Jessica Campbell is not returning behind the Seattle Kraken’s bench next season.
Campbell, a Kraken assistant coach for the past two seasons, will see her contract expire and will field interest from other teams across the NHL. When Campbell was hired by Seattle in 2024, she became the first full-time female assistant coach in NHL history to work behind the bench.
“As Jessica’s current contract expires, she has expressed her desire to explore other coaching roles across the League, and we support her in this process,” Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said in a statement. “Jessica has been an important member of our coaching staff for the past four years, demonstrating deep knowledge, and a unique ability to connect with and develop players. We respect her decision and believe strongly in her as a coach in this league.”
Campbell joined the Kraken on head coach Dan Bylsma’s staff after serving as an assistant coach under him for two seasons with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. Despite Bylsma being fired after just one year at the helm of the team, Campbell stayed on to join Lane Lambert’s staff this past season.
With the Kraken, Campbell spent most of her time working with the team’s power-play units and, one-on-one with players as a skills coach. Seattle’s power play has struggled to score goals under her watch, converting on just 19.2 percent of its opportunities over the past two seasons, which ranks 25th in the NHL.
However, the Kraken have never been flush with elite, scoring talent, as their leading scorer this past season was a 35-year-old Jordan Eberle, who recorded 55 points (26g, 29a) in 80 games. He was one of only two players on the team to hit the 50-point mark. During the 2024-25 campaign, similarly, Jared McCann led the team with just 61 points (22g, 39a), and again, only two players hit the 50-point mark.
Given her experience as a power-play coach, it would be easy to make a connection between Campbell and the Washington Capitals, who recently saw Kirk Muller depart the organization. The Caps have also shown they are not afraid to buck trends with their coaching staff, making Emily Engel-Natzke the first full-time female coach of an NHL team when she was hired as video coordinator in 2022.
Capitals head coach Spencer Carbery has also spoken glowingly of Campbell in the past, particularly when she and Engel-Natzke became the first women to compete as coaches in the NHL last year.
“It’s phenomenal,” he said then. “It’s so impressive what they’ve accomplished in their careers — Em being the first coach at this level in the NHL and then Jessica being the first on-bench coach. It’s great, not only paving the way for future women to be able to assume those roles, but just what they’ve been able to do in this male-dominated industry.
“To show their skill set and how they can perform the duties at the highest level in the world is is really impressive and they should be a) really, really proud, but b) you know what’s coming into the future — of them paving the way for future girls, and girls that look up to them, of what they’ve been able to do in the NHL.”
Carbery is soon set to jet off to Switzerland to serve as an assistant coach with Team Canada at the 2026 World Championship. Capitals general manager Chris Patrick said last month that he planned to meet with Carbery about addressing personnel changes.
