Kraken coaching search underway, but they might need to wait out playoffs

NHL Insider

Kraken general manager Ron Francis has wasted little time getting the search started for a new head coach to replace the fired Dave Hakstol.

Just days after Hakstol’s dismissal, Francis was already interviewing candidates in-person. One of those, former Los Angeles Kings and San Jose Sharks coach Todd McLellan, was in town Thursday to meet with Francis and dine with him at a local waterfront restaurant.

“It’s fair to say the process is already well underway,” Francis said the following day.

While the process has begun, it’s possible the candidate Francis really wants to land is still competing in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The biggest name is Carolina Hurricanes bench boss Rod Brind’Amour, whose team trailed the New York Rangers 1-0 in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semifinal series with Game 2 scheduled Tuesday night.

There’s also Boston Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco, a finalist for the Kraken job three years ago before Hakstol was selected. Boston leads the Florida Panthers 1-0 in the other Eastern Conference series.

Of the two, Brind’Amour is the perhaps the league’s most sought-after coach. Francis waited out Brind’Amour’s prior extension talks with the Hurricanes three years ago.

Carolina owner Tom Dundon is known for driving a hard line in negotiations and Brind’Amour’s latest talks have again come too close for comfort for many Canes fans. There’s a thought that if Carolina doesn’t advance beyond the second round — a distinct possibility facing a Rangers team that won the Presidents Trophy — he and Dundon could part ways.

The saga took twists last week, with reports the Hurricanes pulled their latest offer off the table. Follow-up reports late last week indicated talks were back on and Brind’Amour said he felt “really good” a deal would get done.

Of course, that could have just been an attempt by Brind’Amour and GM Don Waddell — who also expressed optimism — to eliminate distractions for players before their second-round series. 

Where the Kraken come in is Brind’Amour and Francis are former teammates with the Hurricanes and worked within that organization together — Francis as GM and Brind’Amour as an assistant coach under Bill Peters.

There’s been some online noise from the chattering classes speculating their relationship is overblown and that Brind’Amour is somewhat resentful Francis didn’t give him a head-coaching position. Those espousing this base it off a lone “Spittin’ Chiclets” podcast from February 2023 in which Brind’Amour admitted he was frustrated during his latter years as an assistant before Dundon bought the team and gave him the vacant head coach position shortly after Francis was fired. 

Brind’Amour never actually said anything negative about Francis in the interview.

What those speculating likely aren’t aware of is that Brind’Amour’s glowing recommendation of Francis to NHL Seattle executives back in June 2019 likely sealed their decision to hire him as GM. The future Kraken team — which was unnamed but had been awarded as an expansion franchise six months earlier — was already leaning heavily toward hiring Francis when they headed off to that month’s NHL entry draft in Vancouver, B.C.

There, team owner Jerry Bruckheimer and CEO Tod Leiweke met with several NHL-connected people to gauge their take on Francis. But one of their clinching conversations was a brief, informal one with Brind’Amour, who energetically raved about Francis as a person and the loyalty he commanded and showed others. 

That conversation is said to have sealed the deal and Francis was hired just weeks later. 

Now, that doesn’t mean Brind’Amour is coming to Seattle, though a disappointingly quick exit this round by a Canes team billed as a Cup contender could potentially send his contract talks veering in a different direction. That still wouldn’t leave the Kraken in the clear, given word around Toronto is the Maple Leafs are also waiting to see what Brind’Amour does.

The Leafs, of course, lost yet again in the opening round and have not won a Cup — or even made the final round — since 1967. Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas resigned a year ago after a second-round exit and Sheldon Keefe — his hand-picked coach — is widely expected to take the fall this time. 

Keefe signed a two-year contract extension set to begin next season, though we in Seattle all know how that works. When the Kraken fired Hakstol last week, he became the fourth NHL coach let go this season before an extension was set to begin.

So, no, that Keefe extension likely won’t mean much given he’s won just one playoff round in four years. The Leafs have a new CEO in former Canadian sports television executive Keith Pelley, who well knows Toronto fans expect some price to be paid for another early exit. 

The reported shuffling of a news conference by Pelley, team president Brendan Shanahan and general manager Brad Treliving from Thursday back to Friday has raised speculation in Toronto that Keefe could be fired by week’s end. And if that happens, Toronto could possibly empty the bank vault to try to lure Brind’Amour. 

Much like the Kraken, who aren’t sure Brind’Amour will even be available, the Leafs are said to be zeroing in on alternatives. The biggest, according to reports, is former St. Louis Blues coach Craig Berube.

As for the Kraken, they are clearly looking at names beyond Brind’Amour — with ex-Kings coach McLellan said to be just one of those. Berube was also thought to be somebody the Kraken would have interest in. Depending on how this second playoff round goes, or whether any back-channel discussions to gauge Brind’Amour’s likelihood of leaving Carolina indicate he’s staying put, things might start falling into place for the Kraken rather quickly.

Especially if the Bruins bow out this round and the Kraken decide to request permission to approach assistant Sacco.

But whatever else, Francis and company had apparently hit the ground running in their search before Hakstol’s flight out of town had much chance to even gas up on the tarmac. That seems to further indicate this wasn’t some spur-of-the-moment coaching change based off player exit interviews and that the team had been eyeing its bench situation for some time.