence.
While Francis has shown to be conservative in his approach to roster building, we do think he’ll make some notable moves this summer. Here’s everything we think Francis and his Hockey Operations staff have on their to-do list.
No. 1 – Hire a head coach (COMPLETE)
Promoting Dan Bylsma from Coachella Valley made all the sense in the world. He comes with an NHL pedigree, a Stanley Cup win, and a renewed passion for the job with these two extremely successful seasons with the Firebirds now under his belt.
We won’t analyze the hire too much here, since we’ve done that ad nauseam over the last week (read this article and listen to this podcast for more), but it was certainly at the top of the list for Francis.
No. 2 – Figure out contracts for Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen
What a team does with its restricted free agents is always interesting. This summer, the Kraken have just three RFA’s, but two of them are key players in Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen. The other is Kailer Yamamoto, who never found a good fit with Seattle under coach Dave Hakstol and was largely mired either on the fourth line or in healthy scratch territory.
Remember, a team must extend a qualifying offer to an RFA by the end-of-June deadline to maintain the rights to the player. Once that happens, it’s almost guaranteed that a deal gets done, but sometimes it ends up being only a one-year contract. An added wrinkle can be arbitration rights, where a player has the option to bring in a neutral third party to determine a fair contract. Arbitration rights can sometimes scare a team off from extending a qualifying offer, which is what happened two summers ago with Ryan Donato (though Donato ultimately re-signed at a lower dollar value than he would have gotten, had he been qualified and filed for arbitration).
In the cases of Seattle’s current RFA’s, Tolvanen and Yamamoto have arbitration rights, whereas Beniers does not. With that in mind, we expect that Yamamoto does not receive a qualifying offer and is made an unrestricted free agent.
As for Tolvanen and Beniers, we suspect the Kraken will try to get extensions done with these players even before the deadline for qualifying offers. Tolvanen is due for a significant raise after racking up 32 goals and 36 assists since Seattle claimed him from the Nashville Predators in the middle of the 2022-23 season. He made $1.45 million this past season, and we would expect that annual average value to at least double on his next deal.
With Beniers, there are many factors at play. First, he didn’t have a great sophomore season in the NHL. After winning the Calder Trophy in 2022-23, perhaps the expectations for Beniers as a 21-year-old were a bit unfair. Heck, he still put up a respectable 15 goals and 22 assists, but he surely would have wanted more to put himself in a position for a monster payday this summer.
Since he didn’t achieve more this year, the Kraken will likely use that as leverage to try to get Beniers under a long-term contract at a more reasonable cap hit. But if they won’t go to a number that Beniers is willing to sign for seven or eight years, then that may lead to a shorter-term bridge deal. In that case, Beniers would be betting on himself to take huge developmental steps in the next couple of seasons and really cash in on his next contract.
No. 3 – Find more diamonds in the rough
The Kraken hold the No. 8 overall pick in the NHL Draft, which will take place June 28 and 29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas. While this draft is expected to have a steep drop-off after the first few picks, there could be a stud defenseman available at No. 8, and that would certainly help the organization.
Hitting on that top pick is important, but so too is uncovering value deeper in the draft, something Seattle has so far excelled at in its first three seasons. Carson Rehkopf, Oscar Fisker-Mølgaard, Jagger Firkus, Jani Nyman, Niklas Kokko, David Goyette, Ty Nelson, Ryker Evans, Ryan Winterton, and Ville Ottavainen (among others) were all selected in the second round or deeper in their respective drafts, and they all have a chance to be NHL players.
The Kraken have an extra second-round pick, acquired from the New York Rangers in the Alex Wennberg deadline deal in March, and an extra third-round pick from the Maple Leafs that was part of the package that sent Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell to Toronto during Seattle’s inaugural season.
No. 4 – Find scoring
This to-do list is more of a chronological order than it is in order of importance, but if we had gone with importance ranking, then acquiring goal-scoring may be at the top. We believe Hakstol was—in a way—set up to fail this season after the Kraken shot the lights out of most arenas they played in during the 2022-23 season, thanks in large part to the depth offense that showed up almost every night.
In 2023-24, that offense dried up, and the bottom of the forward lineup provided little-to-no production. That needs to change this offseason.
