Seattle Kraken Name Dave Hakstol As First Ever Coach

[skagittarius]

BTW: Does Hakstol mean Shayne Gostisbehere being the confirmed pick from Philly?

You should be so lucky. It could mean that Robert Hagg will be the pick. D'oh!

 

[kihei]

I wasn't expecting this, which I kind of like. At least Francis didn't pick some household name who has been recycled umpteen times. Hakstol was an assistant coach responsible primarily for defense here in Toronto over the past two years. His initial appointment was greeted with the same "wtf"s and general skepticism that he is getting here. He had a poor first year on paper, as the Leafs got worse, but Toronto's defense was much improved this year, so the team went from 19th over all when he began to 7th overall under his tenure. How much credit goes to new personnel and how much credit goes to Hakstol is debatable, sure, but he certainly deserves some acknowledgement for that improvement.

I think what might have attracted Francis to Hakstol was his programme building at University of North Dakota. What better evidence that he works well with young players than the success that he had there. Plus, a young Ivan Provorov obviously benefitted from Hakstol confidence in him in Philly. Francis makes decisions conscientiously and he is obviously willing to commit to this guy. He's our coach and he deserves our support.

 

[Sad People]

Kraken becoming a team of second chances: Coach Dave Hakstol's grind is shaping Seattle's identity
Nice little intro to Hakstol

 

[Mike Jones]

I'm a little surprised but will try and keep an open mind.

 

[Hockeypete49]

Congrats and Good Luck

 

[Mkoll]

I’m pretty optimistic about Hakstol. I went to UND during his tenure there and he will always be counted among their coaching legends. I don’t think his stint with Philly is a fair look at him- he inherited a young team with sketchy goaltending. Until proven otherwise, I trust management’s decision to give Hak another shot at this after putting him through their long evaluation process.

he did inherit a young team, but he rarely played the young players. Kept giving washed up vets chances over and over again no matter how often they failed. And when he did give young players a chance, one mistake and they were scratched.

Maybe he has learned from his mistakes though. Hoping he does, want to see the Kraken succeed. Its hard not to like this new progressive front office

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

he did inherit a young team, but he rarely played the young players. Kept giving washed up vets chances over and over again no matter how often they failed. And when he did give young players a chance, one mistake and they were scratched.

Maybe he has learned from his mistakes though. Hoping he does, want to see the Kraken succeed. Its hard not to like this new progressive front office

Sounds like Todd McLellan or Pete DeBoer or Bob Boughner. The 3 coaches for the only team I followed before the Kraken. I think this is something that is going to happen at some level with any NHL coach. I would be shocked if this was not something that was covered during the interview process, specially given that we will be one of the youngest teams in the league with the Kraken. I am all for 2nd chances and willing to give Hakstol a chance to see what he learnt over the last 6-7 years.

The other thing is that the GM's have to do a good job with analytics and roster moves to not even make such options less accessible to the coach. And if the coach continues to over-use vets and your analytics tell you its hurting us, its on the GM to fix it.

 

[captainpaxil]

As a Philly fan my sense of hakstoll was he was never given the team he was meant to coach in Philadelphia.
The team was simultaneously trying to compete and rebuild and half couldn't satisfy either parties.
Given the opportunity to choose his own assistants and enough leeway to grow a culture I think a team with no players over 30 would be great for him.
He loves the shots from the point and guys who get deflections so that might be a clue as to who is going to be targeted for the expansion draft
He also turtles late in games to protect a lead and it will drive fans crazy. Philly never had the goaltending to trust late in games so that hopefully could change in Seattle.
So much of coaching is finding a fit and for a new young team hak isn't a bad choice. He just wasn't a good one for us

 

[skagittarius]

He loves the shots from the point and guys who get deflections so that might be a clue as to who is going to be targeted for the expansion draft

Good point. JVR is the best I've ever seen at deflecting shots. I see a fit there for sure. I've watched all the recent interviews with Hakstol and I didn't hear anything from him that makes me think he's changed his mind with respect to his tactics and game management. I think his approach to preparation, practice and dealing with players may have changed some, but not his philosophy in terms of his systems (Unleash the Hakshell!). I hope I'm wrong about that, but hey, maybe it could work with a new bunch of players.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Good point. JVR is the best I've ever seen at deflecting shots. I see a fit there for sure. I've watched all the recent interviews with Hakstol and I didn't hear anything from him that makes me think he's changed his mind with respect to his tactics and game management. I think his approach to preparation, practice and dealing with players may have changed some, but not his philosophy in terms of his systems (Unleash the Hakshell!). I hope I'm wrong about that, but hey, maybe it could work with a new bunch of players.

Nah. JVR has got nothing on Pavs. The funny thing is that if we wanted, we could potentially grab Pavelski, JVR and Burns all in the expansion draft. Burns and Pavs had insane chemistry with those net-front deflections.

