Kraken 'extremely disappointed' in report that players demanded Dave Hakstol's firing

He added: “Talking to a lot of guys, I know we all had different opinions, but by no means did anyone have an ultimatum that if Hak was still there, then they wouldn’t play. I mean, that was ridiculous to me. So, I think when I heard that obviously, I was pretty disappointed. That’s not how we as players or as an organization want to conduct ourselves.”

McCann agreed such an ultimatum would be uncharacteristic of any Kraken player. He added that the NHL just isn’t the type of league where anybody but the biggest superstars would even think of threatening not to play if a coach remained employed.

“I have no idea where she would have gotten something like that,” McCann said of Kaplan’s report. “Because that couldn’t be more far from the truth. I know for a fact that nobody would ever, ever give an ultimatum to a team on a coach — ever. So, I don’t understand where something like that comes from.”

McCann went on to say Hakstol “has been nothing but great to me. And a lot of guys will probably say the same thing. He was amazing, but unfortunately, it’s a business. And that’s the way things go when you have a bad season. But from my perspective, I honestly didn’t see this (firing) coming at all.”

None of this is to say Hakstol was perfect; indeed, he’d still have a job if he was. There were Kraken players upset about a lack of ice time, frustrated with his physically demanding system of play and other issues throughout his three-year tenure, while several forwards last season experienced significant offensive declines.

Last season, it was well known Hakstol wasn’t the biggest fan of Daniel Sprong’s defensive abilities — resulting in the fourth-line winger repeatedly becoming a healthy scratch despite scoring 21 goals. Sprong left for Detroit as a free agent last summer.

Morgan Geekie also was restricted in his ice time as a mostly fourth-line center and occasional winger while with the Kraken and didn’t always sound thrilled about his role. He left for the Boston Bruins as a free agent and scored a career-high 18 goals with expanded playing time.

The same season Sprong and Geekie last played for the Kraken also saw Hakstol become a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as the NHL’s coach of the year.

The Kraken arguably don’t have any pending unrestricted free agents of enough stature to get a coach fired under the threat of walking away or refusing to play. Remaining UFA players include fourth-liners Tomas Tatar and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and third-pairing defenseman Justin Schultz. Restricted free agents include Matty Beniers, Eeli Tolvanen and Kailer Yamamoto, though all are still by-and-large under team control, given how NHL rules provide them little leverage beyond the length of any Kraken contract offer they’d accept.

Eberle had been the biggest remaining impact UFA player, but signed a two-year contract extension in March when Hakstol was still coach.

“My decision as a 34-year-old is, I want to win a Stanley Cup,” Eberle said Wednesday, adding he had faith in Hakstol when he signed his deal. “That’s what I want to do. That’s what I have left to do. And I trust the leadership team that Ron (Francis) has and the team he’s going to be putting on the ice.”