12:24 PM
The Vegas Golden Knights rewrote the rules for NHL expansion teams by making the Stanley Cup Final in their first season, and the Seattle Kraken pushed back against comparisons to them.
"From the beginning, we said we were not Vegas," Ron Francis said.
There's no debate about that. The Golden Knights had a points percentage of.670 through 33 games, and were atop the Pacific Division. Seattle is at the bottom of the Pacific with a.364 points percentage through 33 games.
Pundits and models didn't expect this performance to happen. The NHL's newest team was not expected to have a bad start to the season, even though they were dubious about their potential for success.
What has gone wrong? There is a cottage industry of in-season autopsies from hockey analysts like Jack Han, and a comprehensive one from 'J Fresh.'
We went to the source and asked Ron Francis what had gone wrong for the team, what the plan was going forward, and what the season meant to the market.
Through 33 games, the Seattle Kraken have a points percentage of.364. How does this track fit with the expectations of the team?
Francis: I think it's been more difficult than we anticipated. I thought we would be a competitive team when we looked at things. You are always hoping that you can make the playoffs. Things have gone wrong instead of going right for us.
The plan was to build this thing from the ground up. Have a successful franchise. That is how we drafted. We kept our cap space available because of that. That hasn't changed.
Has the lack of success given new clarity to the plan? You're not going to the Stanley Cup Final in your first season as a Golden Knights. You're on a team track. Does this season's record tell you what the next three or four years will look like?
Francis thinks you have to assess where you are and act accordingly. The worst thing to do would be to change course and give up assets for pieces that may or may not work out. The tough part is biting the bullet, sticking to the plan, drafting and developing well, and trying to improve your team in ways that you can. It's not doing something now that affects us in a negative way two or three years down the road.
What has gone wrong this season? Where did the Kraken miss the mark?
Francis: During the summer, people thought our goaltending was a strength. We struggled in that area. I'm not trying to make excuses. Coming into a new environment was a challenge. Some team-building stuff was affected by some carbon dioxide cases before the season started. You're trying to learn a new system. We didn't have much practice time, we played five games on the road, and we couldn't get everything under wraps.
We were giving up too many odd-man rushes early in the season. We've done a better job of cleaning that up recently, but it affects your goalie's confidence. We've had games where we played well enough to win, but we couldn't find the back of the net and lost. I think that puts more pressure on the goalie.
You were expected to struggle to score goals. Philipp and Chris combined for a.874 save percentage. How much has that affected the season?
It's not a secret. They would say the same thing if you talked to them. We're hoping that can be fixed here.
Francis said that you are always hoping that things go your way and that you have a chance to make the playoffs. It's gone the other way for us.
The hockey analyst JFresh wrote that the Kraken have allowed more goals than expected because of the quality of chances their goalies have faced. The defense is disrupting the offense by limiting high-danger chances. How much of the lack of success is due to the inability to get the average save made?
That's definitely a part of it. There's no question about it. It seems like when we make a mistake, we tend to look good. Never a small one. That's included as well. There are a number of things we can improve on. You like to see our guys compete hard. Hopefully we can get results for everyone in the lineup.
You have Philipp Grubauer for five more seasons, including two with a no-trade clause. Are you concerned that he won't be the franchise goalie?
Francis: No. I think he had a hard time going from Washington to Colorado in his career. The guy was a Vezina finalist last year. I'm not giving him a free pass. He would say there are things he needs to be better at and there are saves he needs to make. I still think he's a good goalie for us, as we build around him and increase our team.
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I've watched your team a lot. There are nights when you get the saves but don't get the goals. You can get the goals when you don't get the saves. The team can't get both parts of it to click at the same time.
Francis thinks that's a good assessment of how the season has gone so far. We need to be better on other nights.
This has not been a normal year, with guys in and out of the lineup with injuries and stuff, and I'm not looking to sit here and make excuses, because every team has been dealing with it. The five years of draft picks and depth on our American Hockey League team are not something we have. It becomes more difficult for us.
Kevin Kurz of The Athletic asked, "At what point are we allowed to discuss the Kraken's seemingly overvaluing analytics, thereby resulting in their bungling the expansion draft?" How do you respond?
Francis said from the beginning that you don't go 100% eye test and you don't go 100% analytic. There is a balance of the two. We did that in this case. Our scouts were trying to watch games in a unique environment with taxi squad and COVID. You're also doing analytic work as well. Four years prior to the Vegas expansion draft, GMs made a lot of mistakes, so for people to think that the same mistakes would be made again was pretty naive. They learned from that. Things were going to change.
Since those trades weren't there, we took a different approach and tried to maintain our cap space, which we still have as we get into who might be available in free agency or who teams might have to move because of their contracts. We're in a good position to work on that. We had a good draft last year and I think we can do the same this year.
How would you rate Hakstol's job performance this season?
Francis thinks he's been good. You come into it with the challenges of playing five road games in eight days, when you first start with COVID. There's a lot going on at the start of the season, you're trying to implement a system, learn about other teams, and so on. I think we're a lot better than we were at the beginning of the year. I'm comfortable with the job Dave has done so far, and I know he will do better as we move forward.
Did I see Hakstol shaved? What a sad day. The goatee was a point of distinction from his days with the Flyers.
We're trying everything right now.
Dave Hakstol has opted for a clean-shaven look.
The teams were not willing to make the mistakes they made in the expansion draft. They are still prone to make mistakes at the trade deadline. There are nine players with some level of trade protection. How active do you expect to be as a seller?
Francis: We are the same as any other team. You can see what's out there. Who is looking for something. You do it if you have something that makes sense. You don't if you don't. It's something we'll look at when we get closer to that point.
We've done a lot on what's gone wrong for your team. What are some aspects of the team that you're happy with, or that you think will improve?
You have to look at the bigger picture. We're trying to get to. Good people in our organization are working hard to build the basis of what we want to do. Our practice facility and Climate Pledge are outstanding.
The people coming to the rink have been very supportive and vocal, and the guys have been very appreciative of that. The guys appreciate how the city has treated them. There are many positives. We have to continue with the plan and get better every year.
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Are you worried about the impact this season will have on fans in a new market?
You're worried about that if you're not having a great year. Our fans have been very supportive. It takes time to build an expansion team and they understand that. The attendance has been good. They've been supportive.
One of the things that you and the front office have preached is that Vegas was not normal. Vegas's first-year success can't be used to judge you. That's fair. You have a fan base that knows what the team did and you have the same draft rules, so you have a chance of making the playoffs. What do you say to them?
We're different from Vegas. It's been clear. It was the first time that those GMs had gone through those procedures. The teams had a year to prepare. They had four years to get to us. Nobody on the outside affected Vegas' draft. Vegas was able to affect our draft by making a few trades with other teams. It's not the same scenario.
I remember reading that Vegas had a five-year plan to build it right, and that they were going into their season with it. They went in a different direction when they started playing the way they played. We want to make sure that we build it right from the beginning so we can be a good team when we get there. We want to make sure we get into the playoffs every year. This year it hasn't gone as we wanted. It's not because of a lack of effort.
