Why The Avs Hired Dave Hakstol

Can former head coach remedy Avs power-play issues?

The Avalanche announced today that the assistant coaching vacancy left by Ray Bennett’s departure will be filled by Dave Hakstol.

Hakstol joins Jared Bednar’s staff alongside several others, most notably Nolan Pratt, who oversees the defensive end.

This feels like a flashy hire for Colorado, as Hakstol is widely regarded as a “head coach” rather than an assistant, despite two seasons in that role with Toronto from 2019-21. He spent three years as the bench boss for the Seattle Kraken as the first head coach in franchise history and was a finalist for the Jack Adams Award in 2023. Before his time in the Pacific Northwest, he was the head coach of the Flyers for three-plus seasons.

As a devout college hockey fan, I remember Hakstol primarily for leading the North Dakota program for more than a decade. In his 11 seasons in Grand Forks, his teams reached the Frozen Four six times. Although North Dakota won the national championship the season after his departure to the NHL, no one doubts that their return to the NCAA mountaintop was built in large part on his work at the helm.