KRAKEN THIS MORNING: GM Ron Francis, Jeff Marek of Sportsnet ahead of the NHL Draft (6/28)

Mike Benton sets up the 2024 NHL Entry Draft with highlights of conversations coming from Kraken GM Ron Francis and Sportsnet's Jeff Marek. 

The 2024 NHL Draft Show, coming to 32 Bar and Grill, will be co-hosted by Mike, Everett Fitzhugh, and Al Kinisky at 32 Bar and Grill, 3-7pm on Sports Radio 93.3 KJR-FM. 

Episode Transcript

(00:02):
Welcome to Cracking This Morning, apresentation of the Krack and audio network Ken
Sports Radio ninety three point three kjrFM. Here's Mike Benton. All right,
who's next? We have the bigday coming. It has finally arrived,
the NHL Draft is this evening.Welcome to a special edition of Cracking
this Morning. Mike Benton with youtonight the NHL Draft Show three to seven

(00:24):
pm Pacific time. So yet we'regonna begin to the afternoon, but we're
gonna take you all the way throughround one, including matters surrounding the eighth
overall pick. On the Seattle Crackingside, you could hear our special coverage
again on Sports Radio ninety three pointthree KJRFM. I'll be at thirty two
Bar and Grill. You want amazingfood, come on down. You want
to party around this area in thirtytwo Bar and Grill, Come on down.

(00:48):
You want prizes, come on down. We're gonna be there along with
our main men Evera fits you andal Kiniski a part of the conversations that
you're gonna be hearing surround this pickand also where the Kraken are aiming in
the trade market, along with otherNHL teams. We'll hear from Jeff Merrik
a Sportsnet and the famous thirty twoThoughts podcast. Additionally, our conversation I

(01:11):
had with Christopher Kidd yesterday ten tonoon with Crack and GM Ron Francis.
More of that coming this evening,but a snippet in case you mista here
of Ron's conversation and with a Krackand are aiming right now with the draft
and the trade market and also theirfuture. Let's go take a major turning
point from this summer and moving on, jumping right to it, the man

(01:33):
in charge pulling the levers as CrackingGM Ron Francis, joining us ten to
noon on Thursday on ninety three tothree KJR. I mean, there's just
so much going on this week righthere. We're still interviewing some players ahead
of the amateur Draft. We're stillhaving meetings in regards to that. You're
having conversations with your own Tree agentsand number sixth agents kind of see where

(01:56):
that's at. You're you know,talking possible. So there's a lot a
lot happening this week, you know, ahead of kind of the draft tomorrow
night and free agency on the first, and our death camp next week and
Casey as well. Well. Thisis what excites many of us here is
because it marks maybe the next bigturning point here for this franchise, with
free agency heating up very soon,trade market also heating up, and of

(02:21):
course a draft as well tomorrow andagain Ron francis joining us right now.
This is going to be the lastdraft run as we know it. I
mean, with how things are run. What have you appreciated about the table
setup that you have all in onebuilding and what's your feel about the move
to more of like a war roomtype of setup after this last year.

(02:43):
Yeah, you know, I thinkthe beauty have in the drafting. One
spot is you know a lot ofthe kids come in, so if you
want to do a second interview withthem, they're all here. You know.
If I want to talk with youknow, some of my own players
agents on contracts and stuff, they'reusually here. So that part is kind
of easy. You know, itis tough at the table. You got

(03:05):
thirty two teams and you're jammed inthere and each table holds twenty two people,
so quite honestly, it's really hardto have conversations with all your scouts.
So if if you're you know,at the draft and certain things are
popping up and it looks like it'sgoing to fall a certain way, and
you know, it's a lot harderfor our scouts to have their computers open
and working freely because there's just nota lot of privacy at the table and

(03:30):
it's not easy to get around andcommunicate. So, you know, I
think going to the war room setup in that regard will be much more
beneficial. Ron's Christopher here, lookingat this draft class. Where do you
think it's the strongest? You know, I think it's, uh, it's
probably one of them. It isdefinitely the most interesting draft, you know,

