The NHL Seattle expansion team doesn’t have a name yet, but they do have a general manager. They’ve announced Ron Francis will be their first GM.
Building a franchise from the ground up can be a daunting task. A few short seasons ago, the Vegas Golden Knights perfected the art of being an expansion team. One of the first, and most important steps, of the franchise-building process is hiring a general manager. The NHL Seattle group might not have an official name yet, but they do have a general manager now.
The Seattle Times is reporting that the franchise has chosen former NHL player Ron Francis as the team’s first general manager. An official announcement is expected later this week. Seattle made their choice noticeably earlier than past expansion teams and Francis deal is described as “multi-year”, most likely in the range of five years.
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Francis is best known for his tenure with the Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes. Although his two Stanley Cup victories came with the Pittsburgh Penguins in the early 1990s, most of his storied career was spent with the franchise that moved to Raleigh following the 1996-1997 season.
He retired in 2005 after 22 NHL seasons and 1,798 points, good for fifth all-time. Post-retirement, he served his former team in several capacities culminating with being named their general manager in 2014. Francis was fired by Hurricanes management in 2018.
He seems like a safe, yet particular unimpressive choice, to take the reins as the franchise’s inaugural general manager. During his tenure in Carolina as an executive, the Hurricanes failed to make the playoffs even once.
Francis did have a few successes as general manager, but for every good choice, such as drafting Sebastian Aho, there was a bad choice, such as Scott Darling’s ill-fated contract with the team.
The Seattle Times goes on to explain that Francis was highly recommended to Seattle ownership by Dave Tippett. Tippett served as an adviser for the Seattle team before being hired as the Edmonton Oilers new head coach this off-season.
The Seattle Times also went onto speculate that considering Francis’s numerous ties to the former Hartford Whalers franchise and its players that those connections could be used to fill coaching and other front-office vacancies in Seattle.
While Francis might not seem like the most exciting choice, neither was George McPhee when the Vegas Golden Knight hired him. Francis has two years to get Seattle up and running. While Vegas’s first season success might seem like a rare occurrence, maybe Seattle can pull off something similar.