The Kraken are aiming to hire AHL Colorado head coach Aaron Schneekloth to fill one of their assistant coach vacancies, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman said on Sunday’s 32 Thoughts podcast.
Schneekloth, 46, has a 12-year coaching career spent exclusively with the Colorado Eagles club, dating back to their days as the ECHL affiliate of the Jets and Flames from 2013-14 to 2015-16. He started as an assistant coach but was promoted to head coach when the Eagles affiliated with the Avs beginning in 2016-17. He stayed on staff when the Eagles were promoted from the ECHL to the AHL for the 2018-19 season to accommodate the NHL’s expansion to Vegas, but was demoted back to an assistant role under Greg Cronin, whom the Avs hired that offseason to serve as their new minor-league bench boss.
When Cronin left Colorado in the 2023 offseason to accept the Ducks’ head coaching position, the Avs offered the internal promotion to Schneekloth. The Eagles have remained one of the AHL’s premier clubs under his watch, posting an 83-46-15 record over the last two seasons. They won the Pacific Division regular-season title for the first time since their promotion from the ECHL. However, they were eliminated in the Calder Cup Playoffs by the Abbotsford Canucks in the Division Final.
Under Schneekloth, the Eagles also won back-to-back Kelly Cups during his two seasons at the helm in the ECHL. The Calgary native has been with the organization since his playing days as a defenseman, first joining them in 2006 when they played in the now-defunct Central Hockey League. He never reached the NHL level and only got a cup of coffee in the AHL early in his career but was an elite offensive presence in the lower-level minors, including two seasons over a point per game for the Eagles and a 20-goal, 62-point campaign in 72 games in their first season in the ECHL en route to being named the league’s Defenseman of the Year. He also won a Central Hockey League championship with the Eagles in 2007 and an NCAA national title with North Dakota in 2000.
Seattle has two assistant coach vacancies they’re looking to fill. After installing Lane Lambert as their new head coach, they announced Dave Lowry and, later, Bob Woods, would not be returning to Lambert’s staff. Goalie coach Steve Briere was fired alongside Lowry as well, so only assistant coach Jessica Campbell is returning from last year’s coaching group.