 

[gstommylee]

Nah. JVR has got nothing on Pavs. The funny thing is that if we wanted, we could potentially grab Pavelski, JVR and Burns all in the expansion draft. Burns and Pavs had insane chemistry with those net-front deflections.

burns is old and too expensive.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

burns is old and too expensive.

Oh. I am not advocating us getting any of these players. Was just saying that if we wanted to, there were options. The only player I would seriously consider among those 3 is Pavs.

He is a great leader and works hard every shift. He led by example on the Sharks. Effort, points, defense, etc.

 

[Puckrobber]

Extending on what captainpaxil said: I think Hakstol was given less leeway in Philadelphia with how he used his young players. Philly wants to win now, so, I tend to think the front office wanted the established vets to play more, figuring it gave them a better chance to succeed.

With Seattle, Dave will have more latitude with playing the kids more, because there won't be as much pressure to win every game. As an expansion team, the focus will be on getting the players to build chemistry and play as a team, with everyone involved. That will bring success quicker, in my opinion.

 

[Frozen]

I was quite surprised by this when they announced it. Didn't even know much about Hakstol to be honest. He flew under the radar for possible choices in my eyes.

Interesting to hear and read comments from people who have had the varying experiences and feelings from following him in the past. It shouldn't be all doomsday like some seemed to sound like. I'm sure the management saw potential in him in some way they can make use of.

Not a famous or strongest name out of the wild. I'm willing to give him a fair chance though. I have liked how the owners, Francis & co have so far been putting pieces together and building the frames for the team. If they felt Hakstol was the best fitting piece in their puzzle, so be it. We will see later how things turn out. Few years down the road this might seem like a decently smart move or it was a shot of chance which missed and there will be corrections if necessary.

Of course it matters what kind of players we manage to land and then how Hakstol utilizes them together.

 

[sigma six]

Unleash the Hakshell!

And the traumatic memories come flooding back.

One thing I hope he's moved on from is where he'll lock in on a couple to players who try really hard but don't have the skill--and then give them too many minutes, often at critical points in the game where you'd think he'd want the big guns out on the ice.

 

[klozge]

I'm okay with the choice, especially considering the kind of team the Kraken probably will be forced to be in the first years. He's a good coach who already had that moment in the NHL when he had to realize he needs to think about and change some stuff.

 

[Irie]

Interesting read. If it was posted somewhere on this forum before, I apologize. If it was, i missed it.

Saying he learned from his days with Flyers and Toronto, Dave Hakstol surprisingly named Seattle’s first coach

He admits he was not ready for the NHL when Philly hired him. Admitting mistakes and knowing they still have a lot to learn are great qualities to have in a HC with a young team. Hopefully that is something he believes and he approaches this job with a completely open mind.

 

[StarterHart]

Interesting read. If it was posted somewhere on this forum before, I apologize. If it was, i missed it.

Saying he learned from his days with Flyers and Toronto, Dave Hakstol surprisingly named Seattle’s first coach

He admits he was not ready for the NHL when Philly hired him. Admitting mistakes and knowing they still have a lot to learn are great qualities to have in a HC with a young team. Hopefully that is something he believes and he approaches this job with a completely open mind.

I'm hoping beyond hopes that this is the case. I can tell you right now that the 3 and half years I watched him with the flyers was one of the most frustrating periods of time I've ever had as a sports fan. This is coming from someone who, like a lot of others here, has suffered through losing an NBA team, Super Bowl XL, and 20 years without playoff baseball. Purely based on frustration levels, it was that bad.

 

[The Marquis]

Man, I don't know how a Mariners fan could be frustrated about anything in sports. You become so accustomed to losing, that it no longer matters whether you win or lose, you're just glad it's there. I'm pretty much that way. I do get a little frustrated with an underperforming team, but dang... I've been a Mariners fan for my entire life and I've grown to success meaning a winning season.

 

[kraken]

Wasn't overly impressed initially but the more I read / research (some great articles over on The Athletic) the more optimistic I become...Really hope Hakstol has learned from his time in Philly and can captain the ship here in Seattle (like what he did in Toronto as well)

 

[The Marquis]

As a long time, highly successful NCAA coach. Having him on at the start of the franchise might be a very smart move. He didn't get to choose the players that played for him in Philly, and they still weren't any better in that time than their success indicated, despite what Flyers fans will come on here and tell us. He clearly knows how to build a good team.

Forgive me if it was already posted, but here's a nice article about him.

Team building was Dave Hakstol's forte at UND; now he will try to replicate that success as head coach of Seattle Kraken | Grand Forks Herald

 

[Cogburn]

I can think of a number worse choices.

Let's see how this turns out.