Dave Hakstol leaves Avalanche for Arizona State

This was coming. Arizona State got permission to talk to Hakstol earlier in the week, and by Thursday morning the deal was all but done, with a familiar face lined up to go with him.

Elliotte Friedman

@FriedgeHNIC

32 Thoughts news, interview & analysis pod. Dave Hakstol to be named Arizona State head coach this morning...expected that two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Greene will join staff, as well. Links to your preferred platform, here: t.co/q31lyz1Beb Have a great day.

The Greene part is the fun detail. Matt Greene played his college hockey for Hakstol at North Dakota, then won 2 Cups with the Kings. He got his first coaching run last season as an interim fill-in in LA, and now he leaves the Kings' player development staff to coach for his old college coach in Tempe.

Zach Dooley

@DooleyLAK

Matt Greene got his first taste of coaching last season, as an interim fill-in with the @LAKings. Looks like that itch never left, as he joins his former college coach, Dave Hakstol, at Arizona State, moving on from the LAK Player Development team. t.co/vMNhX9ZjSR

For Hakstol, this is a return to the level where he made his name. He went 289-143-43 in 11 seasons at North Dakota with 7 Frozen Four trips, and that got him NHL head jobs in Philadelphia and then Seattle, where he was the Kraken's first-ever coach. He's 58 and was at Colorado for a single season. But Arizona State isn't a normal rebuild. Defenseman Matthew Mayich collapsed during an offseason workout on August 20 and remains hospitalized, longtime coach Greg Powers had been on leave since September 30, and there's an independent review underway. Hakstol walks into that with games at UMass Lowell this weekend.

Colorado didn't waste any time. McLean is 48, played for the Avs from 2005 to 2007, and knows Joe Sakic from their playing days. He spent last season running Vancouver's power play, which finished 14th in the league at 21.8 percent. Before that he had 3 years as an assistant in Minnesota and 2 as the head coach of the Wild's AHL affiliate.

The power play is the reason this hire matters. Hakstol had the forwards and the man advantage under Jared Bednar, and he inherited a unit that finished 27th at 17.1 percent. It went 4-for-whatever on opening night this year and then 1-for-its-last-20. It's also been giving goals away the other direction.

Evan Rawal

@evanrawal

Dave Hakstol is out, headed to ASU, and Brett McLean is in for the #GoAvsGo. Not only has the PP struggled to score, but no team has given up more shorties (16) than the Avalanche since the start of last season. How much will change is the question. t.co/0jQF5QEtXy

That 16 is the ugly number. A power play that doesn't score is annoying. One that gives up more shorthanded goals than any team in the league since the start of last season is costing you games. To be fair to Hakstol, the forwards were good at 5-on-5 at both ends, and it's not like the power play was humming before he showed up.

So now McLean gets to see if a new voice fixes it. The roster is still loaded, and Bednar's system isn't changing, so it's about how fast McLean can get the top unit moving the puck again and stop handing out breakaways. Meanwhile Hakstol gets his first real test in Lowell this weekend, with Greene presumably next to him. You'll know within a couple of weeks if the Avs' power play looks any different.