It was Seattle Kraken ownership’s worst nightmare.
The co-host on KIRO-AM sports radio Thursday morning suggested, “They’re frustrated. They’re pressing.” Sounds accurate. Over on KJR-FM sports radio, the host complained, “No one celebrates mediocrity like Seattle sports fans.” A bit harsh, but okay.
Except neither of the stations were talking about the Kraken. They were discussing the early-season struggles of the Seattle Mariners.
At that very moment inside Climate Pledge Arena, Kraken ownership was discussing the future of the franchise. Discussing the departure of their president of hockey operations, Ron Francis, the man who built the organization from the studs up.
Neither station – not even the one that airs Kraken games – chose to carry the press conference live. Neither station was talking hockey at the time at all.
This was ownership’s nightmare – irrelevance. Three straight years of missing the playoffs in a niche sport can do that. Fans’ perception of a lack of clear organizational direction can do that, too.
Where Kraken Go From Here
Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke (above image) addressed those deficiencies, and what’s being done to correct them, in a half-hour sit down with the media.
Cold reality: “We’re faced with not making the playoffs for the 3rd year in a row. We have not delivered on the promise of this team. When I agonize over winning and losing, it’s really on behalf of the fans. They deserve better.”
Organizational review: “We’re going to pause at the end of the season and think broadly about where we are, what we have, and how we move forward.
“We are going to conduct a full independent audit of hockey operations. (General manager) Jason (Botterill) will lead it, but we’re going to bring fresh eyes and make sure that there’s no stone unturned.
“We’re going to develop a multi-faceted, multi-year plan to strengthen our roster. We talk a lot about recruiting free agents. We’ve got to do more to make this a hockey city to keep players, to attract other players.”
Reasons for optimism: “We believe in our kids. We were rated 7th in our prospects. We have four 1st round picks in the next two years. We have cap room, and we have an owner in Samantha Holloway who will let us spend to the (salary) cap.”
Silver linings: “This adversity does bring us opportunity to ask hard questions, and to do things we otherwise wouldn’t have done. If we just snuck into the playoffs, we’d have probably played Colorado. Now, we beat them once (but probably wouldn’t again).
“What we want to build is not a team that just sneaks into the playoffs. We think what we should be is a team that is a perennial playoff team.”
Communicating the plan: “We’re going to set mile markers. Fans are going to know where we are. We’ve talked about instituting an annual report to our fans, and that first one will come this May. Trips are being cancelled. Vacations are being put off. We have a hell of a lot of work to do. There is a burning fire to get this fixed.”
Leiweke committed to Botterill leading both hockey operations and remaining general manager. While he didn’t offer quite the same guarantee regarding coach Lane Lambert, he offered that “Lane has coached his ass off” this season.
Media Voices On Kraken Past & Future
“The approach for this team was completely wrong,” said ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski on The Sheet podcast with Jeff Marek. “Look at how many guys are still there from the expansion draft. The roster is a series of complementary parts. They’re all co-stars in search of a star. It’s an idiotic way to go about things.”
Marek added, “Champions hit home runs. Ron Francis always seemed content to hit a single to get on base. Not willing to take risks.” Marek identified Seattle’s number-one need as “a stud defenseman that every successful team needs.”
“The path forward for this team is to gut it,” continued Wyshynski, “Restart, and do what every other team that wants to be a contender does: tank and get some star players in the draft.”
Tyler Yaremchuck of the Daily Faceoff podcast added historical perspective. “Oilers fans went 10 years without seeing a playoff game. You need to be bad for a little bit. You can’t just be a little bad. You got to be a lot bad. And some of it’s lottery luck.”
Returning to the opening topic of Kraken relevance, KHN TV’s Alison Lukan opined, “If you give (fans) a winning product in a great building, I think people are going to keep coming.”
Key word, “If.”
(Editor’s Note: Regrettably, we couldn’t be there this morning. That said, it was incredible that no one asked about the elephant in the room that impacted all of this. Who Tod, and did you, have anything to do with the incoherent trade deadline strategy? That story below:)
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken: What The Hell Are They Doing??
