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Seattle Hires Team Of Pro Scouts

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The Seattle expansion franchise has hired a group of five professional scouts, adding more names to their growing front office. Stu Barnes, Ulf Samuelsson, Dave Hunter, John Goodwin and perhaps most notably Cammi Granato have all joined the team.

Granato becomes the first female pro scout in the NHL years after becoming one of the most decorated hockey players in USA Hockey history. The former forward captained team USA for many years and took home two Olympic and nine World Championship medals over her career. Granato is married to NHL analyst and former star forward Ray Ferraro and is the sister of Don and Tony Granato, both coaches after their own professional playing careers. The family is hockey royalty in the United States, and Cammi was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2011.

The rest of the group includes several other familiar names, including Samuelsson who played his early career with the Hartford Whalers alongside Seattle GM Ron Francis. He also served as Charlotte Checkers head coach for a time while Francis was running the Hurricanes, and was last employed under Joel Quenneville with the Chicago Blackhawks.

Seattle Hires Ricky Olczyk As Assistant GM

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The Seattle expansion team now has a third member of their hockey operations department. The club has hired Ricky Olczyk as an assistant general manager, serving under GM Ron Francis. Olczyk spent last season with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but has previous experience as an assistant GM alongside Francis with the Carolina Hurricanes and served for several years in the same capacity with the Edmonton Oilers. He’ll join Francis and director of hockey administration Alexandra Mandrycky in the expansion team’s front office for the time being.

Bringing in Francis with so much runway before their inaugural season in 2021-22 gave the Seattle group the ability to slowly watch the market and pounce on front office candidates that may come available, but the first hire is one that comes with plenty of familiarity. Olczyk (who is the brother of former NHL player Ed Olczyk) spent four years beside Francis with the Hurricanes, slowly building the foundation for the team that broke out last season and advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals. The Carolina minor league and development system was extremely strong during that time, though much of that credit has to go to former Charlotte Checkers coach and GM Mike Vellucci, who is now with the Pittsburgh Penguins organization.

Even including that run with the Hurricanes however, Olczyk’s time as an NHL assistant GM hasn’t been very successful. Hired by the Oilers in 2007, Olcyzk was part of an organization that had continual turnover and that failed to reach the postseason in any of his six years with the team. In fact, given that the Hurricanes only made the playoffs after he left the organization, Olczyk’s career as an AGM still doesn’t have a single postseason appearance in it. The blame for both team’s failures obviously can’t be placed on Olcyzk alone, but he’ll have to hope that a fresh start in Seattle will bring more success.

Ron Francis Officially Named GM Of Seattle Expansion Team

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The Seattle expansion team has officially announced the hiring of their first ever general manager. Ron Francis, legendary NHL player and former Carolina Hurricanes GM has been hired for the job. The team released an exhaustive history of Francis’ hockey career, explaining exactly why they chose him and including several quotes from other executives around the league. One from Mike Vellucci, who was an assistant GM during Francis’ tenure in Carolina, explains how he’ll build the Seattle team:

Ron is an intelligent manager who knows the kind of players he wants. He will draft and acquire players with a high-hockey IQ who understand how to play together, think a couple plays ahead and know the right way to play the game. He looks for players with high-level skills, such as skating, puck protection and stick-handling.

Though he left the Hurricanes before they experienced so much success last season, his fingerprints are still all over the roster. Most notably perhaps was his selection of Sebastian Aho in the second round of the 2015 draft, a player that currently sits fifth in scoring among that draft class behind only Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner and Mikko Rantanen.

Francis will need to find some steals like that if he wants the Seattle team to be competitive quickly. Though they will have the same rules for the expansion draft that Vegas took advantage of, teams will likely be much more prepared this time around. An advantage he will have however is the almost two full years of preparation he now has, as the Seattle front office including CEO Tod Leiweke have committed to a GM earlier than any other expansion team. Francis will have a say in the training facilities for both the NHL team and the proposed AHL affiliate in Palm Springs, building the entire player development department from the ground up.

Still, it will be a tough task for Seattle to follow in the incredible footsteps of the Golden Knights and GM George McPhee. Reaching the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season should not be an expectation, and likely isn’t even a goal of this group. Francis’ plan in Carolina included a slow build through the draft given the team’s limited resources, and even with an increase in those it seems as though he’ll follow a similar path.

The Seattle team—which still does not have a name as of now—will begin play in the 2021-22 season.

Seattle Expected To Name Ron Francis As GM

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9:00pm: The Seattle Times’ Geoff Baker relays word from multiple sources that Francis will be hired and an announcement is expected this week. Baker adds that Francis will be given a multi-year contract “described as midrange in terms of other NHL GMs.” He also believes that Francis will be given full say on the hiring of the coaching staff and front office staff and may even have input on the team’s naming decision.

8:30pm: Many expected the Seattle expansion group to name their general manager this summer, with less than two years to go before the 2021 Expansion Draft. A large assortment of names have been in consideration for the position over the past year or so. In fact, the job seemed destined to go to now-Edmonton Oilers head coach Dave Tippett at one point. The new leading candidate? Former Carolina Hurricanes GM Ron Francis. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman writes that Seattle is closing in on selecting Francis as their inaugural GM and feels that an announcement could becoming within days. The team has not confirmed the rumor at this time.

Francis, of course, was a Hall of Fame player who won two Stanley Cups and was a four-time All-Star in 23 NHL seasons with the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins. Francis, an elite defensive forward and skilled play-maker, averaged better than a point-per-game on average over a whopping 1731 career games, including three 100+ point seasons. After retiring in 2004, Francis transitioned into a front office role with the Hurricanes in 2006 and eventually worked his way up to GM in 2014, a role he served in until he was fired last summer.

During his tenure in Carolina, Francis was criticized for making too few impact trades, bringing in hardly any impact players due to what many perceived to be a an over-hesitation to take a risk. Francis also showed similar hesitation on the free agent market and failed to improve his team externally, as the Hurricanes did not make the playoffs during his time as GM. However, the team is now reaping the benefits of his ability to draft and develop, as evidenced by a largely young and homegrown group making a run to the Eastern Conference Final this season. If the Seattle group is focused on Francis, it is likely that they value his ability to find value in the draft and to build a strong pipeline, a key factor for any upstart expansion franchise. Francis may also fare differently in adding talent, via expansion draft, trade, or free agency, with a clean slate, comfortable funding, and substantial leverage over his competitors, many of whom will look to swing deals to protect their assets in the expansion draft process.

Francis’ understanding of the game from his stellar playing career and his experience in the GM role make him a strong candidate for the Seattle position. How it all works out though, should he be the final selection, will be determined by how he handles the tricky situation of the expansion draft, and relevant trades, and his first entry draft and free agency in 2021.

Eastern Notes: Francis, Payne, Johansson, Reimer, Lehner, Mastrosimone

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One name that hasn’t gotten quite a bit of attention the last year has been that of former Carolina Hurricanes general manager Ron Francis. The former GM has spent the last few months on a management team that put together the roster for Canada at the recent World Championships. Sportsnet’s John Shannon points out that today is the last day that he is under contract with Carolina and could be free to sign with an other NHL team. According to Shannon, His work with Hockey Canada has increased his desire to return to the NHL.

Fox Sports Midwest’s Andy Strickland adds that Francis name has come up for a while as a strong candidate for the general manager position in Seattle. Francis help build the Hurricanes roster that eventually eliminated the former Stanley Cup Champion Washington Capitals last year and reached the conference finals.

  • Ottawa Senators new head coach D.J. Smith will add another key assistant to his staff. After bringing in Jack Capuano to be his associate head coach, the Senators announced today that they have also added former St. Louis Blues head coach Davis Payne as an assistant coach for the 2019-20 season. The 48-year-old Payne spent the past two years in Ottawa’s division as the associate coach for the Buffalo Sabres and Phil Housley. Before that he spent five years as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Kings and helped lead the team to the 2014 Stanley Cup Championship. As head coach in St. Louis, he spent parts of three seasons there between 2009 and 2011, finishing with a 67-55-15 record.
  • TSN’s Darren Dreger writes that unrestricted free agent forward Marcus Johansson is talking to a number of teams today, but he is no longer talking to the Boston Bruins. The 28-year-old was acquired by Boston at the trade deadline for their playoff run, but reports indicate that his price tag is more than Boston wants to pay. Dreger adds that Boston is totally out of the picture now.
  • News & Observer’s Luke DeCock reports that while the Carolina Hurricanes acquired goaltender James Reimer earlier today, his stay in Carolina could be short. The scribe writes that Carolina isn’t necessarily planning on keeping the goaltender as the team continues to look to make more deals ahead of the opening of free agency on Monday. If they can find a taker, the team may try to flip him to another team.
  • The Athletic’s Arthur Staple adds that the Reimer trade suggests that the Florida Panthers are the leading candidates to sign Sergei Bobrovsky, which means the Islanders could find themselves without a top goalie. He points out there is plenty of time to re-connect with Robin Lehner. The two sides weren’t close in negotiations, but the Islanders may have no choice to change their stance in discussions.
  • The Detroit Red Wings got some bad news Saturday when they learned that recent draft prospect Robert Mastrosimone, the team’s second-round pick this year, suffered broken right ankle during development camp last week, according to the Detroit Free Press’ Helene St. James. The injury will require four to six weeks of rehab. Mastrosimone scored 31 goals for the USHL Chicago Steel last season.

