The Kraken and NHL announced today that Coach Hakstol will remain a part of the team going into the immediate future, as he’s signed an extension through the 2025-26 season:
GM Ron Francis had this to say about Hakstol and his signing:
“We believe we are heading in the right direction with Dave as our head coach and it was important to show that confidence with this contract extension…Dave and his staff have done a great job of creating a close-knit, team-first mindset in our locker room and their work ethic helps set the tone for our team. Dave helped guide this team to a 40-point improvement and was a Jack Adams finalist for coach of the year. That recognition is well deserved.”
Hard to argue with that. The Kraken played like an entirely different group this year, attacking relentlessly through transition and by using what I’d like to call “effortless chaos”: A team built on causing trouble in front of the net and through cycling that looks as smooth and effortless as a practice scrimmage, and he got pretty much everybody to buy in to exceptional wins and insane wins both.
A 40 point swing from year-to-year is pretty good, and he did earn that Jack Adams nod…but one thing about that Jack Adams award is that it’s been often a bit of a backhanded compliment to teams that “Surprised” the voters.
Personally, I think next year will be huge in determining if this is a “surprise” or “maybe the Flyers were just worse than we thought and we really need to adjust our expectations of Hak”.
Otherwise, see you at camp Coach Hak!