(03:53):
we've had since it took over inSeattle. It's I think everybody feels
that they celebrated. Is the consensusnumber one and he's going to San Jose.
But I think you can just golook at all the mock drafts and
lists and it sprays pretty good afterthat. So there's a lot of d
in the draft. There's sentiment inthe draft. There's wingers in the draft,

(04:15):
so a lot of different possible positions, and I think some of it
will come down to kind of whatteams are looking for when they make their
selection. But you know, ourscouts feel really confident that we're going to
get a real good player today.Ron, we often hear a lot about
needs. I'm not sure you're theone to of course tip your hand before
this type of thing here. Imean, the trend in the first round
for this team has been about takinga forward and there are plenty of potentially

(04:39):
game changing defensemen maybe available at eighthoverall. But I think my question to
you, as have has time changedso much where size on the back end
is less important than say, maybeit is with the ability to move the
puck. Well, I think Ithink a lot of it depends on each

(05:00):
you know, I think you lookat our back end, it's it's built
fairly big. But I think it'salso guys that can skate and move the
puck. So I think, uh, you know, ideally the players you
have can do all of that stuff. You know, I'm from believing in
the skating is important at the NHLlevel, I think the hockey sense is
really important. You know, youwant to have guys in the organization that

(05:24):
have high level of compete and andthen you're looking at kind of what skills
that they bring to the table.So there's there's a lot of factors that
they go into making your decision.You know. The other thing that's unique
with our draft more so then youknow, you take the NFL, you's
when to draft those guys that areready to step in. In our case,
a lot of these stands seventeen turningjust eighteen, and you know there's

(05:46):
a time frame and a window toget them there. So what you're trying
to project is what you're picking atat this age is going to be what
you think it's going to be,you know, three years from now.
So a lot of things factor intoit. And and that's certainly what we
try and big deep on and tryand answer as many of those questions as
as possibly forward to make a selection. Krag And got their new head coach.

(06:10):
What do we learn from him overthese past few months, especially in
that championship run that he just hadgoing back again? So what did you
what did we learn from him ashe's going to take over the new role
as head coach for the Seattle Cracking. Well yeah, I mean you look
at look at it. Two yearsdown there they got to the call the
Cup finals in both years, youknow, unfortunately two years ago, we

(06:30):
lost in game seven and overtime.You know, all four games will buy
one goal, three and overtime,and and uh, you know, we
get back there again this year andunfortunately again lose a lot of one goal
games and in game six and overtimeagain. So you know, I think
when you look at the job he'sdone, he's developed our young guys over
the course of uh those two seasons. He's also in both the staring relationship

(06:55):
with our veteran players and got themost of the veteran players there, and
and uh, you know that's whywe felt to he was the right guy
for the job here in Seattle.And we think that they'll continue to kind
of operate the same way, righttry and get the most out of our
veterans and incorporate our young players intothe lineup and get the most out of
them as well. Well. DanBiles most certainly ending things in Coachella Valley
with the heck of a run rightthere, as Ron Francis joining us right

(07:17):
now. Ron, speaking of thatopen coaching positions, where does Jessica Campbell
stand and how close are you tofilling out the staff? Yeah, I
mean, certainly she's a name inconsideration. We've had a lot of coaching
interviews over the last the last while. In fairness to stew and Jessica,

(07:40):
you know now that there's seasons done, they're coming into Vegas here, so
we'll have conversations with them. ButI think Dan is, you know,
working hard at trying to narrow downhis staff and make a decision here sooner
rather than later. And then wealso have to you know, once that
has sort of filled note see wherewe're left in Coachella, and then make
a decision quickly. There has toget that in place as well. So

(08:01):
you know, important obviously at theNHL level, but also very importantly at
the NHL level as we continue toget younger with our roster, as some
of our prospects from the previous draftmore and more starting to come into our
lineup. You know, year onewhere third old. This past year we're
twentieth ol of this team, andyou know, now we still have more
prospects coming in, like so likeFurkis and Gooyet and Newman and Coco So