Snapshots: Francis, Maple Leafs, Pavelski

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If you’re looking for someone to credit for the success that the Carolina Hurricanes are having right now, it’s easy to name head coach Rod Brind’Amour, GM Don Waddell or even new owner Tom Dundon. One person who may be deserving of a good chunk of that credit though is former GM Ron Francis, who was let go before this season even started.

No, Francis wasn’t the man to pull the trigger on the Dougie Hamilton or Nino Niederreiter trades, but his fingerprints are still all over the roster. He was the GM who signed captain Justin Williams to a two-year, $9MM contract despite the forward being over 35. He orchestrated contract extensions for Brett Pesce ($4.025MM AAV) and Jaccob Slavin ($5.3MM) that look like absolute steals right now, and he was the one who selected Sebastian Aho with the 35th pick in 2015. On Sportsnet radio today Francis admitted that he is interested in returning to management, and John Shannon notes that his contract expires on June 30th. It will be interesting to see where Francis lands, and in what role.

  • The Toronto Maple Leafs are expecting to add a Russian on Wednesday according to Kevin McGran of the Toronto Star, though it is not exactly clear who that would be. McGran suggests it is likely either Yegor Korshkov, a draft pick of the Maple Leafs who is expected to sign his entry-level contract this summer, or Ilya Mikheyev, who has been linked to the team in recent weeks. With the KHL season officially ending today and contracts expiring, many names will be signing over the next several days.
  • The San Jose Sharks will still be without captain Joe Pavelski when they take on the Colorado Avalanche today, as he did not travel with the team to Denver. The Sharks haven’t listed exactly what Pavelski is dealing with, but he hasn’t played since suffering the scary head injury against the Vegas Golden Knights in the first round. Gustav Nyquist, who flew home for the birth of his child, is expected to play for the Sharks.

Ottawa Senators Willing To Wait In Search For President

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The Ottawa Senators were vindicated in a way last night when their 2019 first-round pick fell to fourth overall in the draft lottery. As the New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks moved up the board, the decision to select Brady Tkachuk last year looked better and better. The Senators’ pick this year infamously belongs to the Colorado Avalanche, who will have to settle—if you can call it that—for the fourth selection in a year that they made the playoffs.

While GM Pierre Dorion and his front office staff can now put the original Matt Duchene trade behind them and prepare for their own draft, the organization is still looking for a new President of Hockey Operations to install alongside him and take over some of the direction of the franchise. Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet touched on this search in his latest 31 Thoughts column, explaining that the Senators are “prepared to play the long game” and wait for the right candidate to appear. They basically have no choice, as Friedman also reports that the team has already contacted Ron Francis, Trevor Linden, Dean Lombardi, Joe Nieuwendyk and Steve Yzerman, only to have been turned down by each executive.

It makes sense to not rush into a decision like that, especially for a franchise that has operated without a person in that role for several years. While the Senators have been the butt of many jokes since coming a goal away from the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, they do now have several promising young players to build around and a history of draft success under Dorion’s guidance. The GM recently said “the worst is behind us” in reference to the complete tear down that has occurred in Ottawa over the past year, and he’s probably right—you can’t get much worse than trading away all the stars on your team amidst a pair of sub-30 win seasons and continual off-ice incidents.

There’s no clear timeline for when the Senators will install someone in the new position, but it’s easy to tell what kind of person they are going after for the role. All of the names listed in Friedman’s piece have a long history of success in the NHL either as a player or executive (or both). If they can eventually land a big fish like that to bring some stability to the organization, perhaps that “five-year run of unparalleled success” that owner Eugene Melnyk promised will actually come to fruition.

Hockey Canada Names World Championship Management

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We already know that New York Rangers assistant GM Chris Drury will be leading USA Hockey’s preparation for the upcoming World Championships, but now Hockey Canada has announced their own management group. Buffalo Sabres GM Jason Botterill will join two recently fired men, Ron Hextall and Ron Francis as the management team tasked with putting together the roster for the tournament, which begins in May.

