The Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli released his annual 32 predictions for the upcoming season and one of his predictions centred around the Seattle Kraken making changes in their front office.
The Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli released his annual 32 predictions for the upcoming season, and one of his predictions involved the Seattle Kraken making changes in their front office.
Many people, including Seravalli, believe the Kraken are feeling internal and external pressure to become more successful due to the inevitability of the NBA returning to Seattle. For that reason, he believes that at some point during the 2023-24 campaign, the Kraken will make Ron Francis the president of hockey operations and promote Jason Botterill to general manager.
"The Seattle Kraken will bump Ron Francis to president of hockey operations and promote Jason Botterill to GM. Now in Year 4, there’s quietly pressure building for the Kraken to progress. They know they need to make hay in the market before the NBA inevitably returns."
Francis has been the GM of the Kraken since it was first announced a team would be coming to Seattle. No other person has held the GM position of the Kraken but Seravalli believes the Kraken organization elects to make a change.
Bottterill has been the assistant GM since 2020, the season before the Kraken played their first game. Botterill has experience working in the front office of an NHL team as he was the GM of the Buffalo Sabres for three seasons and a long-time assistant GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins (eight years).
This is just a prediction from Seravalli and he provided no evidence of this being an actual discussion, but the Kraken could look to change things if the season is not going the way they are all hoping it will.
Make sure you bookmark THN’s Seattle Kraken site for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more.