(08:24):
and Nelson, so a lot moreof our you know, prospects coming into
the fold. So critical to getsomebody there. We think can not only
win, but develop our talent aswell. Here is a great point there
as far as who's next and whocould be pushing here for jobs as Ron
Frances joining us right now. Butfirst off, we've heard about the need
for more offense Ron, and itkind of comes to a head with a

(08:45):
lot of talk around the draft tableswith trades and free agency is soon right
now? How interested is this teamwith being involved in the trade market as
of today? And a two partquestion, how much really is too much
when to a cost to make anupgrade? Yeah, I know, I
don't think it changes whether it's thisweek or anytime during the season. We're
constantly in discussions with other teams andtrying to check and see what's available and

(09:11):
if there is something that makes senseto improve our hockey club, then we're
happy to do that. You know, we're fortunate that our ownership group is
willing to spend to the cap andgive us that opportunity, so constantly having
a lot of dialogues. Sometimes itworked out, sometimes it doesn't, but
you know, we're certainly sort ofpounding to the table and trying to see

(09:33):
where it is out there that makemake sense to make us better. The
market is ever changing. Names keeppopping up hours leading up to the draft
d and we cut up in thisconversation with Sportsnets and thirty two thoughts Jeff
Merrick with the draft ahead in LasVegas later on today, we walked from
the hotel to the sphere and we'redripping, So we have to bring our

(09:54):
suits and leave them there. Everywhereyou go in Vegas, this draft,
we have to have it baked intoyour pie that you're going to be hot
and you're going to be sticky andyou're going to be sweaty. It's just
one of those things that you justknow what you're getting getting in sore for
in you you adjust accordingly, butthere's like like look, Mike, you
know, it's like it's uncomfortable.But that's okay. If that's if that's

(10:16):
the worst thing that's going to happento me in my day, I'm doing
all right. Even we have toadjust going from Seattle to Palm Springs or
wherever it is to warm tropical climateshere. But Jeff, thank you so
much again for doing this here withus. I mean, let's just dive
into what's the situation you think withthe Kraken their cap space right now at
over twenty million without the r allthe RFA stuff locked in with Matty Benier's

(10:37):
and Nellie Toulvenan. But what's realisticfor them as far as top line talent
and adding here for the off season. Make no mistake about a job number
one for Ron Francis's goals. Ifyou can score goals, n Francis is
interested in you, and I thinkthat's why we're you know, I think
we're wondering about, well, mostwanted the Jeff Skanner when that biotis concluded

(11:01):
with the Buffalo Sabers. I meanthere's a background certainly with that with Jason
botterrel on the tour together as youall know with that with the Buffalo Sabers.
But you know, any name ofany player really that I can score
is who Seattle is interested in.Like you'll hear plenty about Jake DeBras.
I don't think that gentl ends upin Seattle. But I mean, I

(11:22):
think you know the player the typeof players that I'm talking about here goalsports.
You know, at the at theend of it, you know,
Seattle found that they just weren't ableto produce enough offense, and that is,
you know, that is the numberone thing that Ron Francis is looking
for. Do you believe a lotof the smoke that we're hearing a lot
more today about Steven Stamkost and TampaBay or the possibility of him moving on.

(11:46):
Every day that we get closer toJuly first becomes more and more of
a you know, less of arumor and more of a reality. Elliott
has this theory that what Campa isdoing here is they're trying to figure out
if they can bring in Jake Cansel, and that might be holding up any
Sephen Stamcoast negotiation. I have ahard time seeing Stephen Stamcoast in another uniform.

