Kraken GM Ron Francis Reflects On Statement Wins, Shocking Losses

"They're a resilient group," Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis says about his team.

They've had to be, given the heavy does of injuries and illnesses which have befallen the Kraken, and left them on the fringes of the playoff picture.

Read on for the GM's thoughts about the present and future in Seattle.

Injury Complications

"Last year was totally different from what we had this year. We didn't have any injuries until the Burakoski one in February.

"This year, you know, we lost Tanev right out of the gate for 16 games. (Brandon Tanev, #13 in photo at left, injured on opening night against Vegas.)

"We really haven't played with the roster we thought we'd have all year until probably the games in the 50s. Probably (game) 52 or 53 was the first time we had our full roster."

Statement Wins & Disheartening Losses

Amazingly, the Kraken have beaten the teams leading the Eastern and Western Conferences - the Boston Bruins and Vancouver Canucks - twice.

They've also prevailed, in fact won by shutout, over both of last season's Stanley Cup finalists, the Florida Panthers and Vegas Golden Knights.

Yet they've lost to six of the eight bottom teams in the NHL: Chicago, San Jose, Ottawa, Arizona, Montreal, and Pittsburgh.

"I've always said it's probably the toughest sport to bet on because you never know what's going to happen any night. I think our league has more parity than probably any other league.

"Any night, a bad bounce, you take too many penalties, anything can go against you. There's no easy games in the NHL. There's no guaranteed wins. You just have to be ready to perform each and every night."

Trade Deadline Review For Kraken, NHL

If the Seattle trade deadline strategy had a name, it would be Prudence.

"There's a lot of moves that happened (around the league). Seemed like it was an arms race there for a little bit.

"I don't think we're in a position to start throwing first and second (round draft picks) around. As one of my staff said, 'We didn't do anything stupid today.' I guess that's a positive. We're trying to continue to build this thing.

"The sad part for a lot of fan bases, there's going to be some really good hockey teams that lose in the first round. Some of these two-three matchups are going to be crazy, and you're going to have 100-point teams probably going out in the first round. It's a long season to lose out in the first round."

Wright Time Not Until Next Season

The Kraken's Western Division-leading farm team in Coachella Valley has been scorching the AHL. The Firebirds charred Tucson 7-2 Saturday, earning standings points in 19 of their last 20 games.

2022 1st round draft pick Shane Wright contributed two assists in the victory. Wright has 19 goals and 37 points in 49 games with CV this season.

"We really like where Shane is right now, the way he's playing. Our focus on Shane is making sure that he's 100% ready to go when next season starts and he's in our lineup.

Francis gave an even more concrete answer in a KJR-FM interview. "We feel that he'll be ready to step into the lineup full time for sure in October."

As to the rest of this Kraken season, "That doesn't mean we won't see him before the end of the year, but there's no guarantee we will see him."

Last Words - For Now

"Every GM would like to have just a great season and everything go perfect, but it never happens that way. We were in that 0-6-2 slump. We made a little deal for Thomas Tatar that's turned out to be really good for us and helped us.

"One of my former bosses told me there's always something - and you never know what it's going to be, but that's kind of the NHL."