The Seattle Kraken have announced that Dave Hakstol will be the first head coach of the franchise.
Many considered Rick Tocchet to be the presumptive favorite for the job, but the Kraken decided to go another way. Joe Sacco, Tony Granato and David Quinn were other candidates that were reportedly in contention.
Hakstol was head coach of the Flyers from 2015-16 to 2018-19 and coached them to a 134-101-42 record. He has been an assistant coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the past two seasons. The Leafs now have an opening at assistant coach. Bruce Boudreau was heavily rumored to join Sheldon Keefe’s staff last summer, we’ll see if those rumors re-emerge.
