Chris Johnston: After a stop with the Leafs, coach Dave Hakstol flies into Seattle under the radar. The runway is wide open

The man about to lead the expansion Seattle Kraken through their first training camp found his own path to a second NHL head coaching job.

Dave Hakstol got there by taking a step backwards and becoming an assistant with the Maple Leafs.

He was drawn by what might have repelled other similarly experienced coaches in June 2019: The chance to work and learn under a strong-willed boss in Mike Babcock. Except the apprenticeship lasted just 23 games before Babcock was replaced mid-season by Sheldon Keefe, a rookie in the position and 12 years Hakstol’s junior.

Still, he didn’t fret about the possibility he’d veered off course.

“That never really crossed my mind,” Hakstol told the Star this week in an interview. “I went from one great opportunity to looking forward to another.”

In fact, he said it took only a conversation or two with Keefe to get excited about the different avenues that would be opened to him. Hakstol oversaw significant gains on the defensive side of the puck during two seasons in Toronto — helping take the team from 29th in even-strength shots allowed per 60 the year before he was hired to 18th to sixth, according to naturalstattrick.com.

Still, the son of a cattle farmer from rural Alberta was about as anonymous as anyone standing behind the Leafs bench could ever expect to be. His work was rarely, if ever, the subject of local talk-radio segments. And his name wasn’t prominently floated in rumours for job openings.

Hakstol’s hiring by the Kraken seemingly came out of the clear blue sky when general manager Ron Francis concluded an exhaustive search process in June. The 53-year-old emerged from a pool of eight candidates — many of whom went through multiple interviews — and it was a combination of work ethic, character and hockey acumen that put him over the top.

Ultimately, Francis trusted his gut when making the decision.

How Hakstol moved forward from his December 2018 firing by the Philadelphia Flyers created the circumstances for it to happen.

First he went through a period of honest reflection about the successes and failures from a three-plus year stint that included two playoff appearances.

Then he went back to work.

Hakstol spent a week shadowing the Swedish national team’s coaching staff during a European tournament and accepted an assistant coaching position with Team Canada at the 2019 world hockey championship. There he worked with Francis and Kraken assistant GM Jason Botterill, who were part of the management group, and fortuitously took a daylong scouting trip to Brno, Czech Republic that left a particularly strong impression on Francis.

The job with the Leafs followed and gave Hakstol the chance to see his profession from a fresh perspective, like someone holding up a snow globe to the light. He’d been a head coach continuously since taking over at the University of North Dakota in 2004 and going on an incredible 11-year run with that program, jumping directly to the Flyers from the NCAA.

As an assistant with the Leafs, Hakstol said he “watched from the back seat” as Babcock and Keefe managed the media and the team. He came away with some new thoughts on best communication practices and the way the program should be run each day.

The experience also served as a reminder about how narrow your focus can be as an assistant coach charged with overseeing the penalty kill or power play. How in the moment that puts you.

“I’ve lived it. I hope that helps me do a better job in empowering my staff here in Seattle,” said Hakstol.

As for guiding the foundational steps of the NHL’s 32nd team, he believes it’s important they focus on creating their own process rather than trying to mimic anything that happened during the Vegas Golden Knights storybook first season.

In Hakstol’s words: “We have to set our own standards.”

He and assistants Jay Leach and Paul McFarland — a former Leafs colleague — set up shop in Seattle earlier than usual this summer and have been building toward training camp for a number of weeks.

They should have a team built in their coach’s style, with solid goaltending and a stout blue line that includes Mark Giordano, Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, Vince Dunn and six other defencemen who appeared in at least 10 NHL games last season.

“We like our group there on the back end,” said Hakstol. “One of the things maybe that’s a little bit hidden there is, there’s a ton of competition.”

The Kraken players can count on a clean slate. Hakstol has already instructed his coaching staff to disregard what they’ve heard about members of the team or seen while studying video because he wants roster decisions to be made with judgments reached before the inaugural game in Vegas on Oct. 12.

As camp opens, there’s plenty of excitement to be found in Seattle.

“We’re all coming from some place different,” said Hakstol. “Everybody is new here, everybody has an opportunity to truly make a first impression and that’s a pretty unique opportunity.”

Chris Johnston is a Toronto-based journalist with a new gaming company. His work will be seen on the website and app for the new gaming company, and also in the Toronto Star. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterchris