The Seattle Kraken are moving on from Dan Bylsma after one season as the team’s head coach.
Kraken GM Ron Francis made the announcement Monday afternoon, six days after their final game of the regular season, a 6-5 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. The Kraken finished the season in seventh place in the Pacific Division and 27th overall in the league with a 35-41-6 record — good for 72 standings points.
“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,” Francis said 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.”
During the previous two seasons, Bylsma helped guide the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, to a 94-32-18 record and consecutive Calder Cup Finals appearances in 2023 and 2024. Both years the Firebirds fell to the Hershey Bears in the championship series.
During nine years as an NHL head coach, Bylsma compiled a 355-231-61 record with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Buffalo Sabres, and Kraken. He led the Penguins to the Stanley Cup in 2009 after being hired midseason.
Bylsma is the third NHL head coach fired this offseason joining Peter Laviolette (New York Rangers, April 19) and Greg Cronin (Anaheim Ducks, April 19).
He’s also the eighth head coach canned this season overall. Jim Montgomery (Boston Bruins, Nov. 19), Drew Bannister (St. Louis Blues, Nov. 24), Luke Richardson (Chicago Blackhawks, Dec. 5), Derek Lalonde (Detroit Red Wings, Dec. 26) and John Tortorella (Philadelphia Flyers, March 27) were all fired midseason.
