Botterill given Kraken roster control in GM move

Seattle Kraken make front office shuffle

New executive vice president and general manager Jason Botterill will have the final say in all roster decisions after the Seattle Kraken announced a shuffled front office structure on Tuesday.

SEATTLE - New executive vice president and general manager Jason Botterill will have the final say in all roster decisions after the Seattle Kraken announced a shuffled front office structure on Tuesday.

In addition to promoting Botterill to the GM role, the Kraken promoted Ron Francis to president of hockey operations. The team says these moves are made with an urgency toward taking the next step as a franchise and becoming yearly playoff contenders.

"I want to give Ron credit for building this hockey organization from nothing, and after four years, we have a lot of key pieces in place, but we're anxious to take the next step, and that starts with Ron moving to president of hockey operations," team owner Samantha Holloway said.

New Seattle Kraken EVP & General Manager Jason Botterill is joined by President of Hockey Operations Ron Francis (left), Kraken owner & chair Samantha Holloway, and CEO Tod Leiweke (right) after a press conference announcing changes to the te (Curtis Crabtree / FOX 13 Seattle)

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"Everyone at this table is committed to winning. Our hockey folks and our staff have worked hard and deserve winning. Our partners and our fans who support us every night deserve winning. So we're moving to a model that many teams in the NHL have adopted with the president and a GM, and we believe that will set us up for the future."

The backstory:

It's the latest in a significant couple of days of news for the Kraken, who also fired head coach Dan Bylsma after only one season on the bench on Monday. Bylsma was dismissed as the Kraken finished the season with the sixth-worst record in the NHL with a 35-41-6 mark. It's the second straight season the Kraken will be looking for a new head coach as Dave Hakstol was fired a year ago after three seasons on the bench.

"The path of least resistance for both these guys and the owners was to do nothing on the coaching side, but they thought we could do better," Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said. "They thought that a move could actually move us closer to winning faster. So the question's fair, but there's a conviction at this table that we're doing the right thing, even if it means making tough decisions."

"People are questioning us, (it) means they care, and that's good news for us," Holloway added.

The biggest message the team delivered at Tuesday's press conference was that it's time for the franchise to take a significant stride forward after just one playoff appearance in four seasons. The Kraken expected to be better this season after major free agent additions last offseason in defenseman Brandon Montour and center Chandler Stephenson. Instead, they regressed amid key injuries, a horrific record in back-to-back games, special teams struggles, and a backup goaltender problem in Philipp Grubauer.

The front office changes give a new voice the final say in personnel decisions in Botterill. Francis made it clear that Botterill will be the one to make the final decisions moving forward.

"I feel strongly that if we're asking Jason to step into the GM chair and manage all those responsibilities that he has to have final say in decisions," Francis said. "We will have discussions. I will give him my opinion. I know it won't be 100 percent we'll be in agreement all the time, but we will have those discussions. But at the end of the day, he will make the decision, the final call, inn those regards."

Botterill will assume the GM role for the second time in his executive career. Botterill had a three-year run as GM of the Buffalo Sabres from 2017-2020 after spending a decade in the front office of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Botterill joined the Kraken ahead of the team's inaugural season and has served as the assistant general manager to Francis in the four years since. He's been based in Michigan during his time with the Kraken and will relocate to Seattle full-time for his new role.

"It's an honor to be the second general manager of the Seattle Kraken," Botterill said. "I'm deeply committed to building a winner for this organization and for this city. I've been a part of the Kraken since the beginning. I know the players in this organization. I know the staff in this organization, I'm very proud of what We've accomplished. But as we head here into year five, it's time for our organization to take the next step."

Botterill's stint in Buffalo wasn't particularly successful, but no one has been successful with the Sabres in two decades either. Asked what makes him a different general manager now than his time in Buffalo, Botterill said he knows the demands of the job now and has relationships with the right people across the NHL. But specifically, when it comes to Seattle, he's not starting from scratch in getting to know the finer points about the roster.

"You always learn from any experience that you go through. Shame on you if you don't," Botterill said. "I have a lot of positive experience in Buffalo, and I'm always honored that the Pegulas gave me an opportunity to be a general manager there. And I think just you go through the cadence of developing relationships with other general managers, with agents, the pressures of the job, you now know exactly what the role is going to be from that standpoint.

"What gets me so excited about this job right here is what we've talked about, the players in this organization and what's coming, but also the fact that you're coming in here and not evaluating. That you know the staff right away here. I've been a part of it. … So the fact that I've been a part of this organization, the fact that I know the players, I know the staff, just is going to, I think, allow me to make quicker decisions and move forward here. And that's what gets me get very excited."

Botterill will lead the search for the next head coach of the team after the decision to fire Bylsma on Monday. The move was made off the performance of the team under Bylsma and not due to a specific coach being available the team wanted to seek out.

"Watching the games, I didn't like the way we were playing," Francis said of the decision. "I thought our team could use more structure, more details in our approach. And at the end of the day, we didn't get the results that we were expecting this year.

"This is not an easy decision to make, but this organization is about trying to take some risks and do things, and we just felt that at this point we needed to make a change."

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Seattle Kraken fire head coach Dan Bylsma after one season

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Seattle Kraken fire head coach Dan Bylsma after one season

The Seattle Kraken have fired head coach Dan Bylsma after just one season leading the team.

Botterill pointed to both speed and strength as areas of the team he wanted to see progress forward.

"I think from just a team standpoint, we need to get back to our identity, which is speed," Botterill said. "If you look at where we were a couple years ago, teams continually talked about how fast we played the game. You know, it's something that I think we have a lot of skaters that can move well. We've got to find a system that just allows them to show that talent a little bit more.

"If you look at the areas for improvement, I'm not going to say size, I'm just going to say strength. We have to find ways of doing a better job in front of our own net, and finding and doing a better job of getting to the opposition net. Those are areas that we just haven't got to."

Botterill pointed out how Jaden Schwartz has found success getting to the areas around the opponent's goal successfully despite not having outstanding size. Seattle will be bigger next season than they've been in the past with Kaapo Kakko likely to return and Jani Nyman looking like a strong probability to crack the lineup full-time, but the need to play tougher hockey remains.

"To me, there's still a development of skill across the board that we have to do," Botterill said. "Wherever we ended up in the standings, we have to continue to improve and add to our skill level in all areas. It's not as if we're one player away right now from a Stanley Cup championship. We have to become a perennial playoff team first and then find our way."

The status of the assistant coaching staff remains somewhat in limbo, though Botterill stated clearly they expect Jessica Campbell will continue to be a part of the equation. However, whomever the new head coach is will have input on their coaching staff as well.

"It will be certainly up to discussion once the new head coach will come into the equation there," Botterill said. "We've been happy with our assistant coaches, what they've brought to the table. Jess Campbell will certainly be back with our group here, moving forward from that standpoint, We've liked what she's done with our young players. We think whatever coach we bring in here, from a head coach standpoint, will have to work closely with our younger players."

The Source: Original reporting by FOX 13 Seattle.