It won’t be the first time the name Botterill is seen at the World Championships, as sister Jennifer Botterill medaled eight times at the women’s tournament during her outstanding playing career. The Sabres GM will try to bring another gold back to Canada after the team failed to even win a medal last season. He’ll have a huge number of stars to pick from, as some of the best Canadian players look like they’ll be out of the NHL playoffs this season.

That all starts with Connor McDavid, who captained the team last year and has participated twice already in his young career. Teammate Ryan Nugent-Hopkins is also a candidate to return, and other names like Drew Doughty, Jonathan Toews and Claude Giroux will also likely be asked to attend.

Carolina Hurricanes Officially Terminate Ron Francis’ Contract

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The Carolina Hurricanes announced today that they have officially terminated the contract of President of Hockey Operations Ron Francis, who had previously been moved out of his role as General Manager. Joe Nieuwendyk, pro scout and advisor for the team, has also resigned.

Francis had recently been asked to work from home according to Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet, a clear sign that the team no longer wanted his presence associated with the team. It’s an unfortunate end for someone who was a Hurricanes legend when he played, but has failed to bring any playoff success to the team during his tenure in the front office.

The Hurricanes haven’t made the postseason since 2008-09, and finished with no more than 87 points in each of the seven seasons since Francis was hired as Director of Hockey Operations.

Despite those struggles, many would point to the relatively young roster and full prospect pipeline as positives for the Hurricanes and Francis, though at some point that needs to translate into on-ice success. New owner Thomas Dundon is currently conducting a search for the team’s next GM, and will now be able to tempt them with the second-overall pick in the upcoming draft.

Francis is now free to find another role somewhere around the league, and if he wants them there will likely be several opportunities. Likewise, Nieuwendyk still commands plenty of respect in the hockey world and could land on his feet somewhere despite the struggles he had when GM of the Dallas Stars.

Currently Don Waddell is operating the Hurricanes as interim GM, and just last night there was a report that no one was close to taking the job. Several high profile candidates have removed their names from consideration, and it’s clear that Dundon will not rush into a decision. Meanwhile, the team is also looking for a head coach after Bill Peters exercised his out clause recently to take a job with the Calgary Flames.

Carolina is one of the most interesting teams to watch this summer, as there are plenty of decisions to be made on the future of the team and how to get back to the playoffs. With Jeff Skinner just a year away from free agency and several high profile restricted free agents looking for new deals, the team could look drastically different in relatively short order.

More On The Carolina Hurricanes Front Office

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Yesterday, when the Carolina Hurricanes’ new owner Thomas Dundon decided to move Ron Francis out of his role as GM and into that of President of Hockey Operations, many were confused at what exactly that meant. In the press release, the team announced that they would start a search for a new GM who would report directly to Dundon, leading some to believe that the owner would have final say in basically every aspect of the organization, including hockey transactions.

Today, Dundon sat down with two of hockey’s most respected insiders to explain. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic (subscription required) and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet both released interviews with Dundon, that essentially say the same thing. The new owner doesn’t want to have to make every decision, but felt he and Francis had different styles and ways of going about things. Dundon is quoted in Friedman’s piece:

I want to use Ron’s experience and knowledge with a different style and structure. He is a valuable resource. But our styles couldn’t be any different. It is no more complicated than that.

On Sportsnet today, Doug McLean explained that Francis has one more year on his current contract, but was still puzzled by the timing and explanation the Hurricanes gave. In Dundon’s explanations, it seems more like Francis will take over in a more advisory role, much different than the responsibilities usually given to President of Hockey Operations. A new GM, as Dundon explains to LeBrun, will need to fit into the way he does things and be focused on “relationships with other teams and agents and really challenging everything we do and really focusing on the player side” instead of worrying about all aspects of the organization.

It’s an interesting move from an owner just a few months before an important offseason. If the Hurricanes miss the playoffs once again, they’ll extend their league-leading drought to nine seasons and need to make some bold moves to correct it. With a ton of restricted free agents including Elias Lindholm and Noah Hanifin, and extension candidates in Jeff Skinner and Teuvo Teravainen, the team has huge decisions to make on whether to keep the core in tact or shake it up looking for more success. A new GM will have to make those decisions quickly, especially if Dundon waits until after the season to hire someone.

Also on The Athletic today was a look from James Mirtle (subscription required) at the huge number of GMs that could be out of a job in a month or two. If the Hurricanes are eyeing one of the experienced names as their next leader, or at least want to explore that option, Francis (or Dundon himself) may still have to lead the team through the draft process in June. Dundon certainly hasn’t been slow to act so far, but hiring the next GM of the Hurricanes is no small task.

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