Jessica Campbell was promoted to assistant coach of the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, making her the first woman to hold the position full-time with an NHL team.

Campbell spent the past two seasons as an assistant under Dan Bylsma with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Seattle’s AHL affiliate, helping them reach the Calder Cup final in two consecutive years.

She has taken on a number of different responsibilities with the Firebirds – overseeing the forwards and power play, while also doing sideline skills work.

A former high-profile Canadian national team player with a background as a world-class skating coach, Campbell has been credited with helping develop a number of young talents in the organization. Most notably, forward Ty Carty, an undrafted free agent who was named the NHL’s top rookie while with the Firebirds in 2023 and graduated to a role with the Kraken last season.

Campbell joins Emily Engel-Natzke, the Washington Capitals’ video coach, as the only women working as full-time, rotating members of an NHL coaching staff. Other women have been hired in temporary or part-time roles on NHL teams or as guest coaches, but Campbell will be the first to sit on the bench full-time.

Campbell was the first woman to serve as a full-time assistant coach in the AHL when she was hired by Coachella Valley in July 2022, and was the first woman to serve as a coach at the Men’s Ice Hockey World Championship when she was on the bench in Germany as an assistant for the 2022 tournament in Finland.

She also worked as an assistant coach and skills coach for the Nurnberg Ice Tigers in the German Figure Skating League.

Campbell was the first assistant hired by Bylsma when he took over the Firebirds, and she made an immediate impression on those in the upper echelons of the organization due to her unique skills.

“The work she’s done is why we hired her,” Kraken general manager Ron Francis told reporters in May. “We didn’t hire her because she’s a woman. We hired her because she’s a good coach. She has an interesting background, not just in skiing but in skill development, and that’s a big part of what they’ve been able to do in Coachella Valley.”

The Kraken announced the hiring of Bylsma to replace Dave Hakstol as head coach on May 28.

“During our time in Coachella Valley, I have seen firsthand Jessica’s commitment to player development,” Bylsma said in a statement from the team on Wednesday. “Her ability to build relationships with her players, particularly Ty Carty, Shane Wright and Ryker Evans, was a major factor in this hire. I look forward to continuing to work with her at the NHL level.”

Campbell joins Bob Woods and Dave Lowery as assistants on his Seattle staff.

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(Photo: Martin Messner/Associated Press)