Reposting what I said yesterday now that it is officially official
I’ve come around on Bylsma as time has gone on, and I have some positives and negativities. Witch each point I’ll add a reservation as to why it’s not as good or as bad as it might seem.
Positives
He’s developed a winning culture in Coachella Valley across both the regular season and playoffs
* BUT the firebirds had a very « AHL All Star » type roster from day one because the kraken simply didn’t have many prospects. In many ways, he was set up for success.
He’s done a great job developing kraken prospects into being NHL-ready, notably Evans and Kartye. By all indications Shane Wright has grown under this staff as well.
* BUT that’s a small sample size. The 2024-25 season is when there will be a big changing of the guard in Coachella as those AHL vets move on to make roster spaces for young prospects graduating from juniors like Firkus. How would Bylsma have done with them? We may never know.
He’s got NHL championship experience (Pittsburgh in 2009)
* BUT I get the sense that pens fans are mixed on his time there. He was given an excellent team that reached the Cup Finals in consecutive seasons.
Opening a spot at the AHL level may allow someone like Jess Campbell to take over as head coach, or the Kraken could hire someone else. This allows Seattle to continue developing their coaching pipeline for the future.
* BUT 2 years may not have been enough time to be ready to be an AHL head coach, and it’ll be critical for whoever they get to replace Bylsma to prioritize prospect development above all else.
Negatives:
His last NHL head coaching job in Buffalo was a disaster
* BUT how much of that is the entire Sabres organization being a shot show vs him specifically? Multiple coaches and GMs have cycled through Buffalo without success over the past decade+.
The NHL has changed massively since he was in Buffalo. Has he kept up or might he fall back to methods and systems that worked a decade ago but will fail now?
* BUT the AHL is the NHL’s proving ground and he’s been successful there
The Kraken are passing on the chance of hiring a young, first time coach who might have more long-term upside (see Jon Cooper. Jared Bednar, Spencer Carbery) to go with a veteran
* BUT the Kraken are still veteran heavy and are still a few years away to their peak contention window opening, assuming it does at all. They have time to give Bylsma a few years to see if it works and make another change without missing their window.
There’s a risk of Bylsma being the easy/safe hire since he’s already in the organization. Other teams have shown over the years of the danger of being too inward looking.
* BUT the Kraken know more about Bylsma than any coach outside of their system. Francis will have met with him multiple times over the years to talk about development and all kinds of other issues. That means it’s probably unlikely that Bylsma will be a total flop, which is a risk with first time coaches or guys you’re not familiar with.
Overall I’m cautiously optimistic. I think there’s reason to think this will be a success and reasons to think it won’t be, but IMO more on the « it will work » side at least for now. Hopefully Bylsma will get help from Francis in the form of roster changes to bring in some more scoring and playmaking talent. We all know that the team’s problems last season were not all on Hakstol.
This is one of those things where I just have to hope there’s insider information that makes this a good move. His relationship with our young players like Daccord and Wright, etc. Something that makes this obvious when you have all the information.
Cause from the outside looking in, I would really hope they took a strong look at Mitch Love. That’s the kind of move I’d like to see instead of another retread.
sandwich-attack
all hail disco dan
Hefty_Sheepherder_83
Among the interviewed candidates that were listed out there, Dan was my preferred choice. Short of a Jon Cooper or Rod BrindA’moure type of move (longshot), I think this made the most sense. He’s won a cup (and I don’t care that he had Crosby, Malkin, or Fleury- it’s the hardest trophy in sports to win, and tons of talented teams fail to clinch it), he’s won consistently at the NHL and AHL levels, he knows the talent pipeline here, knows the expectations of ownership and fans, and how to set them with players. I’m optimistic.
juanthebaker
Put on your good shoes baby. We’re going Disco Dan-cing!
FreezingRain358
It’s wild to me the disparity between people who get paid millions to do this for a living vs. what general fan sentiment seems to be.
RaymondLuxury-Yacht
That’s two coaches in a row that this team has hired that I am already hoping they’ll get fired the minute they announce that they’re hired.
Fucking hell. This is a atrocious move.
I do not know how people can look at the history of the NHL, **realize that only three coaches have won a Cup on multiple teams**, and then be like « yea, let’s hire this Cup winner. It almost never works out for anyone else, but I’m sure it’ll work out for us! ».
