Dave Hakstol And Seattle Kraken Make History

In the first round the Colorado Avalanche and Seattle Kraken faced off and the Kraken were seen as major underdogs, as nobody had them beating the defending Stanley Cup Champions. They have become the first team in NHL history to knock off the defending champions in their first playoff appearance.

When the Kraken had their draft and picked all younger guys and left cap space for future, instead of loading up like the Vegas Golden Knights did. Everyone thought they were insane, me included. But Dave Hakstol and Ron Francis have created a very successful and likable team in the Emerald City.

So what has Dave Hakstol done differently to have such a great second year and what did he learn from his tenure in Philadelphia to get him here?

Hakstol served as head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers from May 2015 to December 2018. People believe he was not able to do a lot with the Flyers, as it was his first NHL head coaching experience. Hakstol is the first head coach to go directly from the NCAA to the NHL since 1982. Still everyone, even sports analysts thought the Kraken was making a terrible choice in hiring him, now they are hoping on the bandwagon as they watch Seattle thrive.

In Hakstol 4 years with the Flyers, the best year the team had was in 2017-18 with a 42-26-14 record finishing with 98 points, this was the year the Flyers were eliminated by the Pittsburgh Penguins in round one. Now in just 2 years with the Kraken, Dave Hakstol has improved this year as the Kraken went 46-28-8 with 100 points and have already won a playoff series, something the Flyers failed to do well Hakstol was behind the bench.

Dave Hakstol simply learned from his mistakes in Philadelphia and improved in a new city. The difference in how the Kraken and Flyers play is extremely opposite, as the Flyers play from further out "spamming point shots" which is maybe what Hakstol told them to do. But with the Kraken they play more in front of the net and know when a long range shot is actually useful; so either Hakstol tweaked his coaching techniques and plan or he is just more effective with his communication and teaching within the club. Which seems to be true as it looks like he has more control of the locker room, having more of a connection with the players and still learning as he goes.

Should be interesting to watch the Kraken's run in the playoffs this year, and see how successful Dave Hakstol can be as a head coach in the NHL.