- Avalanche assistant Dave Hakstol is set to become Arizona State’s head coach
- Two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Greene is expected to join his staff
- Read below for what Hakstol inherits after the Greg Powers leave
Dave Hakstol is heading back to college hockey.
Elliotte Friedman said Thursday on his 32 Thoughts podcast that Hakstol will be named Arizona State’s head coach this morning. The Avalanche assistant is leaving Colorado for the Sun Devils, and Friedman added that Matt Greene is expected to join the staff as well.
Check out Friedman’s post:
Friedman first reported Monday that Colorado had officially granted Hakstol permission to negotiate and that the other candidates had been told they were out. Hakstol could be behind the bench as soon as Friday, when Arizona State plays at UMass Lowell.
Greene was Hakstol’s first captain at North Dakota. He played 615 NHL games over 12 seasons with the Oilers and Kings and won the Cup with Los Angeles in 2012 and 2014. He has worked for the Kings in player development and spent last season as one of their assistant coaches.
Hakstol takes over a program in crisis. The school placed head coach Greg Powers on administrative leave before the Oct. 2 season opener, and the fallout traces back to the August workout that left defenseman Matthew Mayich hospitalized. We covered the Powers leave when it happened.
The résumé is a deep one. Hakstol led North Dakota to seven Frozen Fours as head coach before the Flyers hired him in 2015. He later coached the Kraken for their first three seasons, including the franchise’s first playoff berth.
Arizona State’s roster has eight NHL draft picks, with Benjamin Kevan (Devils), Nathan Behm (Blackhawks) and Lincoln Kuehne (Islanders) among them.
Colorado, meanwhile, loses the assistant who ran its power play, which sits 26th in the league at 17.4 percent since the start of last season.
