SEATTLE– New Seattle Kraken coach Dan Bylsma said current Coachella Valley assistant coach Jessica Campbell could be a candidate for a similar position with the NHL club.
Bylsma has been the head coach at Coachella Valley the past two seasons, with Campbell as one of his assistants. Bylsma said Campbell and fellow Coachella Valley assistant Stu Bickell will be among a group considered for a role with the Kraken.
Bylsma said Tuesday that he intends to speak with current Seattle assistants Jay Leach and Dave Lowery about their possible futures with the team, but there is also talk about coaches who could be hired from outside.
“Jessica was part of that conversation. Stu Bickell was part of that conversation and what they’ve done over the last two years in player development there — Tye Kartye, Ryker Evans — is a testament to that, so they’re part of the conversation about moving forward with the team here,” Bylsma said .
Campbell became the first full-time female assistant coach in the AHL when she was hired by the team before the start of her first season. There has not been a full-time female assistant on the bench at the NHL level.
Emily Engel-Natzke was hired by the Washington Capitals as their first female video coordinator in June 2022.
Seattle general manager Ron Francis said there haven’t been any conversations with Campbell yet, just internal conversations with Bylsma about potential options.
“The work she did is the reason we hired her. We didn’t hire her because she was a woman. We hired her because she was a good coach,” Francis said. “She has an interesting background, not just in skating, but in skill development and that’s a big part of what they’ve been able to do in the Coachella Valley.”
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