(12:11):
Having said that, we've said thatof a lot of other hockey players
over over over history. But no, like there's there there's something to that
if if the Tampa Bay Lightning,you know, bring in someone like Jay
Gentil means everyone has the same salarycap and they need to do some massaging
here if they're going to bring insome new players and take another run at
this thing. I put this way. Every day that goes by, I

(12:33):
believe a little bit less that it'sfar fetched. And here we are approaching
July first, once we get oncewe get past the draft. But and
I'm not sure how you're like onthis one, Mike, but every time
I even start to have the conversation, I feel weird because I just always
just sort of assume that Stephen Stamcostwas going to be one of those guys
you know, from the root tothe fruit, and that's it. You

(12:54):
know, from the from the dayyou're drafted to the day you retire with
the same team, so that onewould look if he is in another uniform
mixture, that one would look charring. It would kind of give like Joe
Namath La Rams vibes. I think, really here at this point, as
a Jeff Merrick joining US, PatrickLine's name still reportedly out there by trade,
Martin Nate just his name reportedly stillout there by trade. I mean,

(13:16):
as of right now, what's therealistic asking price. Well, I
mean I've been told, I've beenI've been warned about going to too aggressively
on the Patrick lyon a situation.I mean, I think a lot of
it depends on I think a lotof the return depends on his Columbus retaining
salary or not, and the lessthat they're retaining via the less that the

(13:39):
asking price is Whyne's fascinating. I'vealways this and he's one of the best,
you know, distance shooters in theNHL. I mean he is.
He is the literal definition of thestreaky goalscorps. I mean, lin A
can be silent for an entire monthand then score like in a week.

(14:00):
Like That's just the nature of Patrickline here, Martin chous So. The
thing about Martin h is like towatch for is, don't be surprised if
it's the draft to make Carolina andColumbus end up doing business together. You
know, Don Woodell has pretty muchsaid, you know, we're we're open
for business here in Columbus and weneed to move things forward. He has

(14:20):
a background with Martin Hus. Soif it's the Hurricanes that end up doing
business with the fourth overall draft pickwith Columbus, don't be surprised if if
Martin hus is the compensation there asour part of that should part part of
the package, part of the package. It's going to be really fun to
watch, especially because with some ofthe prices being asked around here and even

(14:41):
reports are that one team to bewilling to dangle their first round pick to
make a trade like this happen.It's still unclear if the crack And would
even think about doing that as JeffMerrick joining us. But say if they
still sit around a just based onthis draft overall, I mean, what
are we looking at? You thinkas far as defenseman and game breaking defenseman

(15:03):
and maybe how long players like thosetake to marinate and be ready to make
an impact. Yeah, you knowthere's a couple of impactful players right out
of the gate. I mean MaclinCelebriny is one. Ivan Demidoff is the
other. That doesn't necessarily mean thatDevadoff is going to go number two to
Chicago Blackhawks. But if you lookat like game changing, you know,

(15:24):
suddenly changes the game players, thoseare the two we are looking at.
Yeah, you know it is interesting, Mike. You know we may see
this year that nobody from this year'sdraft plays in the NHL next season.
Macklean Celebrini still hasn't made up hismind whether he's gonna he's gonna turn pro
or go back to Boston University.Uh, Demidoff will still take some time
to come out of Russia. Imean, if whoever draft ends up drafting

(15:46):
hopes that's the meach Cop situation whereit's one more year in Russia and then
free and clear to play in theNHL. But that's not guaranteed. But
then even after that, like everybody, everybody is going back, Like there
maybe players that get a little bitof a taste at the beginning of the
season, but but but no one'sgoing to stick. We don't think in
the NHL next year. I mean, there are always the chance of surprises.

(16:07):
But as it looks right now,you know, this might be and
I can't remember in the last timewe saw this, this might be one
of those drafts where nobody play thefollowing season in the NHLOW So what does
that? So what does that meanthen for your pick? Maybe? And
that's what you're sort of getting athere is you know, if it if
it's not a situation where you know, Seattle could take someone the kid that

(16:27):
can jump in and have an impactnext season, does that make it that
much easier perhaps for Ron Francis toeither move that pick or trade down.
Absolutely, And that's why I thinktonight we're going to see We're going to
see more movement than we've seen inrecent years. The team's moving up and
teams moving down because of watch afternumber one after number one. Everybody has