Our hope is that Francis does what we wanted him to do last offseason, adding perhaps two 20-goal scorers who can slot into one of the top three lines. That would push a couple of players down to the fourth line and should have a major impact on the group’s goal-scoring output.
How Francis acquires said players remains to be seen. Will he make another Oliver Bjorkstrand-esque trade? Will he go fishing in the second tier of free agents, à la Andre Burakovsky? Will he make an even bigger swing (probably not)?
However he does it, we would very much like for the forward depth chart to look something like this going into next season:
Jared McCann // Matty Beniers // NEW 20-GOAL WINGER Jordan Eberle // NEW 20-GOAL CENTER // Andre Burakovsky Eeli Tolvanen // Shane Wright // Oliver Bjorkstrand Tye Kartye // Yanni Gourde // Jaden Schwartz Brandon Tanev
**AUTHOR’S NOTE: After talking about Eeli Tolvanen extensively in this very article, I stupidly left him out of my forward depth chart initially, as pointed out by Daryl in the comment section (thank you, Daryl). I’ve added him in, which pushes Brandon Tanev into a 13th forward spot. I also moved Jaden Schwartz down to the fourth line, which doesn’t quite make sense, but something like that would have to happen if they add two offensive forwards. However Bylsma slices it, this group of forwards would be tough for any opponent to stop.
We would also be ok if Seattle brings Tomas Tatar back, but he is an unrestricted free agent. His role diminished as the season went on, but he showed he still has some offensive panache that could be valuable depth, especially if he gets back to playing with more skilled players.
No. 5 – Add a depth defenseman
One of the narratives we heard from both Hakstol and Francis at locker clean-out was that the team’s defense was better in 2023-24 than it was in 2022-23. With that in mind, we don’t foresee a major overhaul to the blue line, although we can’t rule out a trade for a puck mover that could help create offense from the back.
We think the more likely scenario, though, is that Justin Schultz is allowed to leave as a free agent, opening the door for Ryker Evans to take on a more full-time role.
How the team backfills for Schultz could be interesting because any upgrade could theoretically push Brian Dumoulin into a seventh-defenseman role. Dumoulin was very solid in his first year with the Kraken, though, so perhaps Seattle finds a way to fill that seventh spot from within.
No. 6 – Round out the coaching staff
This one could be figured out sooner than other items on the list, but since there’s no real timeline for this, we’re putting it last. By bringing up their AHL head coach, the Kraken filled one vacancy by creating another. Once the Firebirds’ season ends, there will be no head coach in Coachella Valley, and there will still be an assistant job available in Seattle, assuming the team keeps the same structure for its coaching staff.
If we had to guess (and this is a complete guess), Jess Campbell will get the assistant coach job with the Kraken, Stu Bickel will get the head coach job in Coachella Valley, and then two new AHL assistants will be hired.
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.
On this episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcasts, one of the hosts isn’t feeling too enthusiastic at first, but then he turns that frown upside down when games and hijinks ensue.
The guys try out a new game called “Read Into It?” before heading Down on the Farm and even Way Down on the Farm.
Next they discuss the upcoming Stanley Cup Final and play a rousing game of Kraken-centric Let’s Get Quizzical.
Now, as the calendar turns to June, we look to the future. Draft season is upon us. In less than four weeks, just after 4:00 p.m. PT on Friday, June 28, the San Jose Sharks will make Macklin Celebrini the first overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. This much we’re fairly confident about. After that, the real game begins. Who are the best prospects? Who should the Kraken (or your favorite team) be targeting? We dug into the numbers.
Today, we present our final data-only ranking of the 2024 NHL Draft skater prospects. I made a few adjustments to my method of calculating this final ranking, which I will get to in a moment. But, as with each of our previous quantitative rankings, this list is built upon the foundation of an NHL equivalency or “NHLe.”
What is NHLe? NHLe is a method to compare the scoring proficiency of players in the various professional and junior leagues across the globe. I used Thibaud Chatel’s model, which is the most up-to-date public research in the area. Check out Chatel’s Substack for an in-depth discussion of NHLe. For this project, I used Chatel’s newest model, which has been updated to account for 2023-24 season data.
From there, as before, I made modest adjustments based on factors known to be linked to prospect success rates, including (1) re-draft status, (2) age, and (3) height. For reasons discussed in my preseason post, I also made a modest upward adjustment to the NHLe for low-scoring draft-eligible players playing in high-level professional leagues.
I then made three additional adjustments in producing this final list. First, I made a change based on positional value, i.e., forward versus defense. I made a small adjustment to account for this in my previous rankings, but, after some research, I determined these adjustments were too conservative and undervalued the scoring provided by defensemen.
Second, I made a very small upward edit for players who provided value to team goal scoring and suppression of goal scoring against by comparing on-ice plus-minus against team off-ice plus-minus. Third, I also made a very small upward adjustment for players who contributed to a high percentage of their team’s overall goal scoring–whether by scoring the goal itself or assisting on it. These changes are based on the same logic underlying win share and game score metrics.
The 2024 NHL Draft “data score” ranking
After all of the aforementioned adjustments, I arrived at an adjusted NHLe number. This number no longer projects NHL scoring but is (hopefully) useful in comparing the relative strength of prospects. I then normalized these numbers so that the top-ranked skater prospect (spoiler: It’s Macklin Celebrini) would have a score of 100. This final output I call the prospect’s “data score,” and I used it to rank skater prospects in the 2024 NHL Draft.
You can find the full list–8096 players long–in a Google Sheet here.
Important note on using the data-only ranking: If you want to filter the data by various categories, highlight row 3, then select “Data,” “Filter Views,” and “Create New Temporary Filter View.” This will allow you to manipulate the data in a way visible only to you.
Note that I only “ranked” players who played at least 15 games in the club league in which they played the most games. I left the other unranked players on the spreadsheet, ordered by their data score, because there are some interesting ones. For example, Aron Kiviharju was thought of as a first-round pick coming into the year, but missed most of the season with an injury. His data score based on the few games he did play would support a late-second- or early-third-round pick, but I didn’t “rank” him at that level because of the limited sample size.
Here are the skaters that rank within the top two rounds (the top 65) based on data score:
Data score also helps us see that there is a ton of value at the very top of the draft, but it levels out fairly quickly from there, settling into a gradual decline that persists for the remainder of the draft. This reminds us that not all “first-round picks” are the same. This year, this data score approach sees only a few elite prospects that separate themselves from the pack.
Expanding our view out to the top-two rounds you get an even stronger sense of the value at the top.
Beyond Celebrini, the value in this draft appears to be in a group of four defensemen–Zeev Buium, Zayne Parekh, Artyom Levshunov, and Sam Dickinson. If any one is available to the Kraken at No. 8, it would be a good pick.
Looking at relative league strength
We can also look at which leagues have the most players and the most valuable individuals that qualify as “draftable” by our data score approach. Limiting our list to the top 225 skater prospects, the OHL has the most with 39, followed by the WHL with 36 and the USHL with 35. Interestingly, the QMJHL has fewer than half as many as its CHL counterparts with only 17. If the U.S. National Team Development Program were combined with the other USHL teams (because it does play a partial USHL schedule), that group together would have the most players, overtaking the OHL.
Judging by total data score of each league’s players in the top 225, again the OHL comes out ahead, followed by the WHL and USHL. Though again fifth in the ranking, data score further emphasizes QMJHL’s relative weakness, showing that it projects to deliver prospects only (approximately) one-third as valuable as their OHL counterparts in this draft.
Addressing a few closing questions
Any surprises in the rankings? Trevor Connelly stands out positively in this ranking, but I should take a moment to underscore there are no qualitative (or “off ice”) adjustments in play here. If I were publishing my personal ranking, I’d have Connelly lower.
Conversely, I’d have Ivan Demidov a bit higher because I know his data profile is hurt a bit by a handful of lean ice time KHL games. This data score ranking doesn’t account for time on ice because many leagues do not make it available.
Finally, Anton Silayev is bound to be lower than many expect, but it should be noted again that this ranking is built on scoring data. And even when adjusting Silayev’s KHL production upward as I have done for other low-scoring prospects playing in professional leagues, his scoring is not his primary appeal.
Where are the goalies? As you have noticed, this is a skater-only list built on scoring data. After some effort, I haven’t settled on a theoretically sound method to compare skater and goalie prospects. In the meantime, while that effort is ongoing, I do plan to publish a list that ranks the goalies available in the 2024 NHL Draft against each other based on their quantifiable measures.
