GM Francis: 'I Like Our Team'

While many Kraken fans are deep in the habit of studying the daily schedules and outcomes of games involving Western Conference playoff contenders, Seattle general manager Ron Francis has a whole different calendar in his view this week ahead of Friday's NHL trade deadline at 12 noon. He's weighing the now against the future.
The "now," as in what can help the Kraken make the playoffs in Year 2 as an expansion franchise. Compared to the "future," which includes the near-term of a bountiful 2023 NHL Draft and the shape of the Kraken roster for 2023-24 and beyond.
"I don't think anything's changed from Day 1," said Francis during an exclusive interview for the Kraken app and website. "We want to build a competitive franchise. We want able to compete now and we want to continue to build from the ground up. We want to be competitive year after year."

Veteran forward Jordan Eberle said Sunday if someone told him last summer the Kraken would be in a wild-card spot with 70 standings points and six points out of first place in the Pacific Division in late February, he would take that, saying "we've earned the right to play meaningful games." The guess here is so would all Kraken fans.
What Francis is determining from "constantly making calls" to other NHL GMs is how steep of a future cost is required for adding to this Kraken roster anticipating the next six weeks of a playoff chase. Eight teams from the Western Conference will qualify with the three top places in the Pacific Division automatically qualifying and one or two more (depending on the records of the fourth- and fifth-place clubs in the Central Division) will draw in as wild-card entries.
"I like our team," said Francis. "They've shown they can win against anybody. Hopefully, we get 'Burky' [forward Andre Burakovsky] back and healthy. Then this group can do what it's done all year."
Francis told ROOT Sports' John Forslund he hopes Burakovsky, the team's leading scorer prior to his injury, will return to the lineup "in the next couple of weeks." That timeline clearly has a bearing on any trade decisions (yes or no) before Friday's mid-day deadline. The state of the market is another key factor.

"This [trade deadline period] seems to be more of a rental market," said Francis, meaning you trade for a player who is only signed through the end of this season. "There are not as many deals which might bring a young player who has term [remaining year or years] on his contract that you can control before he hits free agency."
One note for newer fans: Top contenders in both the Western and Eastern conferences drive up the costs (typically draft choices and/or promising prospects in their development systems) for acquiring proven NHLers, including "rental" players. That's because those franchises have spent years building the roster and feel poised to make a serious run at the Stanley Cup this spring. In the minds of those general managers, the "now" is a window that might last only a postseason or two before salary cap regulations make it difficult to maintain the same roster.
"We're looking at what [players] are out there and the prices that people want," said Francis. "Historically, they're high at this point in the year."
In the Kraken's case, Francis didn't wait until this week's deadline to significantly upgrade the roster via trade. He acquired forward Oliver Bjorkstrand from Columbus last summer to play on a line with Yanni Gourde and December waiver-claim Eeli Tolvanen, which has been the Kraken's most effective forward trio in all zones since Jan. 1.
A month ahead of the deadline, Francis flipped a 2023 fourth-round pick (one of two for Seattle come July's draft) for San Jose defenseman Jaycob Megna to add depth with a player who was partnering with star Erik Karlsson, playing first-pair minutes with the Sharks. Plus, there is no denying the value added by signing Burakovsky, D-man Justin Schultz, and goalie Martin Jones on the first day of free agency last July.
"We did make a lot of moves over the course of the summer to give us the opportunity to have more success," said Francis. "To me, we put together a group that's competed every night. They like each other. The chemistry is good and there doesn't seem to be a concern about who's scoring the goals or how we are winning."
Francis and coach Dave Hakstol both prioritized team bonding and "playing together" in this second season after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted that pursuit during the inaugural year. Francis signed players like Burakovsky and Schultz to multi-year deals to be influential teammates starting in training camp.
"It's not like we didn't do a lot of things in the summer," said Francis. "Is there a need to do major things? You always worry ... you want to help your team, but you also don't want to mess up your chemistry. We'll see how things go this next week."
Francis expects the week will be filled with early-day-to-late-night calls with assistant GMs Ricky Olczyk, Jason Botterill and Alexandra Mandrycky working the phone lines too.
"You're talking to [GMs], you're trying to figure out who's available," said Francis, "what the prices are on those players [and whether prices might drop close to Friday at noon]. It comes down to whether you're comfortable with that price or not for the player that's there. There are players in which the ask is multiple picks or prospects, other players maybe it costs a single pick or prospect ... you weigh all those options, which ones make sense, which ones don't make sense."
For a franchise that has participated in just two amateur drafts and features only one draft choice on the NHL active roster, albeit one who is already an NHL All-Star and top contender for Calder Trophy rookie-of-the-year honors, the 2023 NHL Draft is compelling for many reasons.
"This is a good draft," said Francis, "probably the best in the three years we've been in business. We sit right now with 10 picks, including four in the top two rounds. We're sitting with some pretty good picks to help build this franchise."
When deciding on trading picks at the deadline - or perhaps pertinent to those fans deciding for Francis that he should swap some future picks to bolster the playoff push - it's instructive to keep in mind the success stories to date of the first two Seattle draft classes.
"So you look at what we've done [in the first two drafts]," said Francis. "It just takes some time to develop those kids and get them strong enough to be able to handle [NHL-level play]. But there's a lot of really bright spots on the horizon based on how those kids are performing right now."
That high-ceiling future is part of what will be on Francis's mind this week, same for wondering what's available in the now.
"It's all part of the balancing act as to whether it makes sense or not, or what you're willing to pay or not, " said Francis.