April 22: The Kraken confirmed Tuesday they’ve elevated Francis to president of hockey operations and named Botterill executive vice president and general manager.
April 21: It turns out that relieving head coach Dan Bylsma of his duties isn’t the only notable change coming for the Kraken today. E.J. Hradek of the NHL Network was the first to report (Twitter link) that assistant GM Jason Botterill will be appointed as the team’s new general manager. Meanwhile, Arthur Staple of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that current GM Ron Francis will now serve as the team’s president.
This will be Botterill’s second opportunity to serve as an NHL GM. He spent three years running the Sabres before being let go in 2020 where he was quickly scooped up by Seattle a year before the Kraken officially joined the league. He also spent several years working in Pittsburgh’s front office, primarily as an assistant GM so he was certainly one of the more experienced managerial options around the league.
Over his three years in Buffalo, the Sabres struggled, missing the playoffs in all three seasons. They did, however, draft relatively well during Botterill’s tenure, landing Rasmus Dahlin first overall in 2018, Dylan Cozens seventh overall a year later, and starting goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen in the second round in 2017. Other NHLers drafted by Buffalo under Botterill include Casey Mittelstadt, Jacob Bryson, and Mattias Samuelsson.
Botterill’s trade history showed that he wasn’t hesitant to make a big swing. Among the notable trades he swung was moving Evander Kane to San Jose for Danny O’Regan and a pair of draft picks. He also dealt Ryan O’Reilly to St. Louis for a package that included Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, and Tage Thompson, along with a pair of draft picks; while Thompson has panned out well, the rest of the trade package hasn’t performed as well. He also acquired Jeff Skinner from Carolina before signing him to an eight-year, $72MM extension that Buffalo exercised a buyout on last summer.
With his track record from before, Botterill had come up as a speculative candidate for GM openings in recent years and if another one became available this spring, he likely would have been considered for the role with that franchise. With this move, Seattle gets in front of that hypothetical, ensuring that the Francis-Botterill duo will remain in place, just with different roles than before.
As for Francis, he had been at the helm of the Kraken since 2019 as he was also hired before the team officially joined the NHL. It was his second role running a team as he also had a four-year stint as GM in Carolina among his many different roles with the Hurricanes. Knowing for being a patient manager, Francis initially brought that same approach to Seattle, opting for what looked like a slower build than Vegas had when they joined the league last decade.
But a 100-point effort in the franchise’s second season increased expectations. A step back the following season saw the team make a coaching change before handing out two of the biggest contracts in free agency as they looked to get back to playoff contention sooner than later. Instead, the Kraken scuffled more this season, resulting in not just a coaching overhaul but a front office one as well.
During his time with Seattle, Francis brought in leading scorer Jared McCann and top blueliner Vince Dunn through the expansion draft while drafting a pair of young centers with high first-round picks in Matthew Beniers and Shane Wright so his fingerprints will be felt on this franchise for many more years to come. Now, it will be Botterill handling more of the day-to-day operations as the Kraken try to get back to the playoffs next season.
