Dave Hakstol closing in on Arizona State hockey job

Elliotte Friedman laid it out Monday afternoon, and in his version this is all but done.

Elliotte Friedman

@FriedgeHNIC

Definitely momentum for Dave Hakstol to take over as head coach at Arizona State as soon as their next game — which is Friday. Colorado (where he is coaching now) has officially granted permission and negotiations are underway. Other contenders have been informed they are out. So, as long as this doesn’t go sideways, it is Hakstol One possibility to replace him with the Avalanche is Brett McLean, who played for them in 2005-06 and coached last season in Vancouver

That is a guy who coached the Flyers and the Kraken about to take over a college program in the middle of its season. ASU needs someone fast because Greg Powers, who built the program, went on paid administrative leave 2 weeks ago. The school is looking into the August 20 workout where defenseman Matthew Mayich collapsed and was hospitalized. Assistant Mike Corbett has run the bench since then, starting with the opener at Lindenwood.

Hakstol's résumé makes ASU's interest obvious. He coached North Dakota from 2004 to 2015, took them to 7 Frozen Fours and went 289-143-43. Then he became the first coach since 1982 to go straight from the NCAA to an NHL head job, running the Flyers until he was fired in December 2018. Seattle hired him as its first head coach, he got the Kraken to the playoffs in Year 2, and they let him go in April 2024. Colorado brought him on as an assistant in July 2025.

In the meantime he is still an Avalanche coach, and he showed up for work Monday like any other day.

Evan Rawal

@evanrawal

Dave Hakstol is on the ice for Avalanche practice.

About 15 minutes later the Avs made it official on their end, so this is more than insider chatter now.

Evan Rawal

@evanrawal

Avalanche team spokesman confirms ASU reached out and was granted permission by the Avalanche to speak to Dave Hakstol.

There is one wrinkle. Reports say Hakstol's title will technically be interim head coach, because Powers is still under contract and still getting paid. If he takes over Friday, his first game is ASU at UMass Lowell. That makes this a stopgap on paper, but you don't pull a 2-time NHL head coach and North Dakota legend out of an NHL staff in October just to babysit. If this goes well, it is hard to picture the interim tag lasting.

Now the Avs have a hole to fill on a staff that is supposed to be chasing a Cup. Friedman named Brett McLean as one option. McLean played for Colorado in 2005-06 and coached in Vancouver last season. Things to watch: whether ASU finalizes this before Friday's puck drop, who Colorado hires, and whether the Powers investigation decides how long 'interim' really means.