Let's say Rod Brind'Amour doesn't become the next coach of the Seattle Kraken, something we speculated about here .
The Carolina Hurricanes will be trying to sign Brind'Amour to a contract extension. If they don't, other teams needing coaches could outbid the Kraken for his services.
One of the other high-profile names who might have filled the Seattle vacancy got hired Friday. Craig Berube has been named the new coach of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
St. Louis fired Berube in December, a little over four years after Berube led the Blues to the franchise's first Cup (how quickly they forget).
The Kraken and their fans are well acquainted with another Cup-winning coach in the mix. Dan Bylsma (above photo), currently leading Seattle's Coachella Valley farm team in the AHL playoffs, earned his ring with the 2009 Pittsburgh Penguins.
Berube Might Have Fit In Seattle - Or Not
THN Blues site editor Lou Korac thinks of the five previous openings, Seattle would have been the second-best landing spot for Berube (behind the New Jersey Devils). The rankings are based on Berube's hard-nosed coaching style and the rosters currently in place at each of those teams.
"Seattle may not be a big, bruising type of team in the sense that Berube liked here in St. Louis," Korac writes, "but the Kraken has a number of guys that put in the hard work and are very gritty.
"There's Jaden Schwartz and Vince Dunn, two guys Berube loved here in St. Louis who played their behinds off for him, and at the time, Berube trusted a young Dunn to be a key cog.
"The Kraken has a roster that can get back in the mix with the right guidance. With a relentless style of cycling pucks and checking, Berube would use Schwartz as a guide to get that group to buy in.
"Plus, there's a good mix of younger guys, led by Matty Beniers, that Berube could help mold. Who do you think helped make Ivan Barbashev the player he is today?"
Counterpoint: Before Friday's hiring by the Maple Leafs, THN columnist Adam Proteau didn't envision a Berube-Kraken marriage. Proteau says Berube's M.O. of "cranking up the compete level" would work better in Toronto, Winnipeg or New Jersey.
Bylsma The Betting Favorite
You can actually bet on who the next Kraken coach will be, because these days, you can bet on pretty much anything. None of the three front-runners at pointsspreads.com have recently been with another NHL team.
Bylsma has the lowest odds, followed by current Kraken assistant coach Jay Leach and University of Denver coach David Carle.
"Despite finishing no worse than second in the division in his six seasons with the Penguins," the site says, "Bylsma was fired following the 2013-14 season.
"He coached the Buffalo Sabres in 2015-16 and 2016-17. But the team let him go after missing the playoffs both times. Bylsma has spent the last seasons coaching Seattle’s AHL franchise. That could be a huge boost in his quest to return to being a head coach at the NHL level."
About Carle: "The head coach of the NCAA champion Denver Pioneers is a rising star in the coaching profession. It seems like a matter of when and not if Carle will make the jump to the NHL.
"Seattle just cut loose a former college head coach in (Dave) Hakstol, who first made the jump to the NHL with the Philadelphia Flyers. Are the Kraken willing to dig into the college ranks for their next coach?
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