Kraken extend GM Ron Francis’ contract following playoff run
Kraken general manager Ron Francis was rewarded Wednesday for the team’s recent regular-season and playoff showing by having his contract extended by three seasons.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Francis, 60, had been approaching the fourth anniversary of his July 2019 hiring, which came two years before the Kraken took the ice. He was on a five-year contract, meaning the new extension through 2026-27 avoids having him enter a “lame duck” season that could have proved distracting as the Kraken look to improve upon their newfound on-ice success.
“They came to me in January or February and said ‘Hey, we want to look at an extension’,” Francis said in an interview after a Wednesday press conference announcing the extension. “We probably had everything verbally in place by March but we hadn’t signed it until today.
“But, you know, when I took it we had five years and it was two years before we even started playing. And then you get into it and it’s nice to know they still believe in what we’re doing and what we’re trying to accomplish. I’ve been pleased from day one with the ownership group and what they’ve given us to work with, so it was just an easy decision for me when they said they want to do that.”
Kraken co-owner Samantha Holloway said at the press conference that Francis is “at the heart of” endeavors to get the Kraken launched as a franchise and built into a playoff team.
“He’s been here working diligently and tirelessly to build our hockey organization from the ground up with integrity and looking into the future. He’s been a leader that’s gotten us to where we are today. And he is the leader to take us to the next level.”
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Under Francis, the Kraken set a record for second-year franchises by improving 40 points beyond their debut season and made it to the second round of this spring’s playoffs before falling to the Dallas Stars in seven games.
Though Francis enjoyed a Hall of Fame playing career in which he remains fifth in all-time points with 1,798 and won the Stanley Cup twice with Pittsburgh, this past season was the first time one of his teams made the playoff with him as a GM. He’d failed to go to the playoffs in four seasons running the Carolina Hurricanes before his firing in May 2018, though he is still widely credited for building the nucleus of a Hurricanes squad that’s now made the playoffs every year since his departure.
Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke referenced the GM’s playing career, championships won and Hall of Fame statistics during Wednesday’s announcement, adding that Francis had also garnered three Lady Byng Trophies for sportsmanship and “playing the game the right way.”
“I think long term he’s built a franchise here that looks like Ron Francis,” Leiweke said. “It’s competitive. It’s balanced. It has grit. It has determination.”
Francis was also responsible for the somewhat surprising hire of Dave Hakstol as the team’s first coach, bypassing several more proven, big-name candidates, including Gerard Gallant, Bruce Boudreau and Rick Tocchet. Francis met Hakstol while the pair were involved with Team Canada’s entry at the 2019 IIHF World Hockey Championships and came away impressed by his work ethic.
After a rocky first year start with the Kraken, Hakstol this season became a finalist for the Jack Adams Award as NHL Coach of the Year.
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Francis has also made good on a pledge to help involve more women on the team’s hockey operations side, promoting analytics specialist Alexandra Mandrycky — the team’s first hire on the hockey side — to an assistant GM role last year. He also made Cammi Granato the first full-time professional scout in NHL history before she left last year to become an assistant GM with the Vancouver Canucks.
Among more heralded Francis player moves as GM was selecting forward Jared McCann in the July 2021 expansion draft and then extending his contract by five seasons in March 2022. McCann became the Kraken’s first 40-goal scorer this season after notching 27 goals in his debut campaign with the team.
Francis also selected defenseman Vince Dunn from St. Louis in the expansion draft — bypassing top-scoring winter Vladimir Tarasenko — and this past season saw him blossom into a team MVP and elite two-way scoring blue liner.
Last summer, Francis leveraged additional salary-cap space in acquiring forward Oliver Bjorkstrand from the Columbus Blue Jackets for the cost of a mere fourth-round draft pick. Francis also picked up winger Eeli Tolvanen off waivers from Nashville in December and saw him score 16 goals and add 11 assists for the Kraken in just 48 games.
Francis also acquired winger Daniel Sprong as a throw-in from Washington at the March 2022 trade deadline and saw him score 21 goals this past season playing mostly on the team’s fourth line.
Kraken center Matty Beniers, the No. 2 overall pick from 2021 in the 2021 NHL draft, is considered the odds-on favorite to win the Calder Trophy as this season’s NHL Rookie of the Year.
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Francis’ scouting staff, led by Robert Kron, has been responsible for several under-the-radar signings and picks, including the 2021 second-round selection of defenseman Ryker Evans — recently named an AHL All-Star in his first professional season and leading the league’s rookie defensemen in points.
Also, the team signed Ontario Hockey League forward Tye Kartye as an undrafted free agent a year ago and this season saw him named the AHL’s top rookie. Kartye scored three goals during the Kraken’s playoff run after making his NHL debut midway through the team’s opening-round series against Colorado while filling in for the injured McCann.
In addition, Ty Nelson, a third-round pick last summer, notched a team-record 76 points for a defenseman with the OHL North Bay Battalion this past season before the Kraken signing him to a three-year entry-level deal.
Beyond the roster, Francis also helped design portions of the team’s Kraken Community Iceplex training facility and was instrumental in the implementation of its AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds affiliate.
This story will be updated.
Source: The Seattle Times
