Francis talks Kraken making playoffs in 2nd season in Q&A with NHL.com

In NHL.com's Q&A feature called "Sitting Down with …" we talk to key figures in the game, gaining insight into their lives on and off the ice. Today, we feature Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis.

SEATTLE -- Ron Francis chuckles at the question.
What, he is asked, has this season been like?
"Every year is different; every year is unique. There's always challenges," the Seattle Kraken general manager said. "But I think for us, it's certainly been more gratifying than the first year."
It is, to be clear, an understatement.
After a disappointing first season in the NHL in 2021-22, when the expansion Kraken finished with the third-worst record in the League, they clinched a Stanley Cup Playoff berth Friday and hold the first wild card from the Western Conference, seven points ahead of the Winnipeg Jets, with two games remaining in the regular-season, including Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena against the Vegas Golden Knights (10 p.m. ET; ATTSN-RM, ROOT-NW, ESPN+, SN NOW).
"I didn't think we were maybe as bad as our record indicated last year," Francis said, mentioning 19 one-goal losses and seven more that became two-goal losses with an empty-net goal. "It's great to see the guys having success. It's great to see them smiling and enjoying playing hockey, which is really what they should do."

The Kraken have been the definition of a team this season. Jared McCann (40 goals) is the only player to top 23 goals this season, even on a team that's averaging 3.59 goals scored per game, third in the NHL. Seattle's second-leading scorer is defenseman Vince Dunn, who has emerged as a star. They have been bolstered by Calder Trophy candidate Matty Beniers, the favorite for the award given to the top NHL rookie.
And in the process, a nascent team has taken its first important steps toward contention.
"We've got some young players that have never been in a playoff stretch run," Francis said. "We've got players that have never played in a playoff game, so this experience is huge for them and their development moving forward."
In a Q&A with NHL.com, Francis talked about building the Kraken, standing pat before the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline and whether or not he's having fun.
Were your expectations entering this season that the Kraken would be able to take a major step forward?
"I think every GM, his goal starting is to get into the playoffs. 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."
What has this season been like for Matty Beniers?
"He came in last year and played the 10 games at the end of the year. I'd be lying if I said I thought he was going to be as good as he was in those 10 games, but then as a GM you're constantly worrying. Now he's got the whole summer, he's had success, does he take it easy? Does he come back ready to go? That's not in his DNA. He's a guy that comes every day and gives you everything he has in practice and that translates into giving everything he has every game and he's one of our engines in our team. For a guy as young as he is, he's come in and established himself in a very positive way as one of the leaders of the team and fits in well with both the young guys and the veteran guys. I'd like to see him some nights maybe have some rocks in his pockets -- 15 more pounds on him would be great -- and I think in three years we'll see a different player than we see now. But he's been terrific for us. Just a great future with him and the organization moving forward."

