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Great Expectations For Ron Francis In NHL Seattle GM Role

Francis (r) is expected to have a say in choosing the expansion team's name GETTY IMAGES

Hockey HOFer Ron Francis is expected to be named GM of the Seattle NHL franchise, and in doing so, he "just signed up for the most difficult job in hockey," according to Ken Campbell of THE HOCKEY NEWS. Perhaps Francis’ "most important job will be to temper the expectations of hockey fans in Seattle." Following Golden Knights President of Hockey Operations George McPhee's "brilliant approach" to building the expansion team in Las Vegas, his fellow GMs "responded to losing players under the most favorable expansion rules in the history of the game." These factors "conspired to set a template for an expansion team that will be almost impossible to repeat" (THEHOCKEYNEWS.com, 7/17). In Seattle, Matt Calkins writes Francis is the "kind of hire that generates instant intrigue," but it is "hard to make a judgment about his front-office acumen given the lack of information." Still, in terms of stature, NHL Seattle President & CEO Tod Leiweke "couldn't have done much better than Francis." Hiring an "analytics geek with no playing experience wouldn’t have resonated with folks" around Seattle (SEATTLE TIMES, 7/18).

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