Seattle Kraken General Manager Ron Francis is the 5th all-time leading scoring in NHL history. His induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in the player category came in 2007.
The photo shows the Kraken boss giving some development campers pointers at the faceoff dot. Francis won 54.8% of the roughly 8,800 face-offs he took during his career. He finished with 1,798 regular season points.
This was the final day of skill sessions prior to Wednesday’s 3-on-3 scrimmage. It starts at noon and is open to the public. For fans who attend, a BBQ will follow from 1 to 3 pm.
Kraken News:
More on the Erik Karlsson trade talk here Wednesday. The reigning Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s best defenseman wants a trade from the San Jose Sharks to a Cup contender. The Kraken could afford him, especially with the Sharks retaining salary, but does he fit the build?
In the meantime what about his fellow righthander Matt Dumba, formerly of the Minnesota Wild? There was actually a time when it was believed Dumba would be in on the Norris Trophy talk as his career continued along, but he’s actually slowed down point-wise over the last five seasons.
He’s still a productive minute muncher and might be considered in his prime at age-28. The unrestricted free agent earned $6-million per season over the last five. The Kraken might be able to snag him while offering him much less than that, plus a change of scenery.
Dumba tallied only 14 points in 79 games last season, six years removed from his career high of 50. His entire 9+ year NHL career has been spent with the Wild, the club that drafted him 7th-overall in 2012 from the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels.
— In case you missed it Monday, the Kraken signed 29-year-old righty D-man Connor Carrick to a one-year, two-way contract that will pay him $775,000 while he’s in the big show and $425,000 when he’s not. He’s dabbled with four different NHL teams, mostly the Toronto Maple Leafs, to the tune of 50 total points in 242 career matches.
— Nothing yet for unrestricted free agent goalie Martin Jones, who stepped in admirably last season on a one-year, $2-million deal for the Kraken, backing-up Philipp Grubauer and actually dominating in the wins department for a two month stretch.
Roles were actually reversed in early January when Jones won six of the seven games on the Kraken’s NHL record-setting 7-for-7 road win streak. “Grooby” jumped to win the 5th game of the journey on January 10th against the Buffalo Sabres as part of a back-to-back set.
Jones will probably take a slight pay cut to fill in elsewhere next season at age-33 with a save percentage that started to slip.
Western Signings
Feisty free agent winger Miles Wood signed a six-year contract with the Colorado Avalanche on Monday that pays him an average of $2.5-million per season. The career New Jersey Devil has posted 148 points in 402 NHL games and is known more for his tenacious team play, energy, and fearlessness.
A hip injury and surgery forced the 27-year-old left wing to miss all but three games of the 2021-’22 season. He recovered to post 27 points in 76 games this past one.
(*-Editor’s note: We have a special interest in Woods’s career, having played street hockey in his driveway with him and his family while profiling his NHL playing dad Randy Wood for a TV show in 2002. Miles was 6-years-old and remembers it.)
The Avalanche, the Kraken’s 1st-round playoff victims, also brought in forward Jonathan Drouin on a one-year deal, re-signed veteran forward Andrew Cogliano for a year and brought back key defender Bowen Byram with a two-year contract.
— Happy 4th of July to you and yours!
