Speaking with KHN host and radio personality Ian Furness on 93.3 KJR Friday afternoon, Kraken general manager Jason Botterill shared that while the team has yet to offer the job to anybody, they’re primed to conclude their search for Dan Bylsma’s replacement at head coach soon.
“You go through a process like this, you are blown away by the talent in the coaching field, just different perspectives, how people handle staff, what they think [are] the right systems out there. You get better ideas about your own team. It’s an enjoyable process to go through,” Botterill said. “We’ve certainly done some interviews and feel comfortable in the next week or two we’ll find the right person to lead our team moving forward here.”
Seattle has kept a tight lid on their hiring process since firing Bylsma nearly a month ago. Of the names that have circulated in connection (of varying intensity), three– Joel Quenneville, Rick Tocchet, and Jeff Blashill— found jobs elsewhere, leaving the Kraken among just three teams still without a head coach. Eight teams began the offseason with a vacancy.
Maple Leafs assistant coach Lane Lambert, Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love, and David Quinn are “believed to be among those in the mix” for Seattle as of Wednesday, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger. Marco Sturm and Don Granato were mentioned by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman last week.
Botterill likened the legitimacy of these and other reports to that of those which typically emerge around the trade deadline and ahead of free agency– dismissible, merely “rumors.”
“At the end of the day, we’ve had good conversations with people. We haven’t made a decision at all on who our head coach is going to be,” he explained. “I’ve worked with some [of the rumored candidates] before. But no, we continue to work hard at trying to find the perfect guy for us here in Seattle to lead us, and we’re very excited about the candidates we’re talking to.”
Botterill confirmed they’ve “cut down” their “list” of candidates, and remote and in-person interviews will continue until he and team president Ron Francis find somebody capable of balancing their need for an improved on-ice product with their developmental goals, namely their continued reliance upon youth for success at the NHL level.
Seattle finished seventh in the Pacific Division last season, 20 points out from tying the second wild card St Louis Blues. Allowing the seventh-most goals at five-on-five and the ninth-most in all situations in the league, it wouldn’t be a shock for whoever the Kraken do hire to focus his efforts defensively. Botterill pointed out it’s his job to improve an average offense with “a little bit more elite talent” at forward– Seattle’s 168 goals at five-on-five and 245 in all situations ranked 14th and 16th, respectively.
Botterill, communicative throughout the interview, was noncommittal about whether making the postseason for the first time since 2023 could be expected of the new head coach. Urgency to ice a playoff-caliber team for a supposedly deserving fanbase was, publicly, the biggest reason behind firing Bylsma and restructuring the front office as ownership did.
“It’s a situation where it’s my job to continue to work on making sure that the team is in a position where it can go and, you know, coaches are going to come in and interview us, because there has to be that partnership, how we work, how we interact, what our expectations of this team are.”