Ron Francis

[Irie]

I did not hate the Francis hire.

He has historically been great at negotiating contracts with RFAs, his drafting is above average, and he has always shown patience with prospects and willing to build things slowly through the draft - which is a fault of his when trying to build a contender, but a good trait to have in a GM for an expansion team.

Francis may never have been the guy that was going to make the big moves needed to turn a cup contender into a champion, but he was a guy that could stockpile the assets to put a team in a solid position so that the next GM would have the assets to make the moves needed to push the roster over the hump.

What can't be overlooked here is that a "slow build through drafting" was the obvious plan from day one, but ownership went public pretty early on in the offseason or start of season 2 stating that winning now was the new priority and the future was secondary. How Francis has switched gears to change his tactics has not been stellar, (and making those kinds of moves are the moves he has historically been bad at), but that is an incredibly tough position for even the most astute GM to be placed in. I am not sure anyone in the league currently pulls it off or comes out of that scenario looking like a genius. (Note, I am not defending last years UFA moves, I called them bad then and still do not like them).

Francis is the wrong GM for a team trying to quickly compete without a solid young competitive base in place, but I still do not believe he is the worst hire for a team looking to slow build a competitive roster with the future being a huge priority over short term success. Let him start it and do what he does best - just do not expect him to complete the job.

 

[periferal]

Keep telling us Francis isn't the problem...

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Keep telling us Francis isn't the problem...

Right decision in my mind. Not sure how much it helps, but this is probably Francis' last hurrah. If he does not right things this coming season, he will be next.

 

[Fuhrious]

Right decision in my mind. Not sure how much it helps, but this is probably Francis' last hurrah. If he does not right things this coming season, he will be next.

THIS should have been his last hurrah. He should be leaving with Bylsma.

 

[DallasCowboys25]

look for Joel Quesnville to be the next head coach of the Seattle Kraken.
They need to make the playoffs next season.

 

[sigma six]

Didn't like the hire in the first place, but at least they aren't dragging it out. Also, some smoke around Francis maybe getting fired upstairs?
Would also be cool with that.

 

[periferal]

Yes...!!!

Wait...Wut???

 

[sigma six]

Talk about things escalating quickly. But why Botterill?

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Hoping we keep Campbell in some regard, although that'd be odd to keep her and eliminate the roles above her.

 

[Scomerica]

Team had zero identity so this doesn't shock me. Surprised Francis is being allowed the chance to hire a 3rd coach

 

[Bear of Bad News]

A promotion?
Live shot of Kraken leadership:

 

[kirby11]

Dear Kraken fans, you have my sincerest condolences for the shoddy GM'ing experience that Jason Botterill may well provide. Get ready for the following:

1. Hearing a lot about "situations" and "scenarios" in every press conference.
2. Developing a situation where you have a massive logjam of RHD blocking your prospects from getting ice time, but none of them are that good. The days of Risto and Bogosian being the top 2 guys on the right side were real dark.
3. You will have three ok-ish forward prospects max at any one time. Get *very* familiar with dudes from the CHL, OHL, and USNDTP. Botts doesn't really like going elsewhere in the draft--see us not signing Hagel to an ELC after tearing up juniors when the Sabres' "best" forward prospect was Alex Nylander, and he was playing like dogshit in Rochester.
4. Your team's struggling mightily? Don't worry, JB will get to work...twiddling his thumbs and doing absolutely nothing. See the super fun 18-19 Sabres season, when they won 10 straight in November and could've made the playoffs going about .500 for the rest of the season, but instead nosedived off a cliff. Our bigheaded doofus of a GM didn't do much of anything, until next season, when he traded for Michael Frolik and Wayne Simmonds at the deadline and triggered cap penalties for a non-playoff team. He set a goal of "playing meaningful games in March" in mid-February and they promptly lost 6 out of 7.

On top of all this, when he was discussing his time with the Sabres shortly after getting to Seattle, he said something like, "It was interesting to have a different experience getting a lot of high picks, that wasn't really what I was used to in Pittsburgh," as if he was an intern and not the GM of the entire organization. Like, the reason you had all those high picks is because you sucked at your job.

I've generally liked Seattle's sports teams somewhat, so I hope Botts has improved at running the whole show since he was in Buffalo, but I'm pretty doubtful.

 

[Scomerica]

Just saw the Francis moving upstairs part. Is that like Pete Carroll not being fired but becoming an 'advisor' but really being fired?

