The Seattle Kraken are making some management changes this offseason as Ron Francis is stepping down as the President of Hockey Operations. Remember, Francis was the team’s first general manager and moved up to President when Jason Botterill was promoted to general manager at the beginning of this season.
?Night Cap Recap ?
Ron Francis Steps Down as President of Hockey Ops in Seattle
It’s What is Best for Business #seakraken pic.twitter.com/qNn73MNt2d
— Jim Biringer (@JimBiringer) April 8, 2026
However, even as Francis departs the Kraken, the organization is looking to understand what has gone wrong since their inception in the 2021-22 season. The Kraken will miss the playoffs for the third straight year and four of the first five years of existence. Now there is an argument to be made that the Seattle Kraken lucked their way into the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023.
Since then, it has been one bad decision after another by the management group, mainly for letting Morgan Geekie go for nothing, as they did not qualify the then 24-year-old after a nine-goal, 19-assist season in 69 games. He’s scored 89 goals in the past three seasons for the Bruins, with 37 so far this season. A team looking for offense could use a guy who scored 30 goals this season.
NHL Rumors: Could the Seattle Kraken Sign Eeli Tolvanen Long-Term?
So, given what has gone on over the last three seasons, CEO Tod Leiweke told the media that the organization will conduct an independent audit of hockey operations, with the current general manager leading the way.
“We are going to conduct a full independent audit of hockey operations. Jason (Botterill) will lead it, but we’re going to bring fresh eyes and make sure that there’s no stone unturned,” Leiweke said.
First off, what does that even mean? How does one go through a hockey operations department and find flaws and put numbers next to them? Then it has to go back to the start with the 2021 expansion draft.
It might go back even further to the hiring of Ron Francis, who didn’t take the Carolina Hurricanes to the playoffs under his reign during his eight seasons there, first as director of hockey operations and then general manager, from 2014 to 2018, before becoming president of hockey operations. While he got drafted, some good forwards like Sebastian Aho, Martin Necas (now in Colorado), and Morgan Geekie (originally drafted by Carolina, now in Boston), and defensemen Jaccob Slavin and Brett Pesce.
NHL Rumors: Which Pending Free Agents Could Be Traded from the Seattle Kraken?
So Francis tried that again with Seattle. Except this time, he had the advantage of drafting NHL-calibre players right away and not having to develop them. Guys like Taylor Hall, Vladimir Tarasenko, Nikita Zadorov, Brandon Montour (who signed as a free agent in 2024), Gabriel Landeskog, and the list goes on.
The way the team was built, with complementary pieces rather than difference-makers, was poor. Seattle did try to make deals like the Vegas Golden Knights did in 2017. However, general managers got wise after what happened with Vegas and their trip to the Stanley Cup Final in year one. But there was talent there for Seattle to choose from.
The plan of building a team based on analytics and numbers didn’t work. Not to mention building through the draft. It was built on the backend, with no pure sniper up front to change the game. That is the type of player the Seattle Kraken tried to trade for this season. Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson are solid players on the backend, but the Chandler Stephson signing looks worse and worse.
The goal is to make the Seattle Kraken a consistent playoff team that can be a threat to win. Nobody is going to be the Vegas Golden Knights, but there is something broken about how the Kraken run their team. Seattle is a great hockey market, but the Kraken can’t compete with the Seattle Mariners (who just went to the ALCS) and Seattle Seahawks (who just won the Super Bowl).
NHL Rumors: Seattle Kraken; Artemi Panarin, and Shane Wright
Leiweke told the media that it is time for a new plan, and that fans will hear about it every step of the way.
“We’re going to develop a multi-faceted, multi-year plan to strengthen our roster. We talk a lot about recruiting free agents. We’ve got to do more to make this a hockey city to keep players, to attract other players, Leiweke said. “We’re going to set mile markers. Fans are going to know where we are.
Again, the Kraken tried for Artemi Panarin, Robert Thomas, Jordan Kyrou, and others. But everyone knew Panarin wasn’t going there because he wanted to play in a big city, despite reports of a $14 million-per-season contract offer. Again, what good is a no-state income tax that will go away in a couple of seasons if the team isn’t winning? Just ask the Florida Panthers before they got good. Same for the Nashville Predators.
NHL Rumors: What Teams Will Make Coaching and GM Changes This Summer?
Winning matters to players. That’s why players want to go to organizations like the Tampa Bay Lightning, Dallas Stars, Utah Mammoth, Golden Knights, Panthers, and others. Money is secondary if you are not winning, and Seattle hasn’t done enough of it.
Again, Francis was part of the problem and decided it was best for business to step aside. Not moving their remaining three pending unrestricted free agents (Jamie Oleksiak, Eeli Tolvanen, and Jaden Schwartz) after moving Mason Marchment and re-signing Jordan Eberle. Not getting more assets for those players was a mistake.
While adding Bobby McMann is huge, he is a pending UFA at the end of the season. At the trade deadline, they did hold the second wild-card spot and were still in the weak Pacific division race. But if they weren’t planning on extending any of their UFAs, they needed to acquire assets for them. Just scrapping into the playoffs and getting bounced quickly in the first round wouldn’t have put this group any further forward. Another opportunity was lost.
As Leiweke said numerous times, “We have a hell of a lot of work to do. There is a burning fire to get this fixed.” It is a mess in Seattle.
While the Kraken are keeping Botterill to lead both hockey operations and general management during a rebuild or retool, that hasn’t been determined yet. It should be a rebuild and get the right young pieces; there is no guarantee Lane Lambert stays on as head coach. Leiweke was non-committal about his future.
The Kraken are Liking Bobby McMann, and Should the Vancouver Canucks overpay?
But losing organizations wonder why they are on the hamster wheel of death. When there is constant change with the coach, players can’t develop chemistry and continuity. So that is step one. The endless cycle of hiring and firing coaches has to stop. Getting the right people in charge and sticking with the plan also needs to happen. Then you find the players to execute it.
If there is more pain for the Seattle Kraken, then that is what expansion franchises go through. But if it was done right the first time, maybe they wouldn’t have to do it again.
We had to restart our X account. Please follow @MyNHLRumorsX
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? Rumor roundups and hot topics from around the league. We’re also posting some stuff on Instagram.
If you love our reporting, choose NHLrumors.com as a preferred source on Google.
