Francis told ESPN he expected more from the Kraken (10-19-4), who are last in the Pacific Division, but is wary of making knee-jerk reactions.
"I think you have to assess where you are, and act accordingly," Francis said in remarks published Tuesday. "For us, the worst thing to do would have been to panic and change course and start giving up assets for pieces that may or may not turn things around this year. The tough part is biting the bullet, sticking to the plan."
Seattle ranks 29th in the NHL in points percentage (.364), 29th in goal differential (minus-30) and 30th in goals-against per game (3.67).
"I think it's certainly been more challenging than we were hoping for when the season started," Francis said. "I thought we'd be a competitive team. You're always hoping that things go right for you, that you have a chance to make the playoffs. Unfortunately for us, it's gone the other way: Instead of going right, some things have gone wrong.
"But the plan all along was to build this thing right from the ground up, long-term. Have a strong successful franchise. That's how we drafted. That's why we kept our cap space available. So that hasn't changed."
Francis said he continues to have faith in goalie Philipp Grubauer, who signed a six-year, $35.4 million contract (average annual value $5.9 million) on July 28, 2021. He's 7-13-4 with a 3.30 goals-against average and .882 save percentage.
"Look, this was a guy who was a finalist for the Vezina last year. I'm not giving him a total free pass. I think if you talked to him, he would say there are things he needs to be better at and there are saves he needs to make," Francis said. "But I still think he's a goaltender that can be good for us moving forward, as we build around him and increase our team."
Coach Dave Hakstol received strong marks from Francis for juggling numerous challenges, including scheduling and COVID-19 interruptions and absences.
"I think he's been good," Francis said. "You're trying to implement a system, you're trying to learn about other teams ... there's a lot going on at the start of the season. But I think we're much better now than we were at the start of the year. I'm comfortable with the job Dave has done at this point, and I know he'll continue to do better as we move forward."
Seattle has lost its past five games (0-4-1) by a combined score of 23-12, and had a season-long six-game losing streak from Nov. 6-19. Its longest winning streak is two games, accomplished three times this season.
Its next scheduled game is at the Colorado Avalanche on Jan. 10.
Francis said he has heard plenty about how Seattle is not matching the success of the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, who reached the Stanley Cup Final in their first season, 2017-18.
Francis said the comparisons are misguided.
"For people to think that GMs were going to make same mistakes they made four years prior in the Vegas expansion draft was pretty naive," he said. "They learned from that. Things were going to be different. So since those [trades] weren't there, we took a different approach and tried to maintain our [NHL salary] cap space, which we still have as we get into who might be available in free agency or who teams might have to move because of their contracts.
"We're still in a position to work at that. We're also building through the draft. We had a solid one last year and I think we can do the same this year."
