Arizona State officially named Dave Hakstol its new head coach Thursday morning. Hakstol, 58, spent more than a decade as North Dakota’s coach before head coaching stints with the NHL’s Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken. Most recently, he was an assistant with the Colorado Avalanche.
“This is a special opportunity, and I couldn’t be more excited to return to college hockey and bring a winning culture to Arizona State Sun Devil Hockey. Our goal is to grow a championship-caliber program, and we will,” Hakstol said.
ASU did not give Hakstol an interim tag. Meanwhile, the school and former coach Greg Powers, who had been on paid administrative leave, mutually agreed to part ways, according to Katie Strang of The Athletic.
ASU’s release did not refer to Hakstol as the Greg Powers Endowed Men’s Hockey Head Coach. The position was endowed last year and named for Powers after a donation from Mike and Nancy Friend.
Arizona State visits UMass Lowell this weekend. Hakstol is traveling to Lowell and will officially meet the team Thursday.
The coaching change opens a transfer portal window for ASU players, though it seems unlikely anyone will use it.
The window opens five days after the announcement, on Oct. 20, and stays open for 15 days. Under NCAA rules, the special window applies to coaching changes made through Jan. 2.
However, NCAA rules also bar players from competing for two teams in the same season, so anyone who has dressed for ASU this season is ineligible to transfer and play elsewhere in 2026-27. Players with junior eligibility remaining could enter the portal and return to juniors, and others could enter the portal and sit out the rest of the season.
Still, I don’t expect any takers. Players who wanted to go back to juniors for 2026-27 and transfer for 2027-28 could have done so in August or September. And I can’t imagine anyone without junior eligibility will be willing to sit out the rest of the season.
According to Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald, Hakstol is hiring Matt Greene to join the ASU staff. Greene, 43, was an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings last season and previously served as a development coach and scout with the organization.
There could be more additions to the staff. Powers and assistants Alex Hicks and Mike Corbett were all placed on paid administrative leave. The only member of the original four-man staff not on leave is assistant coach Jimmy Mullin, who was hired this past summer.