It should be noted that many in the scouting community believe that there is not a goalie worthy of a top-100 pick in this year’s draft, so the list above is probably a fair snapshot of the top prospects available.
Are you still doing the Sound Of Hockey Big Board? Yes! Final draft rankings are only just now starting to be published. As in years past, we intend to compile a composite “Big Board” of as many credible rankings as we can.
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Thank you for reading. This project is more time consuming than any other I do for Sound Of Hockey each year. If you have any questions, feedback, or ideas for future directions, please don’t hesitate to write in the comments below or on Twitter @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
As the Seattle Kraken aim to rise in the NHL standings, examining the roster-building strategies of this year’s Stanley Cup semi-finalists offers valuable insights into how contending teams have been constructed. Each of the final four clubs—the Edmonton Oilers, Dallas Stars, Florida Panthers, and New York Rangers—has taken a distinct path to success.
From Edmonton’s draft-centric approach to Dallas’s drafting without tanking, Florida’s bold trading, and New York’s hybrid method, the Kraken have multiple models to consider. This article explores these different strategies, discussing how Seattle might integrate these lessons to construct a competitive and sustainable roster over the next few seasons. By analyzing what has worked and what hasn’t for these playoff teams, the Kraken can tailor their approach, leveraging the draft, trades, and free agency to build a team capable of making deep postseason runs.
Edmonton Oilers
Entry draft
It should be no surprise that this team’s identity has been built through the draft, particularly with Connor McDavid (No. 1 overall in 2015) and Leon Draisaitl (No. 3 overall in 2014) leading the way. These two players account for over 34 percent of the team’s points in the playoffs.
Another significant contributor this postseason is Evan Bouchard (No. 10 overall in 2018), who is third in goals on the team in the playoffs. Adding Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (No. 1 overall in 2011), Darnell Nurse (No. 7 overall in 2013), and Philip Broberg (No. 8 overall in 2019) gives the roster six top-10 drafted players. No other team in the conference finals has more than two top-10 drafted players on its roster.
Approach to the trade deadline
The Oilers were aggressive at the last two trade deadlines, parting with a first-round draft pick in a package for Adam Henrique this year. They went even harder last season, sending top prospect Reid Schaefer and a 2023 first-round pick to Nashville for Mattias Ekholm. While the Henrique trade might not have panned out, Ekholm has arguably been the best defensive defenseman over the last two playoff seasons for the Oilers.
Free agency
The Oilers made key signings in free agency with the additions of Zach Hyman in 2021 and Evander Kane midway through the 2021-22 season. Hyman currently leads the league in playoff goals with 13 through the May 30 games. We won’t mention the signing of goaltender Jack Campbell, who carries a cap hit of $5 million a year for the next two seasons. Oops… I guess we just did.
Kraken takeaway
The Oilers have leveraged every method possible to construct their roster, but at their core, this team was built through the draft. The Oilers have had nine top-10 draft picks since 2010. Only Buffalo has more top-10 first-round picks in the same timeframe, an approach the Kraken will not be replicating.
What stands out is that the biggest contributors from Edmonton’s drafted group were selected prior to 2019. Currently, the Kraken’s top two draft picks are Matty Beniers and Shane Wright, drafted in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
Dallas Stars
Entry draft
The Stars have the highest percentage of players acquired through the draft, despite having the fewest top-10 draft picks. Miro Heiskanen (No. 3 overall in 2017) is the only current player drafted by the Stars who was selected inside the top 10. Dallas has successfully built its team through the draft without resorting to tanking. The 2017 draft class, which included Heiskanen, Jake Oettinger, and Jason Robertson, forms the core of the team. Additionally, Wyatt Johnston and Logan Stankoven, both drafted in 2021, are making significant contributions this playoff season, with Johnston leading the Stars with nine goals.
Approach to the trade deadline
The Stars made a notable push at the trade deadline this year by acquiring Chris Tanev from the Calgary Flames for a second- and a conditional third-round pick. This addition was significant yet reasonably priced. They made similar moves at the 2023 trade deadline, acquiring Max Domi and Evgeni Dadonov at reasonable costs. Dadonov re-signed with the Stars, while Domi entered free agency. Overall, their approach to the trade deadline was modest.