 

[sigma six]

Dear Kraken fans, you have my sincerest condolences for the shoddy GM'ing experience that Jason Botterill may well provide. Get ready for the following:

1. Hearing a lot about "situations" and "scenarios" in every press conference.
2. Developing a situation where you have a massive logjam of RHD blocking your prospects from getting ice time, but none of them are that good. The days of Risto and Bogosian being the top 2 guys on the right side were real dark.
3. You will have three ok-ish forward prospects max at any one time. Get *very* familiar with dudes from the CHL, OHL, and USNDTP. Botts doesn't really like going elsewhere in the draft--see us not signing Hagel to an ELC after tearing up juniors when the Sabres' "best" forward prospect was Alex Nylander, and he was playing like dogshit in Rochester.
4. Your team's struggling mightily? Don't worry, JB will get to work...twiddling his thumbs and doing absolutely nothing. See the super fun 18-19 Sabres season, when they won 10 straight in November and could've made the playoffs going about .500 for the rest of the season, but instead nosedived off a cliff. Our bigheaded doofus of a GM didn't do much of anything, until next season, when he traded for Michael Frolik and Wayne Simmonds at the deadline and triggered cap penalties for a non-playoff team. He set a goal of "playing meaningful games in March" in mid-February and they promptly lost 6 out of 7.

On top of all this, when he was discussing his time with the Sabres shortly after getting to Seattle, he said something like, "It was interesting to have a different experience getting a lot of high picks, that wasn't really what I was used to in Pittsburgh," as if he was an intern and not the GM of the entire organization. Like, the reason you had all those high picks is because you sucked at your job.

I've generally liked Seattle's sports teams somewhat, so I hope Botts has improved at running the whole show since he was in Buffalo, but I'm pretty doubtful.

I don't find this very reassuring.

 

[Scomerica]

Hoping we keep Campbell in some regard, although that'd be odd to keep her and eliminate the roles above her.

How did she do in her role last year? Can't say I was paying too much attention

 

[Fuhrious]

Man it doesn’t take much for fans of other teams to rush in here and tell us how shit they think the Kraken are. Confident they don’t want us in their board every time their team does something dumb, but hey what do I know…

 

[Kevinsane]

look for Joel Quesnville to be the next head coach of the Seattle Kraken.
They need to make the playoffs next season.

No, no, and no.

Also, no.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Man it doesn’t take much for fans of other teams to rush in here and tell us how shit they think the Kraken are. Confident they don’t want us in their board every time their team does something dumb, but hey what do I know…

If they start trolling, they will be dealt with.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Of the non-Kraken fans I see viewing this thread right now, the only one I want here is @Gee Wally.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I've been doing this shit for 45 years. I had an Astros fan trying to get under my skin the other day because the Mariners haven't won anything.

No shit, Sherlock, you think I don't know the Mariners haven't won anything? This is my damn life.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

I don't find this very reassuring.

Kraken just want to fit in with every other pro franchise in town.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Man it doesn’t take much for fans of other teams to rush in here and tell us how shit they think the Kraken are. Confident they don’t want us in their board every time their team does something dumb, but hey what do I know…

LOL. They don't fling poo at us. They wait till we get in the outhouse, lift it up by a forklift, turn it upside down and then shake it like .. err ... a salt shaker?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

What I am a little disappointed about was how quick they decided to make Botterill the GM. Not the choice itself, but they should have tried to look outside the organization for maybe some fresh ideas. I am all for promoting from within but not even looking for a GM with a better record and more experience is rather surprising.

 

[Fuhrious]

What I am a little disappointed about was how quick they decided to make Botterill the GM. Not the choice itself, but they should have tried to look outside the organization for maybe some fresh ideas. I am all for promoting from within but not even looking for a GM with a better record and more experience is rather surprising.

100% This

Why is this organization so committed to hiring not just “good old boy” retreads but ones that were unceremoniously bounced from their last jobs under a heavy cloud of “this guy’s a bum”?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

100% This

Why is this organization so committed to hiring not just “good old boy” retreads but ones that were unceremoniously bounced from their last jobs under a heavy cloud of “this guy’s a bum”?

I don't know if this is about "good old boy" retreads or overconfidence in their hiring decisions. Perhaps it's about rewarding "hard work" without achieving results. To be honest, I'm not sure. I expect fans from other teams will come here criticizing Botterill. They might be right, or they might not be. Regardless, I hope Botterill provides the team with a clear direction.

Typically, when a new GM takes over, they are less likely to care about no-trade clauses (NTCs) or no-movement clauses (NMCs) that were previously granted. They have more freedom to make significant changes. Aside from a potential Gru buyout, I wasn't expecting any major changes. However, I can now see the team considering moving players like Schwartz, Eberle, Burakovsky, and Oleksiak. Not all of them, but at least it's worth considering. Many of us wanted a roster overhaul or a complete rebuild, and I believe we may have more picks and prospects available for roster upgrades than I initially thought Francis would provide. With Francis gone, I feel that the "rebuild" is out of the window. I have no idea how Botterill will perform in trades or free agency, but I can only remain hopeful.

I'm also wondering if Botterill is operating in Francis' shadow, being overly cautious and not taking much action. This team desperately needs a clear direction, and I hope we find one soon.