THN.com/free. Ron Francis shakes hands with Shane Wright at the 2022 NHL draft. [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk4MzQxOTM5NzY5MTI0Njkz/usatsi_18660381.jpg] Ron Francis shakes hands with Shane Wright at the 2022 NHL draft. On Wednesday afternoon at a press conference, the Seattle Kraken announced a contract extension for GM Ron Francis [https://twitter.com/SeattleKraken/status/1663991363422265348], lasting through the 2026-27 campaign. And the way that the Kraken have played under his guidance, it’s a well-deserved extension. Forget, for a moment, the Kraken’s progress in this past season, their second of on-ice operation. Forget the playoff round Seattle won this spring, beating the defending Stanley Cup-champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games after falling behind in the series by a 2-1 margin. Forget how they nearly knocked off the Stars in Round 2 before being eliminated in a seventh game in Dallas. Instead, simply consider the improvement in the regular season between Seattle’s inaugural season of 2021-22 – when they finished at the bottom of the Pacific Division standings – and their performance in 2022-23, when they scored 76 more goals and won 19 more games. Nineteen. That is no small feat for any NHL team, let alone one that only put its first lineup together two years ago. It’s true the Vegas Golden Knights set the bar for expansion teams, not only in the NHL but across all pro sports, by making it to the Cup final in their first season. However, the achievement the Kraken have had in this second-year push is truly something to savor. And the best days are likely yet to come for the franchise. To wit: under Francis’ guidance, Seattle now has more than $20.3 million in salary cap space (as per CapFriendly [https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/kraken]) to spend this summer on improving. They do have five RFAs – most notably, defenseman Vince Dunn and forward Morgan Geekie – who will cut into that cap space, but even after paying those players, Francis will have a good chunk of change to use in free agency and/or trades. In addition, Francis has continued to build a strong asset base to ensure the future will be bright for the Kraken. In the upcoming NHL draft, Seattle has four picks in the first two rounds – their first-round pick, their second-rounder, and the second-rounders of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Winnipeg Jets. They also have a prospect group that includes forward and the odds-on favorite to win the Calder Trophy as this season’s top rookie, Matty Beniers, as well as 19-year-old up-and-comer Shane Wright. There is a foundation here that all but guarantees the Kraken will be a consistent force to reckon with. This is why Seattle’s second-round defeat by the Stars didn’t feel all that bad in the big picture. They were playing with house money all season long, and their core of talent came together to thrill their burgeoning fan base in a way that most, if not all, fledgling organizations simply cannot do. But the NHL’s expansion draft rules have clearly allowed teams like Seattle and Vegas to prosper as quickly as possible, and Francis has done yeoman’s work behind the scenes to set the table nicely for the future. Maybe the Kraken take a sideways step next season. We all know by now that progress is not always linear. It’s possible that, in an improving Pacific Division, Seattle encounters great difficulty replicating their progress next year. But it’s also possible that the Kraken follow the path of the Golden Knights and wind up in the second, third and fourth round in 2023-24. If you’re cynical, that’s fine, but understand that nobody gave Seattle much chance to beat the Avs this season, and all they did was show their resilience and expectations were more than enough to make serious strides. When Francis took the job as Kraken GM in July 2019, he’d had only a four-year run as a GM – in this case, with the Carolina Hurricanes – and didn’t enjoy the success he’d had as an NHL star player. But since that time, he’s emerged as a patient, savvy judge of hockey talent, and he’s earned that new extension. Seattle is fortunate to have him guiding things, and he might just figure out the often-elusive championship puzzle in very short order.
