Dave Hakstol leaves Avalanche to coach Arizona State

This one was basically done on Monday. Colorado gave permission, ASU told everyone else they were out, and the only question left was whether it would go sideways.

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

It didn't go sideways, but it did get weird. Friedman floated Hakstol running the bench as soon as ASU's next game that Friday. Instead Hakstol was still with the Avalanche on their road trip, and Jared Bednar kept getting asked about it and kept having nothing to say. By midweek, the guys covering the Avs every day had run out of ways to describe it.

Thursday morning it was official. Friedman had it on the 32 Thoughts pod first: Hakstol would be named that morning, and Matt Greene was expected to come with him. That's a serious staff for a college program that badly needed some adults in the room.

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.

Why ASU needed a fix this fast: head coach Greg Powers was put on administrative leave on September 30 after St. Louis Blues prospect Matthew Mayich collapsed during an August conditioning workout. 7 players then asked for an independent review and for the coaches involved to be put on leave. A program in that state, a few weeks into the season, needed a name that settles the locker room right away. It got one.

Hakstol is 58, and this sends him back to where he made his name. He coached North Dakota from 2004 to 2015, made it to multiple Frozen Fours, and turned that into NHL head jobs with the Flyers and later the expansion Kraken. Colorado brought him on as an assistant in July 2025, so his Avs run lasted barely more than a year. For a guy who spent 11 years building a college power, taking over a Sun Devils program that's still fairly new and suddenly needs rebuilding fits pretty well.

Now it's Colorado's turn to scramble. Losing an assistant in October isn't what a contender plans for. Friedman has already floated Brett McLean, a former Avs player who coached in Vancouver last season, as a possible replacement. Keep an eye on whether Bednar fills the spot from outside or just shuffles the staff he has, and on how quickly Hakstol actually gets behind the ASU bench. It took all week to make this official, so nobody should be surprised if the first game takes a bit too.