Zac Dalpe is easy to love. By the end of this story, you’ll love him, too.
Dalpe was hired this week by the Seattle Kraken as a player development consultant. It was just last month that Dalpe retired as a player himself, writing on the Charlotte Checkers website as charming a goodbye letter as you’ll ever read.
“Teachers were always wondering why my hands were always in rough shape. ‘Shooting pucks this morning. I might have a rough time holding onto my pencil,’ I replied. That was my childhood.”
Some of what the 35-year-old Dalpe might share with Kraken prospects is revealed later in the letter. “Playing hockey at a young age builds character. Playing hockey professionally reveals it. It’s been life in the fast lane ever since. I don’t need to start listing every team that I played for because frankly the list is too long. I just know that I hold each stop near and dear to my heart.”
For the record, Dalpe lived out his NHL dream, 168 games worth, with six different teams. His X bio includes the line, “Frequent U-haul renter.” No kidding. Between 2010-25, Dalpe’s long and winding road included stops – sometimes with return visits – in Albany, Raleigh, Charlotte, Vancouver, Utica, Rochester, Buffalo, Des Moines, St. Paul, Cleveland, Columbus, and Sunrise, Florida.
Back to his goodbye letter, and more advice for the Kraken prospects just saying hello. “I never took a day off. Every single day I tried to become a better hockey player.” His AHL numbers back that up: 392 points in 574 games. And he served as captain in both Cleveland and Charlotte.
“Another thing I know for certain is that I tried to be the best teammate I could. When my name gets brought up in the future I just hope that those two things are attached to it. Nothing ever came natural to me. It was all hard work. It’s like flying a fighter jet that has no landing gear. It’s truly a hard way to make an easy living.”
Try not smiling when reading Dalpe’s X posts. For example: “If a team wins 1-0 on a forfeit who gets credit for the goal???” And here’s one referencing his future employer and one of his kids, from 2021.
While a member of the Panthers, Dalpe was briefly teammates with now-Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour. The image at left is from another Dalpe X post, which also shows one of his kids rocking a Montour T-shirt.
Fun Kraken-related Zac Dalpe fact: In 2021-22, he and Joey Daccord were AHL teammates in Charlotte, and their assistant coach was Dan Bylsma.
If you’ll recall, in their inaugural season, before there was a Coachella Valley Firebirds, Seattle shared its AHL affiliate with the Florida Panthers. Dalpe had one of his best offensive seasons, scoring 30 goals, plus seven more in the playoffs. (Bonus fun fact: although Daccord played 34 games in 2021-22 with a .925 save percentage, the Checkers would use no less than eight netminders that season.)
A chain of events created the opening that Dalpe filled. Prior Kraken director of player development Jeff Tambellini was hired as assistant general manager in Tampa. Former NHL defenseman Cory Murphy was promoted to fill Tambellini’s spot, meaning there was a need for a new development consultant.
Dalpe concluded his letter last month saying, “I appreciate every single person that was along for the greatest ride of my life.” Strap back in, Zac – you’re back at the carnival, leading a brand new ride.