Free agency
The most significant free agent signing for the Stars was Matt Duchene, brought in for one year at $3 million AAV after being bought out by Nashville earlier in the summer. This move provided needed depth scoring. A similar move in 2022 saw Mason Marchment signed for four years at $4.5 million AAV. While neither player has scored many goals in the playoffs, both have been noticeable and provided depth to the team. Duchene did score the deciding goal in double overtime of Game 6 in Round 2.
Kraken takeaway
While it would be a stretch to say the Kraken are on the same trajectory as the Dallas Stars, there are some similarities in their draft classes. It’s too early to definitively judge the Kraken’s draft classes, but there are signs of above-average performance in relation to their draft positions for several players. From the 2021 draft class, Ryker Evans (second round) is ahead of schedule, and Ryan Winterton (third round) is making significant progress and has already played NHL games. Additionally, the second-round draft picks from the 2022 and 2023 drafts have shown promising results, with most second-round picks having exceptional seasons since being drafted.
Florida Panthers
Entry draft
There is no denying the elite status of Aleksander Barkov (No. 2 overall in 2012) and his impact on this franchise, but he is only one of three players on this roster drafted by the Panthers. This approach contrasts with building through the draft. The other drafted players are Aaron Ekblad (No. 1 overall in 2014) and Anton Lundell (No. 12 overall in 2020).
Approach to the trade deadline
The Panthers did very little at this season’s trade deadline, adding depth forwards Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo for a third-, seventh-, and conditional fourth-round pick. They made zero trades near the 2022 trade deadline window.
Other trades
Not to diminish the contributions of Barkov and Ekblad, but this team is truly built on a series of trades since 2021.
The first significant trade was acquiring Sam Bennett from Calgary at the 2021 trade deadline for a second-round pick. Bennett, who was an RFA that offseason, signed with Florida for four additional years. He is a player made for the playoffs and has been key to their success over the last two postseasons.
The second major trade was for another Sam, Sam Reinhart, later that year during the offseason. Reinhart cost the Panthers a first-round pick and a highly touted goalie prospect, Devon Levi. In this most recent season, Reinhart had 57 goals during the regular season and is second on the team in the playoffs with eight goals through 15 games.
Perhaps the most significant trade was acquiring Matthew Tkachuk in a blockbuster deal with the Calgary Flames in the 2022 offseason. Players like Tkachuk rarely become available, so when the opportunity arises, you seize it. (Side note: I wish I had a dollar for every time someone tells me the Kraken need a player like Matthew Tkachuk, as if players like him are regularly on the trade block.)
Free agency
The Panthers have taken a similar approach to the Stars in free agency, adding solid depth throughout the lineup with signings like Eetu Luostarinen, Evan Rodrigues, Oliver Ekman-Larsson, and Niko Mikkola, each carrying a cap hit between $2 million and $3 million a year.
We should also note the fortuitous additions of Carter Verhaeghe and Gustav Forsling. Verhaeghe was signed by Florida after the Tampa Bay Lightning chose not to qualify him during the 2020 offseason. He currently leads the team in goals this postseason. Forsling was claimed off waivers from the Carolina Hurricanes during the 2020-21 season, and he has turned into a brilliant player for the Panthers.
Kraken takeaway
Florida continues to prove that adding significant talent through trades is possible. The Kraken have built up a mini war chest of prospects and have extra second- and third-round picks in this year’s draft. While it won’t necessarily be easy, Florida has certainly shown that it is possible to add major contributors though trades.
New York Rangers
Entry draft
The Rangers have a typical number of players drafted and developed within their system, with 41 percent of the team being homegrown talent. They have two top-10 draft picks in Alexis Lafrenière and Kaapo Kakko. Lafrenière is finally reaching the potential people saw in him when he was drafted first overall in 2020. On the other hand, Kaapo Kakko has underperformed relative to his second overall pick in the 2019 draft.
The Rangers’ draft record has been somewhat hit or miss. Success stories include Igor Shesterkin (No. 118 overall in 2014), Filip Chytil (No. 21 overall in 2017), and K’Andre Miller (No. 22 overall in 2018). However, they have had significant misses with Lias Andersson (No. 7 overall in 2017) and Vitali Kravtsov (No. 9 overall in 2018).
