Seattle's NHL franchise is looking to hire a head coach earlier than initially expected, TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported on Thursday's edition of "Insider Trading."

"When (general manager) Ron Francis was thinking about his first head coach, he thought he would hire him between January and June of '21," LeBrun said. "Well now, he has cleared it with ownership that he can go out and hire a coach as early as this summer."

Seattle hasn't been linked to any hires at this point, but there are plenty of high-profile coaches potentially available due to a slew of firings across the league this season.

Mike Babcock, Gerard Gallant, Peter Laviolette, and Bruce Boudreau could all be candidates for the NHL's 32nd team.

Seattle will take the ice for the 2021-22 season.

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