{"id":441659,"date":"2024-05-26T11:59:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-26T15:59:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=441659"},"modified":"2024-05-26T11:59:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-26T15:59:54","slug":"nhl-rumours-former-nhl-coach-a-candidate-for-seattle-kraken-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/05\/26\/nhl-rumours-former-nhl-coach-a-candidate-for-seattle-kraken-job\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Former NHL Coach a Candidate for Seattle Kraken Job"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for another edition of NHL rumours as we head towards the end of May. We&#8217;re a few weeks away from deciding the Stanley Cup, but the rumours are flying. Teams that missed out on the post-season have decisions to make. A number of teams have made switches behind the bench. Some of those spots have been filled, but the<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/04\/29\/seattle-kraken-are-making-coaching-change\/\" target=\"_self\"> Seattle Kraken<\/a> are still searching for a head coach. Today&#8217;s NHL rumours focus on the Kraken and one particular name that was a former NHL bench boss.<\/p>\n<p>All NHL rumours come from the original source and are subject to change.<\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours<\/h2>\n<h3>Seattle Kraken Coaching Candidate Emerging as Dark Horse<\/h3>\n<p><em>Rumour: Mike Benton of KJR and Fox 13 in Seattle said that former <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/05\/13\/nhl-rumours-tampa-bay-lightning-and-minnesota-wild\/\" target=\"_self\">Minnesota Wild<\/a> Head Coach <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/e\/evasode01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dean Evason<\/a> has emerged as a dark horse candidate for the vacant head coaching post.<\/em><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">No surprise the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/SeaKraken?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#SeaKraken<\/a> have worked quietly on the head coaching search, but a name surfacing as a darkhorse candidate is Dean Evason, a league source tells <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/933KJR?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@933KJR<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Evason spent the last 5 years as head coach of the Minnesota Wild, let go on Nov. 27. Is 147-77-27 lifetime.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mike Benton (@Benton_Mike) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Benton_Mike\/status\/1793426878793171114?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">May 22, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>Analysis<\/em>: Evason was fired in the middle of the season and replaced by John Hynes. He wa<span class=\"css-1jxf684 r-bcqeeo r-1ttztb7 r-qvutc0 r-poiln3\">s 147-77-27 lifetime with the club.<\/span> The former Wild coach has been bandied about as a candidate for a few different jobs like the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/05\/24\/what-kind-of-contract-will-ottawa-senators-shane-pinto-sign\/\" target=\"_self\">Ottawa Senators<\/a>, the<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/05\/18\/maple-leafs-target-ufas-defenceman\/\" target=\"_self\"> Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a>, and other spots.<\/p>\n<p>Evason said he had a feeling that his firing was coming and Minnesota General Manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/g\/gueribi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bill Guerin<\/a> made the change. The 59-year-old is still looking for a new job, but could be headed to the Pacific Northwest.<\/p>\n<h4>Seattle&#8217;s Search<\/h4>\n<p>Kraken General Manager <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/f\/francro01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Ron Francis<\/a> fired inaugural Head Coach Dave Hakstol early this offseason. At this point, Seattle is still searching for a new coach. Francis likely would have been in position to make a play for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/brindro01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Rod Brind&#8217;Amour<\/a>. However, the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/05\/24\/major-carolina-hurricanes-news-as-off-ice-changes-made\/\" target=\"_self\">Carolina Hurricanes<\/a> extended the man Francis hired for the post.<\/p>\n<p>This meant that Francis had to pivot and focus on newer candidates. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/b\/bylsmda01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2024-05-26_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Dan Bylsma<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/sports.mynorthwest.com\/1775431\/who-seattle-kraken-hire-coach-replace-dave-hakstol\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has done wonders<\/a> with the AHL affiliate for the Kraken in <a href=\"https:\/\/cvfirebirds.com\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Coachella Valley<\/a>. Conversely, Bylsma has had some previous stumbles along the way in the NHL with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/05\/19\/nhl-rumours-dallas-stars-and-buffalo-sabres\/\" target=\"_self\">Buffalo Sabres.<\/a> He did win a Stanley Cup with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2024\/05\/15\/pittsburgh-penguins-defenceman-kris-letang-is-having-offseason-surgery\/\" target=\"_self\">Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> in his first season in charge in 2008-09. Bylsma currently has the Firebirds in the AHL Western Conference Final. The team made the Calder Cup Final in 2022-23, but lost to the Hershey Bears in seven games. There&#8217;s no doubt his performance behind the bench should get some looks from other teams.<\/p>\n<h4>What Evason Could Bring<\/h4>\n<p>Seattle did make the post-season in year two in 2022-23. In contrast, the Kraken took a step backwards after a landmark season. The team struggled to have an identity this season. However, Evason could try and solve that problem with the help of Francis.<\/p>\n<p>The Kraken seem stuck between a heavier team that&#8217;s physical and one that has finesse. Evason&#8217;s teams were usually consistent in his stops in the AHL and the NHL. Teams also usually take on the personality of their head coach and Evason has a strong one. Seattle needs to find itself and a new head coach can help that happen.<\/p>\n<h3>What It Means<\/h3>\n<p>Some Kraken fans were looking at Brind&#8217;Amour as the ideal coach. However, Francis probably knew that the Hurricanes would extend their coach. It was pretty much an outside shot that there wouldn&#8217;t be a West Coast reunion. Names like Bylsma and Evason are probably two of the team&#8217;s main candidates. Furthermore, this coaching search has been pretty close to the vest.<\/p>\n<p>There are worries about Bylsma&#8217;s last stint in Buffalo and Evason&#8217;s lack of post-season success. However, the team wants to take it one step at a time. Getting back to the playoffs is the likely priority and the Kraken will worry about the playoff success when they cross that bridge.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main photo by: Steven Bisig-USA TODAY Sports<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s time for another edition of NHL rumours as we head towards the end of May. We&#8217;re a few weeks away from deciding the Stanley Cup, but the rumours are flying. Teams that missed out on the post-season have decisions to make. A number of teams have made switches behind the bench. Some of those [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2352,"featured_media":441660,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4321,4547,4548,5369],"tags":[697,4634,137,6532],"class_list":["post-441659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-rumours","category-hockey","category-nhl","category-seattle-kraken","tag-dan-bylsma","tag-dean-evason","tag-ron-francis","tag-seattle-kraken-rumours"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2352"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=441659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/441659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/441660"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=441659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=441659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=441659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}