Ron Francis as Kraken GM ~ The Verdict Is In

[tarheelhockey]

I have a hard time criticizing either the Beniers or Wright picks. Neither was a reach and they’ve been among the best players in their drafts.

The expansion draft and construction of the rest of the roster, sure.

 

[Rubi]

I've seen worse expansion teams over the years.

 

[Leafshater67]

They’re not good and they never were. They overachieved and regressed back to normal. No idea why they fired Hakstrol, he got a lot out of a little.

Also, Wright is a rookie. I’d be much more concerned with Beniers tbh plus he’s got a big contract.

 

[Victoire HuGo]

At least he's finally found a goalie. Only took him 7 seasons as a GM

 

[JoeThorntonsRooster]

While I agree with the sentiment that Francis is not that good of a GM. This is the normal path of an expansion team.

Vegas rotted people's brains and assume expansion teams all should follow that path. Vegas was the outlier not the norm.

The problem is not that their team hasn't won yet. (In fact, I'd say most would agree that making round 2 in game 7 of their second year was very impressive). The problem is that they appear to have a very bleak outlook for the future, and that shouldn't necessarily be the path of an expansion team in their 4th season.

 

[Cloned]

Who should they have taken at 4 instead?

Gauthier probably fits their team identity better since he’s a better skater.

 

[WarriorofTime]

They are in a good spot with forwards longterm but need to figure out the blue line.

The team two years ago was a PDO mirage and shouldn’t have changed perception on overall trajectory too much.

 

[WhiskeyYerTheDevils]

Gauthier probably fits their team identity better since he’s a better skater.

Perhaps, but considering how much Wright's skating has improved, and the fact that he's been more productive, it's hard to say they whiffed on the pick. He's doing about as well as you'd expect a fourth overall pick to do.

 

[elmaco]

I think they look better than some of the older teams honestly.

 

[Cloned]

Perhaps, but considering how much Wright's skating has improved, and the fact that he's been more productive, it's hard to say they whiffed on the pick. He's doing about as well as you'd expect a fourth overall pick to do.

Maybe I’m being too harsh with Wright, but it’s hard to give the benefit of the doubt when mostly everything else has been a disappointment.

 

[KingsHockey24]

How does Francis not get criticized more for this?

Team is going backwards since year one and is now firmly entrenched in the grip of mediocrity.

Beniers low key busting considering his draft position.

Drafting Wright.

Hiring Hakstol and Bylsma.

The disaster that is Philip Grubauer.

The ghost of Andre Burakovsky.

A team full of boobs.

 

[Malkinstheman]

Francis has been screwing Seattle since day 1. Bad expansion draft and now he's signed a bunch of anchor contracts that will far outlast him. Those Stephenson and Montour contracts are going to be abysmal in 2 years

 

[Voight]

McPhee got a break because GM's went crazy trading him all kinds of players instead of just sacrifying one guy. Yes for some teams that made sense, but for many they overthought things and gave away free assets.

They had learned by the time Seattle came around, and I guess that would be the biggest critique of Francis to not leverage his start a bit more. Not to the Vegas extend cause that wasn't there, but to do some more trades than what they did because surely there was more options out there then what transpired.

I agree in that GMs somewhat learned their lesson with GMGM but still a guy with his experience is invaluable and can help you with none expansion related trades. Francis still could've weaponized his cap space Arizona style and gained assets by taking on bad contracts, among other things.

 

[Cloned]

A team full of boobs.

The only OF accounts we are allowed to talk about here are the mods’

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

A team full of boobs.

megan...

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

"Every year"

It's year 4.

 

[TS Quint]

Their oldest draft pick is 22. Calm down.

 

[TheDawnOfANewTage]

People will be Kraken jokes at their expense, but with an overlord like Bezos they’ll ultimately be fine.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

The team was built mediocre from day 1 draft.... failure and incompetence by management.

 

[Satan]

Was defiantly a mistake taking Wright 1st overall

 

[Mrfenn92]

Think the Vegas success caused a bit of too high of expectations.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Was defiantly a mistake taking Wright 1st overall

You might want to sit down for what I’m about to tell you…

 

[SirKillalot]

Francis still could've weaponized his cap space Arizona style and gained assets by taking on bad contracts, among other things.

Yeah I agree he should have done that for more long term options, but he didn't.

 

[PavelBure10]

Considering Wright was widely considered to go 1st overall that year, I think selecting him at 4th was worth the gamble.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

How does Francis not get criticized more for this?

Team is going backwards since year one and is now firmly entrenched in the grip of mediocrity.

Beniers low key busting considering his draft position.

Drafting Wright.

Hiring Hakstol and Bylsma.

The disaster that is Philip Grubauer.

The ghost of Andre Burakovsky.

Year 1: 60 points
Year 2: 100 points

Doesn’t Shane Wright have like 30 points in the last 36 games or something? I’d say he’s one of their bright spots

2 in the first 18, 29 in the next 36.