Are the Seattle Kraken Heading Down the Path of the Buffalo Sabres?

Ever since the Seattle Kraken joined the NHL, questions have surrounded how they constructed their team and handled their business. From the expansion draft to last offseason, the Kraken have been looked at as a team that could be better, but they decided on a long path to success.

Even with their playoff appearance in 2023, where they made it to the second round of the playoffs, the Kraken have always done things differently. Things looked to be going in the right direction, but after back-to-back seasons of missing the playoffs, they decided more change was needed.

The Seattle Kraken have announced a coaching change. Less than a year after replacing Dave Hakstol, the Kraken are moving on from Dan Bylsma.

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In addition to firing Bylsma, the team is promoting current general manager Ron Francis within the organization and making Jason Botterill, the assistant general manager, the new general manager.

These are interesting moves from a team that was not expected to make the playoffs this season. Bylsma replaced Hakstol because Francis thought they needed a new voice. Recall, Byslma took the Coachella Valley Firebirds to the Calder Cup Finals before his promotion. He brought Jessica Campbell up to the NHL. She is being retained as an assistant coach. Firing another coach a year later shows that the Seattle Kraken need a new direction in their front office.

“We thank Dan for his commitment and the energy he brought to our organization over the past four years at the NHL and AHL levels,” said Kraken General Manager Ron Francis in a statement. “After a thorough review of the season and our expectations for next year and beyond, we’ve made the difficult decision to move in a different direction behind the bench. Dan is a great person and a respected coach. He played an important role in the development of many of our young prospects and was a big part of our early success in Coachella Valley. We sincerely wish him and his family nothing but success moving forward.”

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A team like Seattle should not be firing coaches year after year. That is a Buffalo Sabres thing to do. Both teams wonder why they are not successful and not in the playoffs. There was some speculation that Ron Francis might not get the full five years of his contract as General Manager. Many thought a GM change would come, especially after the contracts given out to Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson.

Bylsma did great work with the young players, including 2022 first-round draft pick Shane Wright and newly acquired forward Kaapo Kakko. The Kraken played well under Bylsma this season; however, when Francis did not qualify Morgan Geekie or Daniel Sprong after the team made the playoffs in 2023, many wondered what he was doing.

Now the search for a full-time coach will begin. It will be a thorough search. However, the coach is not the only issue in Seattle. Roster construction is another problem, and they need to get the right pieces to gel to get back to the playoffs. However, the Kraken need to start progressing in the right direction, or else they could fall into Buffalo Sabres territory.

A team like Seattle can’t get stuck in rebuild mode with Utah inching closer to the playoffs. We all know what the Vegas Golden Knights did in their first five seasons. It’s unfair to compare Seattle to Vegas, but the Kraken need to get back to the playoffs; otherwise, they could be stuck near the bottom for a long time.

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