Approach to the trade deadline
The Rangers’ biggest move during this trade deadline was the acquisition of Alexander Wennberg for a second- and fourth-round draft pick. They also added Chad Ruhwedel and Jack Roslovic, each costing a fourth-round pick. Last year, the Rangers moved two second-round picks and a third for Patrick Kane. Although Kane is a big name, the trade was relatively minor without a first-round pick or blue-chip prospect involved.
Other trades
You must look back into the 2019 offseason to identify the most impactful Ranger trades. First, they traded two second-round picks for the signing rights to Adam Fox, who won the Norris Trophy in 2021. Six weeks later, they traded away their 2019 first-round pick for Jacob Trouba. Both defensemen play significant roles, with Fox averaging the most ice time on the team in the playoffs.
Free agency
The only significant free agent acquisition over the last five years is Vincent Trocheck, who was signed in the summer of 2022. Going back a little further, in 2019, the Rangers made an important signing by acquiring Artemi Panarin, making a huge splash in free agency at a time when it wasn’t expected.
Kraken takeaway
The Rangers’ approach to roster construction feels the most replicable for the Kraken. It is a hybrid approach that combines drafting and developing talent without being bottom dwellers for several seasons. Except for Lafrenière, most of the drafted players were selected 19th overall or later.
New York has signed key free agents like Panarin and Trocheck without taking on overly burdensome contracts, giving them flexibility to retain their drafted players after their entry-level deals expire. Additionally, they made strategic trades to add long-term talent while avoiding an all-in approach at the trade deadlines over the past few seasons.
Down the Rangers’ path?
The Seattle Kraken have options and lessons to consider from analyzing these final four teams in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Edmonton Oilers illustrate how a team builds through high draft picks, while the Dallas Stars showcase the value of quality drafting without resorting to tanking. The Florida Panthers highlight the potential of transformative trades, and the New York Rangers demonstrate the benefits of a hybrid approach that balances drafting, trading, and selective free agency signings. The Kraken have started down the Rangers’ path with several quality drafts under their belt, a strategic trade for Oliver Bjorkstrand, and a handful of significant free agent signings like Adam Larsson and Andre Burakovsky, while still maintaining roster flexibility.
Let’s see if they continue down that path this summer and make any significant additions.
And now, it’s officially official. Tuesday was a big day as the Seattle Kraken formally announced what the entire hockey world already knew: Dan Bylsma would be taking the wheel as the second head coach in the team’s history.
For additional coverage on the hiring, I shared my reaction on Monday after the reports came out, along with some background on Bylsma. Give that a read if you haven’t already. John Barr and I also had the pleasure of interviewing Bylsma for the Sound Of Hockey Podcastimmediately after the introductory presser, and it’s very much worth a listen. It’s an extremely fun interview with (oddly) plenty of Back to the Future references.
With those housekeeping items covered and Disco Dan having now completed his intro press conference alongside general manager Ron Francis and team owner Samantha Holloway at Kraken Community Iceplex on Tuesday, I thought it was worth giving a few follow-up thoughts.
Here are my takeaways from the press conference.
First day of school vibes
There was a lot of pomp and circumstance surrounding Bylsma’s introduction, and I personally left KCI feeling excited for what will come from this team next season. The presser was held in the Kraken dressing room—a place the team has never held such a press conference—and it was packed to the gills with local media, team staff, and team ownership.
Bylsma himself presented as humble but excited, grateful but deserving, serious but also downright funny. Before he was given the floor to make his own opening remarks, the team showed a video montage of Bylsma’s playing and coaching highlights, including a clip of him scoring one of his 17 career goals.
“Being able to find a clip of me scoring a goal is evidence of the great work that’s already happening here,” Bylsma joked.
There’s a certain comedic chemistry between him and Francis that shows they get along and know each other well after working together for three years. Francis also joked that he had previously interviewed Bylsma for a head-coaching role when Francis was the GM in Carolina, but “[Dan] didn’t have any interest in my job at that point.” To that, Bylsma quickly shot back, “There are two sides to that story,” but then declined to elaborate when given the opportunity.
I’ve said it many times that I liked Dave Hakstol, but he was always guarded when dealing with the media. He never wanted to say anything that could be misconstrued or give another team even the slightest tactical advantage against the Kraken, so sometimes it was hard to get anything of interest out of him. I don’t get that same vibe from Bylsma, though, who effortlessly glided from one interview to the next following his presser and seemed to really enjoy doing it. Again, you’ll get a good taste of that in the latest Sound Of Hockey Podcast interview.