(16:49):
a different list, everybody. Yeah, fun to watch because you never know
what's going to happen next. HereJeff, finally new kid in town sort
of in the Western Conference. Andhere comes Utah. And you called this
about four months ago when we hadthis conversation. And here they are with
a warehouse sized amount of cap spacecoming over from Arizona. So kind of

(17:11):
a two parter here expectations for Utahnext season. And I think to you,
what hurts the most seeing Arizona aboutout? Now, Okay, let
me take the Arizona question here first. So I always had a soft spot
in my heart for Arizona. Thatis an organization in a marketplace that was

(17:33):
never able to get on solid groundsfor a lot of reasons, many of
which were not of their own doingat times. It certainly one it's like
they're not you know, it's notlike they're not complicultable in all of this,
But how many different owners ended uprunning through, how many arena disagreements,
how many botched arena placements? Itseemed as if you know, and

(17:55):
to all of it as well,they're able to put together a really vibrant
you hockey market, both on thegirls and the boys side at the same
time. So the drag of itis, you don't want to see that
youth hockey momentum halts that are stoppedin any way, shape or form,
knowing full well that eventually the ArizonaCoyotes will come back in some way,
shape or form into the NHL.As far as Utah goes, I mean,

(18:19):
Bill Armstrong has talked about this quiteopen. Their goal is to be
a competitive team next year and playcompetitive games down the stretch and not be
the team that's bowed out by Christmasand the team that everyone's trying to pick
from come trade deadline time. Theinteresting thing about Utah this year and this
summer specifically, the Coyotes always hadcap space, Mike, but they never

(18:44):
had cap cash, and this yearthey have cap space and they have cap
cash, and the other thing topay attention to, it's a really good
question, Mike. The other thingto pay attention to is Utah is looking
for right now veterans players on shortterm contracts, So maybe there's a veteran
player who's on the last year ofa deal and has a no trade clause.

(19:10):
You know, Utah has a wayof getting that playered away by saying
like, look, we need youfor two more years after your contract expires.
We can pay more than anybody elsebecause of sense. You were just
renting you to help provide, youknow, leadership and show our kids the
way to play and help turn theminto pros. So I wouldn't be surprised
if that's one of the directions herethat Utah goes in at all three positions

(19:32):
as well. To me, they'regoing to be one of the more fascinating
teams, Like for this way,I mean, you know Ryan Smith,
and he's young, and he's brash, and you want to make a big
splash here. I will be reallycurious to see how disciplined might Utah stays,
knowing full well that the owner here, I mean, you don't pay
a billion dollars and not want toget out there and ring a bell and

(19:56):
alert everyone to be to the factthat you're in the NHL and make a
big headline. I'll be curious tosee if if Rian Smith not so subtly
encourages his channel manager to go outthere and make some noise in the marketplace.
All right, So you got youranswers. Where are the Kraken going
with this in the draft? Couldit be Zev Boujam, Could it be
Zane Perrek. Could it be SamDickinson or a four that's familiar here to

(20:19):
parts around this area in Berkeley,Catton Adams, Spokane or Tiz again.
Plenty of options at play here forthe Kraken. Along with the trade and
free agency market. We're hearing moreand more about maybe Sam Reinhart, Jake
Gonzel, Steven Stamkos buy out territoryfor Jeff Skinner, or in the trade
market do the krack and take aswing of Patrick Lyon, a Martin Achius,

(20:41):
Nasm Kadri or Yep, we're gonnago there Mitch Marner and see if
they can land a big fish tohelp out their scoring matters coming up here
for this next season, A lotto talk about once again, four nine,
four or five one later on todayfor your questions and reaction via the
tullmar Dude text line. When it'sgame time, it's totally time as well.

(21:02):
Find me on Twitter at Benton UnderscoreMike, get your questions and reaction
in right there. We've got alot to talk about three to seven o'clock
later on today. Big thanks toRon Francis, Big thanks to Jeff Merrick.
Enjoy the draft. Talk to youthen, every cracken. This morning,
I'm Mike Benton, Happy Friday.You're home for the Kraken Sports Radio
ninety three point three kJ r FM.