Are the Seattle Kraken poised to make a run at Joel Quenneville?

The Seattle Kraken has not yet hired their first coach, but is that because they’re waiting for Joel Quenneville?

Before they had a name, the Seattle NHL team gave itself instant credibility by hiring Ron Francis as general manager. But with the expansion draft coming in July and their first game coming next season, the since-named Seattle Kraken haven’t hired a head coach.

The instant success of the Vegas Golden Knights, who reached the Stanley Cup Final in their first year of existence, has surely altered expectations for the Kraken, externally and certainly internally. Hiring a credible coach, with a list of viable candidates who have been and are still available in some cases, will be a critical piece of the equation.

Are the Seattle Kraken waiting to hire Joel Quenneville?

Larry Brooks of the New York Post addressed speculation Florida Panthers head coach Joel Quenneville has his sights set on becoming the Kraken’s first coach.

"Apparently extremely late to the party on this, but there is an undercurrent suggesting Joel Quenneville has his sights set on moving to Seattle to become the coach of the Kraken once his season is over with Florida, which might explain why Seattle general manager Ron Francis has moved so slowly on this hiring."

Quenneville is at the end of his second season behind the bench for the Panthers. But his resume is of course much longer than that, with 962 regular-season wins as head coach of the Blues, Avalanche, Blackhawks and Panthers as well as three Stanley Cups during his run in Chicago.

Quenneville’s contract does not expire after this season, so the Panthers would have to fire him for the Kraken to make an uncomplicated hire. Florida is on the verge of a first round playoff exit, down 3-1 to the defending champion Tampa Bay Lightning with Game 5 Monday night. But they set a franchise record for point percentage during the regular season, so “Coach Q” is hardly on the hot seat.

The Kraken might indeed be waiting for Quenneville’s season to end if only to fully flesh him out as a candidate to be their coach. If the move to hire him doesn’t come together fairly quickly, the Kraken should pivot and find its first head coach in short order.