9 Comments
Will the press conference be broadcast anywhere?
Reposting what I said yesterday now that it is officially official
I’ve come around on Bylsma as time has gone on, and I have some positives and negativities. Witch each point I’ll add a reservation as to why it’s not as good or as bad as it might seem.
Positives
He’s developed a winning culture in Coachella Valley across both the regular season and playoffs
* BUT the firebirds had a very « AHL All Star » type roster from day one because the kraken simply didn’t have many prospects. In many ways, he was set up for success.
He’s done a great job developing kraken prospects into being NHL-ready, notably Evans and Kartye. By all indications Shane Wright has grown under this staff as well.
* BUT that’s a small sample size. The 2024-25 season is when there will be a big changing of the guard in Coachella as those AHL vets move on to make roster spaces for young prospects graduating from juniors like Firkus. How would Bylsma have done with them? We may never know.
He’s got NHL championship experience (Pittsburgh in 2009)
* BUT I get the sense that pens fans are mixed on his time there. He was given an excellent team that reached the Cup Finals in consecutive seasons.
Opening a spot at the AHL level may allow someone like Jess Campbell to take over as head coach, or the Kraken could hire someone else. This allows Seattle to continue developing their coaching pipeline for the future.
* BUT 2 years may not have been enough time to be ready to be an AHL head coach, and it’ll be critical for whoever they get to replace Bylsma to prioritize prospect development above all else.
Negatives:
His last NHL head coaching job in Buffalo was a disaster
* BUT how much of that is the entire Sabres organization being a shot show vs him specifically? Multiple coaches and GMs have cycled through Buffalo without success over the past decade+.
The NHL has changed massively since he was in Buffalo. Has he kept up or might he fall back to methods and systems that worked a decade ago but will fail now?
* BUT the AHL is the NHL’s proving ground and he’s been successful there
The Kraken are passing on the chance of hiring a young, first time coach who might have more long-term upside (see Jon Cooper. Jared Bednar, Spencer Carbery) to go with a veteran
* BUT the Kraken are still veteran heavy and are still a few years away to their peak contention window opening, assuming it does at all. They have time to give Bylsma a few years to see if it works and make another change without missing their window.
There’s a risk of Bylsma being the easy/safe hire since he’s already in the organization. Other teams have shown over the years of the danger of being too inward looking.
* BUT the Kraken know more about Bylsma than any coach outside of their system. Francis will have met with him multiple times over the years to talk about development and all kinds of other issues. That means it’s probably unlikely that Bylsma will be a total flop, which is a risk with first time coaches or guys you’re not familiar with.
Overall I’m cautiously optimistic. I think there’s reason to think this will be a success and reasons to think it won’t be, but IMO more on the « it will work » side at least for now. Hopefully Bylsma will get help from Francis in the form of roster changes to bring in some more scoring and playmaking talent. We all know that the team’s problems last season were not all on Hakstol.
Presser at https://www.youtube.com/live/uX0K89NcJhA?si=D-EVng-AtdiQny1j
This is one of those things where I just have to hope there’s insider information that makes this a good move. His relationship with our young players like Daccord and Wright, etc. Something that makes this obvious when you have all the information.
Cause from the outside looking in, I would really hope they took a strong look at Mitch Love. That’s the kind of move I’d like to see instead of another retread.
all hail disco dan
Among the interviewed candidates that were listed out there, Dan was my preferred choice. Short of a Jon Cooper or Rod BrindA’moure type of move (longshot), I think this made the most sense. He’s won a cup (and I don’t care that he had Crosby, Malkin, or Fleury- it’s the hardest trophy in sports to win, and tons of talented teams fail to clinch it), he’s won consistently at the NHL and AHL levels, he knows the talent pipeline here, knows the expectations of ownership and fans, and how to set them with players. I’m optimistic.
Put on your good shoes baby. We’re going Disco Dan-cing!
It’s wild to me the disparity between people who get paid millions to do this for a living vs. what general fan sentiment seems to be.
That’s two coaches in a row that this team has hired that I am already hoping they’ll get fired the minute they announce that they’re hired.
Fucking hell. This is a atrocious move.
I do not know how people can look at the history of the NHL, **realize that only three coaches have won a Cup on multiple teams**, and then be like « yea, let’s hire this Cup winner. It almost never works out for anyone else, but I’m sure it’ll work out for us! ».