The Seattle Kraken have fired head coach Dave Hakstol after three seasons, the team announced Monday.
Hakstol, who was the first coach in the Kraken’s short history, was dismissed after the team failed to make the playoffs after finishing with 100 points and advancing to the Western Conference semifinals last season.
The club on Monday also announced that assistant coach Paul McFarland would not return next season.
“I thank Dave for his hard work and dedication to the Kraken franchise,” general manager Ron Francis said in a statement. “Following our end-of-the-season review, we have decided to make a change at our head coach position. These decisions are never easy, but we feel that this is a necessary step to help ensure our team continues to improve and evolve.
“Dave is a good coach and a terrific person. We wish him and his family all the best. We will begin our search for the Kraken’s next head coach immediately.”
Francis had hinted that changes could be made less than a week after the season ended.
Hakstol, who went 107-112-27 with the franchise, becomes the second NHL coach to be fired this offseason after the San Jose Sharks moved on from David Quinn last week.
There were questions about the Kraken’s decision in June 2021 to hire Hakstol, the former Philadelphia Flyers coach who had been an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those questions remained during Seattle’s inaugural season, when the team went 27-49-6 and won the fourth pick in the NHL draft lottery, which was used on Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright, who at one time was projected to go first in his draft class.
Hakstol’s second season drew more praise than criticism. The Kraken became arguably the league’s biggest surprise, winning 46 games and reaching the 100-point mark — a turnaround of 40 points from the previous season — before advancing to the conference semifinal round and losing to the Dallas Stars.
It also led to Hakstol being one of three finalists for the Jack Adams Award, which is given to the head coach that has “contributed the most to his team’s success.” He also was rewarded with an extension through the 2025-26 season.
“We had a real good season last year, went probably better than we expected and our staff did a good job and they got rewarded for it,” Francis said. “This season didn’t go as well as we had hoped and then you got to look at things and try and make decisions at the end of the season. That’s where we ended up at this point.”
Part of the Kraken’s success stemmed from finishing second in team shooting percentage — with a success rate of 11.6% — and tying for fourth in goals per game.
Questions again surfaced after Seattle opened this season with four straight losses before another eight-game slide from late November into early December, but the club went on a 13-game points streak that saw them win nine in a row, including a win over the defending Stanley Cup champion Vegas Golden Knights in the Winter Classic at T-Mobile Park on New Year’s Day.
The offense, which buoyed them with consistency in 2022-23, led to them capsizing in 2023-24 — the Kraken went 13-16-3 after the All-Star break — as they finished 18th on the power play and 29th in both shooting percentage and goals scored.
Ultimately, those offensive struggles — along with a run of inconsistent performances — led to the Kraken finishing 34-35-13 and 17 points behind the Golden Knights for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference.
TOKYO — For two days in Japan, it’s the Hanshin Tigers who have looked like the class of the National League.
In another sign that Japanese baseball has never been better, the Tigers capped a two-game sweep over MLB clubs with a 3-0 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday at the Tokyo Dome.
Even more impressive, the Tigers didn’t give up a run in either game. Daichi Ishii recorded the final out, freezing James Outman for strike three on a 95 mph fastball to cap 18 scoreless innings in a row.
“These two days were priceless,” Hanshin manager Kyuji Fujikawa said through an interpreter.
Hanshin tagged two-time Cy Young award winner Blake Snell for three runs in the fourth inning when the first two batters reached base before Teruaki Sato smoked a three-run homer into the right-field seats, where a jubilant Tigers fan club erupted in celebration.
On the mound, right-hander Hiroto Saiki threw five dominant innings, giving up just one hit and one walk while striking out seven. Saiki struck out Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani to start the game and coaxed a harmless popup from the slugger in the fourth.
“Really good ballclub,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I thought they played really good defense. They can handle velocity, good with the fastball. The starter [Saiki] had major league stuff. Good command, good split. And then Sato, he looks the part. He’s a really impressive baseball player.”
Saiki was one of the best pitchers in Japan last season, finishing with a 13-3 record and a 1.88 ERA over 167⅔ innings. The Tigers had a 74-63 record last season, which was good for second place in Japan’s Central League.
The Tigers started the two-game sweep with a 3-0 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday after 20-year-old lefty Keito Mombetsu threw five perfect innings. No Cubs player reached base until Miguel Amaya smacked a single through the infield in the sixth that just got past the shortstop.
Hanshin also dominated on the basepaths against the Cubs, going 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.
“They clearly showed they can play at the top level,” Roberts said.
Japanese players have made a huge mark on MLB, particularly over the past three decades. Former Mariners star Ichiro Suzuki was recently elected to the Hall of Fame, and this week’s Tokyo Series features five Japanese players, including three on the Dodgers with Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki.
Skenes is coming off a dominant performance in his first season in the majors. The 22-year-old right-hander went 11-3 with a 1.96 ERA in 23 starts for Pittsburgh in 2024, winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award.
The Pirates posted a video on social media on Saturday that showed Shelton informing Skenes of his decision.
In the video, Skenes walks into Shelton’s office and answers a couple questions about how his bullpen went and how he was feeling. Shelton later got up from behind his desk and informed Skenes he would be starting March 27 at Miami. He shook hands with Skenes and gave him a hug.
“Congrats, brother,” Shelton said to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft.
“Appreciate it,” Skenes responded.
The 22-year-old Skenes has been working on incorporating a cutter and a running two-seam fastball to go along with his blazing four-seam fastball.
The Ottawa Senators have opened up a nice gap as the first wild card, with 75 points and 26 regulation wins in 65 games. Beyond them, things get interesting.
If it comes down to the regulation-wins tiebreaker at season’s end, the Rangers have an upper hand over all the rest, with 29 in that column, compared with 23 for the Jackets, Red Wings and Bruins, and just 22 for the Habs.
The Canadiens host the Panthers also at 7 p.m. (NHL Network)
The Blue Jackets face the visiting Rangers also at 7 p.m. (ESPN+)
And if they have their sights set on catching the Senators, these clubs are all rooting for the Maple Leafs, who host Ottawa (7 p.m., ESPN+). It’s a great night for multiple streaming devices!
There is a lot of runway left until April 17, the final day of the regular season, and we’ll help you track it all with the NHL playoff watch. As we traverse the final stretch, we’ll provide details on all the playoff races, along with the teams jockeying for position in the 2025 NHL draft lottery.
Points: 62 Regulation wins: 23 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 75.9 Next game: vs. WPG (Sunday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 22
Points: 45 Regulation wins: 13 Playoff position: N/A Games left: 15 Points pace: 55.1 Next game: vs. WSH (Saturday) Playoff chances: ~0% Tragic number: 5
Race for the No. 1 pick
The NHL uses a draft lottery to determine the order of the first round, so the team that finishes in last place is not guaranteed the No. 1 selection. As of 2021, a team can move up a maximum of 10 spots if it wins the lottery, so only 11 teams are eligible for the No. 1 pick. Full details on the process are here. Matthew Schaefer, a defenseman for the OHL’s Erie Otters, is No. 1 on the draft board.