Francis signs to remain Kraken GM through 2026-27

Ron Francis signed a contract to remain general manager of the Seattle Kraken on Wednesday, running through the 2026-27 season.

The 60-year-old has been Kraken GM since they joined the NHL as an expansion team for the 2021-22 season. Seattle clinched a Stanley Cup Playoff berth this season and advanced to Game 7 of the Western Conference Second Round, a 2-1 loss at the Dallas Stars. The Kraken went 46-28-8 to clinch the first wild card into the postseason from the West and eliminated the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the first round.

Seattle finished 27-49-6, the third-worst record in the League, in its first NHL season.

"Every year is different; every year is unique. There's always challenges," Francis told NHL.com on April 11. "But I think for us, it's certainly been more gratifying than the first year."

Francis was Carolina Hurricanes GM from 2014-18 and worked in their front office for 12 seasons before the Kraken hired him July 18, 2019. Seattle stood pat before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline on March 3 but set NHL records in wins and points (100) for a second-year team and for the greatest improvement from a team's first to second season (19 wins, 40 points). Seattle moved 18 spots in the standings, second-most this season behind the New Jersey Devils (plus-25).

Forward Jared McCann (40 goals) and center Matty Beniers (24) were the only two Kraken players to top 23 goals for a team that averaged 3.52 goals per game, which tied the Devils for fourth in the NHL. Beniers is a finalist for the Calder Trophy, voted as NHL rookie of the year, along with Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power and Edmonton Oilers goalie Stuart Skinner.

"I think every GM, his goal starting is to get into the playoffs," Francis said. "Certainly, it's no different for me and my team. The biggest thing for us to be able to show improvement from where we were last year as a new franchise in a new market, trying to show our fan base that, hey, we're getting better, we're moving in the right direction was what we were trying to accomplish. I might be lying a little bit if I said I saw it going this well, but it has and that's a kudos to our players and our coaching staff and the effort that they've put in to get to this point."

Francis, a center who played 22 NHL seasons, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. He is fifth in League history with 1,798 points (549 goals, 1,249 assists) in 1,731 games with the Hartford Whalers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Hurricanes and Toronto Maple Leafs. The two-time Stanley Cup winner with Pittsburgh (1991, 1992) is second in NHL history in assists, trailing Wayne Gretzky (1,963).