When Jessica Campbell takes her post behind the bench for the Seattle Kraken’s first game of the 2024-25 season, she’ll afford herself a few seconds to soak in the moment.
But only a few. She’s got a job to do.
“It’s definitely going to hit maybe a little bit differently but I’m excited to take that in. I think it reminds me of family and people that have shown up for me to help me get here, that I’m probably gonna reflect on the most in that moment,” Campbell said. “But seconds later, I’m going to be focused on the job at hand.”
Campbell made history on Wednesday when she was named as an assistant coach of the Kraken, becoming the first woman to hold a full-time coaching position behind the bench of an NHL franchise.
“I’m humbled, obviously, to be in this position… to be the first,” Campbell said during Wednesday’s press conference, where she was introduced alongside Bob Woods, who was also hired as an assistant. “But that’s never really where my focus is. It’s always on the work, it’s on the impact, it’s on the job.”
According to new Kraken head coach Dan Bylsma, Campbell’s job will include working with players one-on-one to help push their development, with a focus on younger players coming up to the big club. She’ll also assist Woods as he runs point on the power play.
Campbell acknowledged the extra meaning of her hiring, beyond her own individual impact on the Kraken — the idea that the team’s success, and her role in that, could “potentially open up doors for others and open eyes for others to maybe think differently.”
And that’s why her gaze remained fixed not on the history of her hiring, but on the present. Because though she is “honoured” to be the first, “I don’t want to be the only,” she said.
“And I honestly don’t feel like I’m the ‘only’ in this organization,” she continued. “And that’s also a very special feeling, to be part of the Seattle Kraken organization, and this staff, and also to stand by all the other remarkable women in this league that are maybe not behind the benches. There’s a long list of incredible women that are doing phenomenal jobs here — in management, scouting, player development. And so, I’m just excited now to do my part behind the bench.”
While others will call Campbell a history-maker and a trailblazer, she calls herself a learner, and a student of the game. She spoke about hours-long conversations alongside Bylsma post-practice with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, asking questions and talking about process. That’s how she approaches her work with players, too, and what she’ll continue to do with the Kraken.
“I know building a relationship and establishing trust and respect, it’s earned — and it’s earned over time. But that’s a big thing for me, and I’m going to try to evolve and grow,” she said. “I’ve had experience now, working with NHL players, on my own path at the start of my coaching career, and I want to leverage that experience and bring that to the relationships I want to build here with the Kraken players.”
Five years ago, Campbell — a former pro herself, and national team forward with Team Canada — launched her own power skating and skill-development business, working with players on their development during off-season sessions as well as in-season in Europe. As the number of players on her client list grew, including former Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Brent Seabrook, with whom she worked to help his skating — the Saskatchewan native realized where her own coaching aspirations could lead her.
“I felt like what I was teaching and what I was working with them on was translating and hitting in a different way and definitely inspired me to think about the potential,” she said. She took a major step forward in 2022 when she served behind the bench for Germany’s world championship squad — a position that led Bylsma to reach out about a job on his AHL coaching staff with the Firebirds a few months later. She made history then, too, as the first female full-time coach behind the bench of an AHL team.
Alongside Bylsma, Campbell helped guide the AHL’s Firebirds to back-to-back Calder Cup Finals, losing both to the Hershey Bears. Bylsma said Wednesday he is “super excited” to continue working with Campbell now at the NHL level. He praised her ability to connect with players and tailor each skater’s development plan to help them harness their potential.
While the 2024-25 season will bring a new challenge with plenty of firsts for Campbell, there will also be a lot of familiarity as she takes on her role with the Kraken. She worked closely with several of the team’s young players, including Shane Wright, Tye Kartye, Ryker Evans, and others — and she’s excited to continue working with them at the NHL level, as well as meeting and helping Kraken skaters at every stage in their progression to help them get the most out of their games.
“I’m just excited to start to get to know everyone’s story and each player, uniquely impact where they’re at in their career and how we as a staff, how I personally, can help them raise their game and raise the standards and help hold them accountable to be the player that they want to be,” she said.
It’s that process that helps keep her focused on the task at hand.
“Watching those guys show up every day,” said Campbell, “that’s why we coach.”