A long journey
I mentioned Bylsma’s humility earlier, and where that shone through for me was when he answered my question about taking a step back from being an assistant in Detroit to being an assistant with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL. I asked if becoming the Kraken head coach one day was on his radar when he took that job.
“You could wonder why, maybe, my path led me to Charlotte, but really it was… I was grateful to Ron at the time of just giving me the opportunity to coach again,” Bylsma said. “I had taken few years off from being a head coach and kind of really decided that I wanted to give one more go at being a head coach again. And that’s really what led me to Charlotte. I did have an eye on CV, I will say that. I did, and I ended up coaching in CV… I did have an eye on proving to Ron that I would be the guy to be the head coach in CV when the franchise started two years ago.”
A jersey with Blysma’s name on it hangs in a locker stall in the Kraken dressing room. (Photo/Darren Brown)
Think about what Bylsma did to get to this point. The guy was at the pinnacle of coaching, got fired twice, went back to being an assistant for three years, then went even farther back to being an assistant in the MINORS just to give himself a chance to be a head coach at the AHL level again. He didn’t take that Charlotte Checkers job thinking, Oh, this is my path back to being an NHL head coach. No, he took that hoping it could just make him a head coach again, not even at the top level, but at the AHL level.
His ego wasn’t too big to do that, and his willingness to take two steps backward before three steps forward has paid dividends.
More work to do
Adding an interesting wrinkle to this situation is that Byslma is still in the midst of a postseason run, with the Western Conference Finals of the AHL Calder Cup Playoffs getting underway Wednesday.
In both his press conference and his podcast interview with us, Bylsma implied that this has been an unideal way of getting one of the 32 best head-coaching jobs in the world.
“It hangs in the balance that I still have some other things to do in Coachella Valley,” Bylsma said. “So, we’ve got Game 1 [Wednesday]. I’m looking very much forward to getting… spending time with you here right now, but getting on a plane, getting back to Coachella Valley, and get on with Game 1.”
And while his name had always been bandied about as a possibility to take this job, Bylsma did well to keep things relatively under wraps and hold firm that he was wholeheartedly focused on the Firebirds’ playoff run. Still, this has to have been an awkward situation to navigate.
Other hirings coming
By promoting their AHL coach, the Kraken have robbed Peter to pay Paul, in a sense. Moving Bylsma up doesn’t actually fill a hole as much as it just creates a different one, so at some point they will need to add one or two in headcount because they let both Hakstol and assistant coach Paul McFarland go following the 2023-24 season.
So, at this point, there remains an opening for head coach in Coachella Valley, plus an assistant coach spot in Seattle, assuming the Kraken want to come back with the same number of coaches next season.
Bylsma didn’t implicitly say it, but he sounded comfortable having Jay Leach and Dave Lowry as two of his assistants, and he also indicated that Jess Campbell and Stu Bickel, his assistants in Coachella Valley, would be given consideration for promotions.
I could see a world in which one of Campbell or Bickel gets an NHL assistant job and the other gets the AHL head coaching job, and then the organization hires two more AHL assistants to backfill. Again, they’re robbing Peter to pay Paul, but such moves could make sense.
Following his public presser, Francis gave some clarity on that situation in an aside with a few of us. “That’s a process we’ll get to,” Francis said. “My inbox is going to blow up, now that we’ve hired Dan, for people that want to be on his staff here, as well as the staff there. And I said the same thing to Dan, anything that comes in here, we’ll just put that aside, and then we’ll work on putting a list together for CV. But our focus right now is on letting [the Firebirds] play, and once we get through that, I need to have the right conversations with Jessica, the right conversations with Stu, and look at what candidates we have and make that decision that’s best for the organization.”
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.
What an episode this is! With Curtis out of town, John and Darren sprung into action upon the news breaking that Dan Bylsma was getting hired by the Seattle Kraken.
At Bylsma’s introductory press conference on Tuesday, the guys interviewed the new bench boss, who remains in the midst of a deep playoff run in the AHL. It’s an incredibly fun interview that you will not want to miss.
Also on this episode, tons of analysis about the hiring and discussion about what Kraken fans can expect to see moving forward.
Segments include Down on the Farm, Weekly One-Timers, and Get Off My Lawn.