What do you see from the team at this point, how ready is it for the playoffs?
"I think for us, we like our group. A lot of people questioned, we didn't do anything at the deadline, but at the time we felt we were about a week away from getting [Andre] Burakovsky back in our lineup and that was going to kind of solidify where we were and we felt comfortable with that group. That's the group that has had the success all year. … We've already made a lot of those changes. I think our group just has to keep being our group. They like each other. They work hard. They don't care who has the success, who scores the goal, who blocks the shot. They're all cheering for each other. And the successful teams that I've been a part of, that's a key ingredient. So just keep being themselves and doing the things they're doing."
Does standing pat at the deadline still feel like the right decision?
"Yeah, you look at everything, you look at what's out there, you look at where we are as a franchise. We're still trying to build where other teams have four or five, eight, 10 years of drafting under their belt and we don't have that. From what our scouts are saying, they think this is the best and maybe the deepest draft that we're going to be a part of in our three years. So having a first-round pick and three seconds we thought was pretty important. We looked at things. We kicked the tires on things. At the end of the day you've got to make decisions based on a lot of things. Does the person, first and foremost, coming in fit to what you're trying to do? Does it help you? Is the price the right price? Where does it go moving forward? Does it affect your chemistry in your locker room? There's a lot of things that factor in. Right or wrong, I just felt that this group had earned the right to try and compete for a playoff spot and if they get in, to try to compete for the Stanley Cup. That's the route we chose, and we'll see if we're right or not."
Is this a team that's ready to compete for the Stanley Cup?
"I think all you have to do is get into the playoffs. Every team that gets into the playoffs has a chance, right? You want an invitation to the dance and then you go from there."
How complicated is it to build for the now and the future without the past as an expansion team?
"It's been an interesting; I think part of the challenge that interested me was building this from scratch. Right? You don't get to do that. So that was exciting. Didn't see COVID coming. Missed that one. Made it a lot more challenging. We hired the bulk of our people basically via Zoom because we couldn't travel to have face-to-face interviews. We weren't allowed in the bubble [with our] scouts, so we're watching it on TV like fans and trying to scout. There's things that just kind of took place that were different and unique for where our group was. We end up splitting a franchise in the American League last year with Florida in Charlotte, which was great. It helped us. We just didn't have enough players for our own. And, quite honestly, if the League hadn't shut down maybe over Christmas for the few days, we probably would have run out of defensemen between COVID injuries and injuries, but there's all kinds of unique challenges.
"But part of our discussions right from the very beginning with our ownership group was they wanted to do things right, and part of that was drafting and developing our players. And you see that with their investment with this practice facility -- I mean, it's top notch. They didn't cut any corners. You look at what we've built in Coachella Valley (the Kraken's affiliate in the American Hockey League), a brand new 10,500-seat arena, an NHL basically weight room, a player's lounge. The way we treat our players there is like the NHL. So we're trying to make that commitment to our players that, hey, we're here to help you develop and if we can do that, they're going to help this organization in the long run too. The players are going to have success. The organization is going to have success. So that's part of the process is doing that. But also at the same time you've got people that have invested their hard-earned money to come and watch your team play and you want to put a team on the ice that they can be proud of.
"So it's a tough balancing act, but we're trying to do that here. I think the credit goes to our players and our coaching staff for the character that they've displayed. It's been great this year being able to get out in the community and show who our players are. We couldn't do a lot of that stuff last year. We canceled all our team events last year because of COVID so we're getting to do a lot more of those things and I think the personality of our guys are coming out and you're seeing them work hard on the ice. And like I said, it's great to see them having success because it's well deserved for them."
Has this season been fun?
"More fun than last year. I don't know if the GM ever has fun. Maybe [Boston Bruins general manager] Donnie Sweeney is having fun this year. You never know, there's always bumps in the road, there's always things that can happen. So as a GM I don't think you ever take anything for granted, but the thing that's gratifying for me is seeing our players, more smiles on their faces, a lot more laughter on the bus or on the plane or in the locker room. This game is tough and you have to enjoy playing it. And coming to the rink should be a place you enjoy coming to and I think they're enjoying coming to the rink based on the way things are going and for me, that's gratifying."
Maybe GMs have fun for the 24 hours after they win the Stanley Cup?
"Maybe about 10 days in August. If you don't have any (arbitration) cases, you get about 10 days. But, no, we signed up for it. There's not many of these jobs. I love the job. I love the people I'm working with. Hopefully our players feel appreciated and enjoy what they're doing here."
Has building this been harder than you expected? As expected?
"I don't know if it's easier because it takes more time to get to where you're going. If you come into an existing franchise, you have certain pieces you can get along quicker. On the one hand, the people you hire, the things you do, there's no one to blame but me if they don't go right. But on the other hand, if you come into an existing thing, you may have players or personnel that don't fit with what you're thinking to do and you've inherited those and you either try to fix them or you make changes. They both have their unique challenges. When I got let go in Carolina, I was more than content to just enjoy the rest of my life and ride off into the sunset until I got this call. Because it was a new franchise, because it was the challenge of building something from the ground, that's why I was willing to ask my family to move across the country and take on this challenge and it's been a lot of fun. It's been a lot of hard work. But it's been a lot of fun."