SEATTLE — On April 29, 2024, Ron Francis wore a black pullover and black pants to announce the firing of the Kraken’s first coach.

The general manager had signed Dave Hakstol to a contract extension barely nine months earlier, after he guided Seattle to a 46-28-8 record, 100 points and a playoff upset of the reigning Stanley Cup champion Avalanche. Hakstol was named a Jack Adams Award finalist for NHL coach of the year.

The Kraken promptly backslid toward the basement, finishing 34-35-13 with 81 points and a minus-19 goal differential in 2023-24.

“It’s never an easy day. It’s never an easy decision,” Francis said at the time, eyes fixed on the microphone in front of him. “We let a guy go who’s a good coach and a really good person, and it’s not easy. But we were looking at our organization and just looking at the season, and I thought we were a little more inconsistent than we had been. A few too many losing streaks and losing streaks of significant numbers.

“I just felt it was time to try a new voice here.”

That was one week shy of a year ago.

Apparently, more new is needed.

On Monday, Seattle fired Dan Bylsma after a single season as Hakstol’s successor. The organizational tinker continued Tuesday, as the Kraken promoted Francis to president of hockey operations and elevated assistant general manager Jason Botterill to executive vice president and general manager.

Given the circumstances — a 35-41-6 record and 76 points in the franchise’s fourth season, tied for fourth-fewest in the NHL — action and urgency should be applauded. But it’s unclear whether attaching new titles to Francis and Botterill actually sets this franchise on a more prosperous path.

After all, Francis hired both Hakstol (who he fired) and Bylsma (who he fired). He said on April 29, 2024, that “our goal every year is to get into the playoffs,” something Seattle did just once in his four seasons as GM. He invested heavily in goaltenders Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger in their expansion season, and watched as neither developed into a dependable answer.

Though Francis shouldn’t bear all the blame, too many core pieces have failed to repeat their production from 2022-23.

Player | 2022-23 statistics | 2023-24 statistics | 2024-25 statistics

— Jared McCann | 40 goals/30 assists/70 points | 29/33/62 | 22/39/61

— Chandler Stephenson | 16/49/65 | 16/35/51 | 13/38/51

— Matty Beniers | 24/33/57 | 15/22/37 | 20/23/43

— Brandon Montour | 16/57/73 | 8/25/33 | 18/23/41

— Vince Dunn | 14/50/64 | 11/35/46 | 11/28/39

— Andre Burakovsky | 13/26/39 | 7/9/16 | 10/27/37

(Stephenson and Montour were acquired via mammoth seven-year deals last offseason, but the trend still applies.)

Meanwhile, two depth pieces the Kraken lost in free agency following their playoff run — Chicago’s Ryan Donato (31 goals, 62 points this season) and Boston’s Morgan Geekie (33 goals, 57 points) — have excelled in new cities, scoring more goals than anyone on Seattle’s roster in 2024-25.

As for those 2024-25 Kraken? It’s hard to argue they excelled at anything — ranking 14th in the NHL in shooting percentage (10.9%), 16th in goals per game (2.99), 19th in hits per 60 minutes (20.53), 20th in save percentage (.896), 21st in penalty kill percentage (77.2%), 23rd in power-play percentage (18.9%) and 24th in both faceoff percentage (48.6%) and goals against per game (3.20). They went a backbreaking 0-12 in the second leg of back-to-back sets as well.

It’s easier to argue Bylsma deserved a second season, that a single-season sample size is inadequate in evaluating the former Coachella Valley coach.

But in a sports market where teams too often settle, the commitment to winning and clear accountability is encouraging.

I just wonder if Francis has been held to the same standard as the coaches he hires and fires.

As for Botterill? The 48-year-old’s previous foray as an NHL general manager was an abject failure, as he fell short of the playoffs for three consecutive seasons before being fired by Buffalo in 2020. But given that the Sabres still haven’t made a postseason appearance since 2011, Botterill may have been put in an impossible position.

When asked Tuesday why Francis and Botterill are the right people to lead this franchise into a winning future, despite the recent results, Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said: “When the book is written someday about standing up this organization during a global pandemic, there will be stories revealed that just demonstrate how incredibly difficult that was. But [Francis] not only stood us up, he did what he said he was going to do.

“He said, ‘We’re going to build an incredible cupboard of incredible prospects that are going to be the formula of success going forward.’ We’ve done that.”

Though that formula has yet to yield sustained success, they’ve done more than that. They’ve built phenomenal facilities, with Climate Pledge Arena and the Kraken Community Iceplex. They’ve unveiled slick merchandise and effective branding. They’ve developed a winning culture in Coachella Valley. They’ve made significant strides in serving their fans, launching the Kraken Hockey Network to make televised games more available while lowering many season-ticket prices as well.

They’ve done everything but the most important thing.

On the subject of the organization’s standard and timeline for success, Kraken owner Samantha Holloway said: “I think that last step, and the most important step, is to get where we want to be on ice. So [the standard] is to be a sustained playoff team, and [the timeline] is as soon as possible.”

Francis and Botterill have yet to prove they can consistently clear those bars, and the Kraken have yet to prove just one new voice is enough.

And yet, pictures of both were plastered across screens at the team’s practice facility Tuesday, below a capitalized headline: “THE NEXT WAVE OF LEADERSHIP.”

Coach aside, can you call it the next wave of leadership when the names stay the same?

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