The Red Wings and former Penguins coach Dan Bylsma parted ways this offseason after the Red Wings chose not to renew Bylsma's contract, but Bylsma wasn't out of a job long.
The Seattle Kraken on Tuesday announced the hiring of Bylsma as an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate Charlotte Checkers for next season.
The Kraken will be sharing the Checkers with the Panthers as their AHL affiliate for next season, much like the Golden Knights did with the Blues in their inaugural season before they had enough prospects of their own to fill an AHL affiliate of their own.
When the Panthers and Kraken announced the partnership back in June, part of the agreement was that the Panthers would provide the head coach for the Checkers (Geordie Kinnear) and the Kraken would provide the assistant coach.
"Dan joins our organization with an impressive resume and his experience speaks for itself," Kraken general manager Ron Francis said in a team release. "He has a proven track record and we look forward to him coaching our prospects in Charlotte alongside Geordie Kinnear."
When Bylsma first joined the Penguins organization as an assistant coach for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the 2006-07 season, Wilkes-Barre was a shared affiliate between the Penguins and Oilers, so Bylsma has experience working for an AHL affiliate comprised of players from two different organizations.
"It was a good situation," Bylsma said of that experience in the Kraken's team release Tuesday. "We melded together as a group and helped developed good NHL players for both franchises."
Kraken assistant general manager Jason Botterill and Bylsma spent seven seasons together in the Penguins organization.
The Kraken's own AHL affiliate will begin play in 2022-23 in Palm Springs. Bylsma's hiring as the Checkers' assistant coach this season would presumably set him up to be the Palm Springs team's head coach when they begin play the following season.
After being fired by the Penguins in June 2014, Bylsma worked as head coach of the Sabres from 2015-17. The Sabres fired Bylsma in April 2017, and Bylsma went on to work as an assistant coach from the Red Wings from 2018-21.
