Kraken Fire Head Coach Dan Bylsma After One Season, Promote Botterill to GM

The Seattle Kraken are making major changes after a disappointing 2024-25 campaign, parting ways with head coach Dan Bylsma after just one season and promoting assistant GM Jason Botterill to the general manager role. The team confirmed both moves on Monday.

The #SeaKraken have announced that head coach Dan Bylsma has been relieved of his duties.

Read more → https://t.co/Li8SJQbH6g pic.twitter.com/ltffH5qsTN

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) April 21, 2025

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Bylsma, who was promoted from AHL Coachella Valley last summer, was expected to push the Kraken back into playoff contention. Instead, Seattle regressed, finishing seventh in the Pacific Division with five fewer points than last year. The Kraken will now search for their third head coach in as many seasons.

TSN’s Pierre LeBrun reports that Bylsma had signed a three-year contract last summer and is still owed two more years.

Kraken Promote Jason Botterill, Francis Moves Up

Meanwhile, the front office is also shifting. Longtime GM Ron Francis, who has overseen the franchise since its inception, will now serve as team president. Botterill, a seasoned executive with prior GM experience in Buffalo, takes over day-to-day operations. He was seen as a candidate for other GM roles and now inherits a team with over $21 million in cap space and a core that includes Matty Beniers, Shane Wright, and Jared McCann.

Botterill’s first task will be hiring a new head coach. Seattle joins the Ducks and Rangers, among others, in launching full coaching searches this offseason. After aggressive free-agent signings last summer and heightened expectations, the Kraken are clearly aiming to turn things around quickly — this time, with new leadership behind both the bench and the front office.

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