Kraken change course, fire Bylsma after 1 season
-
Ryan S. Clark
The Seattle Kraken are making a series of sweeping changes, starting with Monday’s announcement of coach Dan Bylsma’s firing after just one season.
“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,” Kraken general manager Ron 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.”
Other expected changes include Francis being named team president and assistant general manager Jason Botterill being promoted to general manager, a source confirmed to ESPN amid multiple media reports.
In addition, assistant coach Jessica Campbell, who is the first woman to be behind a bench in NHL history, is being retained, a source told ESPN. She signed a two-year contract with the club last season.
Seattle’s restructuring comes at a time in which the franchise is attempting to find cohesion that has been elusive since the NHL’s 32nd team made its debut in the 2021-22 season.
The Kraken, who fired Dave Hakstol last season, will be searching for their third head coach in as many seasons.
Bylsma, who previously coached the Buffalo Sabres and Pittsburgh Penguins, had coached the Kraken’s AHL affiliate — where Campbell was also an assistant — for two seasons. They would lead the Coachella Valley Firebirds to consecutive AHL championship game appearances before being promoted to the NHL.
Hiring Bylsma came with the belief that he could parlay his AHL success into the Kraken either returning to the playoffs or being a team that challenged for a postseason berth for most of the season.
It was more of the same, however. After winning 34 games in Hakstol’s final season, the Kraken won 35 games while finishing 20 points adrift of the final Western Conference wild-card spot in what ultimately became Bylsma’s lone campaign.
With the playoffs out of the picture, the Kraken were active ahead of the NHL trade deadline. They received 2026 and 2027 first-round picks from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for forwards Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde while receiving additional draft capital in separate deals for Brandon Tanev and Daniel Sprong.
While they have a three-player restricted free agent class that’s led by Kaapo Kakko, the No. 2 pick of the 2019 NHL draft who was acquired in a trade this season, the Kraken have most of their team under contract next season.
They also have more than $21.7 million in projected available cap space that could be used to strengthen a roster that’s trying to challenge in a Western Conference landscape that saw 11 teams finish with more than 89 points.
Francis is slated to speak with reporters Tuesday afternoon, when he will likely address the Kraken’s future and his role going forward. The Hall of Famer had previously served as the Carolina Hurricanes‘ GM before he was hired to take over the Kraken.
His time in charge has seen the franchise seek to build from within using the draft while also dipping into free agency. It has led to the Kraken building what is one of the stronger farm systems in the NHL. But after again missing the playoffs and having mixed results in free agency, questions have emerged about what direction the franchise would be taking and if Francis would be involved.
Botterill, who has been with the Kraken since the 2020-21 season, was the Sabres’ GM for three seasons. Under his stead, Buffalo drafted talents such as Casey Mittelstadt, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, Rasmus Dahlin, Mattias Samuelsson and Dylan Cozens as the team sought to insulate then-star center and captain Jack Eichel.
Now, Botterill will be faced with trying to make the Kraken competitive in a market where the team has struggled to gain traction while also being one of the most expensive to watch, according to the Fan Cost Index.
He’ll be charged with trying to find a new coach in what’s expected to be an active market. The Kraken now join the Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers and Philadelphia Flyers as teams seeking a new bench boss.
-
Greg Wyshynski
After making NHL history during the regular season, Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin made some personal history in his team’s Game 1 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Monday.
Ovechkin scored the first playoff overtime goal of his career to propel the Capitals to a series-opening 3-2 victory at home in his 152nd career postseason game.
“A goal is a goal,” Ovechkin said after the victory. “Good things happen when you go to the net.”
Ovechkin is the all-time leader in regular-season overtime goals with 27 in 1,491 games. They’re part of his career total of 897 goals, having broken Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record of 894 goals this season.
“The guy’s the best player in the world. What else can you say?” said Capitals goaltender Logan Thompson, who made 33 saves in the win. “He comes in clutch. All game. It’s a privilege to be his teammate.”
After an icing call, Capitals forward Dylan Strome won a faceoff, with Montreal forwards Patrik Laine and Ivan Demidov failing to clear the puck. Winger Anthony Beauvillier collected the puck for a shot on goal and then tracked down his own rebound to Montreal goalie Sam Montembeault‘s right. Montreal’s Alex Newhook and Kaiden Guhle went to defend Beauvillier, who slid a pass to an open Ovechkin on the doorstep for the goal at 2:26 of overtime.
The overtime tally completed a monster night for Ovechkin.
He opened the scoring on the power play at 18:34 of the first period and then assisted on Beauvillier’s second-period goal to make it 2-0 before finishing off the pesky Canadiens in overtime. It was the 37th multipoint performance and 10th multigoal game of Ovechkin’s playoff career.
Ovechkin also had seven hits in the game to lead all skaters.
Ovechkin is the oldest skater in Stanley Cup playoff history to factor in all of his team’s goals in a game. He also became the fourth-oldest player in Cup playoff history to score an overtime goal at 39 years and 216 days. Detroit’s Igor Larionov was 41 years old when he scored a triple-overtime goal in Game 3 of the 2002 Stanley Cup Final against the Carolina Hurricanes.
With his first goal, Ovechkin passed Patrick Marleau and Esa Tikkanen (72) and tied Dino Ciccarelli (73) for the 14th-most playoff goals in NHL history. Ovechkin’s 74th career playoff goal put him in a tie with Joe Pavelski for the 13th-most career playoff goals.
The captain’s overtime heroism rescued Game 1 for the Capitals. The top seed in the Eastern Conference watched the Canadiens rally in the third period on goals by Cole Caufield and Nick Suzuki 5:13 apart to send the game to overtime.
“You can see why they made the playoffs. That team doesn’t quit,” Thompson said. “In the third, they didn’t go away. We’ve got to respect them. They took it to us in the third.”
But rather than give Montreal some much-needed confidence and a series lead in its upset bid, Ovechkin shut the door in overtime.
“He played a hell of game tonight,” Beauvillier said.
-
Sports2 years ago‘Storybook stuff’: Inside the night Bryce Harper sent the Phillies to the World Series
-
Sports1 year agoStory injured on diving stop, exits Red Sox game
-
Sports1 year agoGame 1 of WS least-watched in recorded history
-
Sports2 years agoMLB Rank 2023: Ranking baseball’s top 100 players
-
Sports4 years ago
Team Europe easily wins 4th straight Laver Cup
-
Environment2 years agoJapan and South Korea have a lot at stake in a free and open South China Sea
-
Environment2 years agoGame-changing Lectric XPedition launched as affordable electric cargo bike
-
Business3 years agoBank of England’s extraordinary response to government policy is almost unthinkable | Ed Conway