Avalanche hire former Jack Adams finalist Dave Hakstol to coaching staff

The Colorado Avalanche announced on Tuesday that Dave Hakstol would be joining Jared Bednar’s coaching staff as an assistant. He was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award, the NHL’s Coach of the Year award, in 2023 as the head coach of the Seattle Kraken.

We have hired Dave Hakstol as Assistant Coach.

Welcome to Colorado, Dave! pic.twitter.com/QosruRCrOF

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) July 8, 2025

Hakstol, 56, was the head coach of the Kraken from 2021-2024, and led the Kraken to a Game 7 victory on the road against the Avalanche in the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Before that, he was the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers from 2015-2019. He posted a combined 241-213-27 record with the two franchises. Besides the 2023 run to the second round, the deepest playoff run of his head coaching career, he led the Flyers to the postseason in 2016 and 2018, with both runs ending early in the first round.

Before transitioning to the NHL to be a head coach, he was the top man on the bench for the University of North Dakota from 2004-2015. There, he had a 289-143-43 record as he led the Fighting Hawks to seven Frozen Four appearances, with the 2005 run being the only year the program advanced past that round to the championship, where they lost to Denver. He was named his conference’s Coach of the Year twice, in 2009 and 2015.

“I’m excited and grateful for the opportunity to join the Avalanche,” Hakstol said. “This is a proud organization with a lot of talented players and a tremendous coaching staff led by Jared Bednar. I look forward to being a part of this special group and can’t wait to get to work and help the team in any way that I can. My family and I are also very much looking forward to being a part of this community and wonderful state of Colorado.”

Hakstol also spent two years as an assistant coach for the Toronto Maple Leafs from 2019-2021. The Leafs scored 423 goals and converted on 21.7% of their power play opportunities in that span, two marks that were tied for third and tied for eighth in the NHL, respectively.

“Dave brings a wealth of knowledge and experience behind the bench and will be a great fit on Jared’s staff,” Chris MacFarland said. “He has an extensive coaching background with a lot of success and will be a valuable addition to our team.”

The Avalanche have had a hole on the coaching staff since the organization decided to part ways with assistant coach Ray Bennett back in May after the team was dominated on special teams against the Dallas Stars in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. After a two month search, they found their guy in Hakstol.

Will Hakstol be the guy on the end of the bench who can bring some ideas to the table that will get the Avalanche back to the Stanley Cup Finals after three underwhelming postseason performances? Time is running out on Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, and Hakstol will play a very important role in getting those two another championship.

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