{"id":549054,"date":"2026-04-09T22:45:17","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:45:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/549054\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T22:45:17","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T22:45:17","slug":"seattle-kraken-co-owner-sees-need-for-change-as-team-struggles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/549054\/","title":{"rendered":"Seattle Kraken co-owner sees need for change as team struggles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a<\/a><\/p>\n

\"AThe Kraken’s early success and recent struggles have created a complex, multifaceted challenge for the franchise’s leadership.Seattle Today<\/p>\n

Seattle Kraken co-owner Tod Leiweke has witnessed firsthand the impact a successful team can have on the city. In the Kraken’s second season, they qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs and advanced to the second round, showcasing the team’s potential. However, Leiweke acknowledged the difficult decision to part ways with president Ron Francis at the end of the current season.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

The Kraken’s early success had generated excitement in Seattle, but the team’s recent struggles have prompted the need for changes in the organization. Leiweke’s comments highlight the challenges of building a winning franchise and the importance of maintaining momentum after a promising start.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

The Kraken not only qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs in their second year of existence, the 2022-23 season, but they also advanced to the second round, in which they lost to the Dallas Stars in seven games. Leiweke joked that some oblivious fans left a handful of those home playoff games after the second intermission, unaware that hockey didn’t feature solely a halftime like basketball or football games.<\/p>\n

The Kraken qualified for the playoffs in their second season, the 2022-23 season.The Kraken advanced to the second round of the playoffs in the 2022-23 season, where they lost to the Dallas Stars in seven games.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Tod Leiweke<\/p>\n

The co-owner of the Seattle Kraken, who has witnessed the team’s early success and the need for changes as they have struggled.<\/p>\n

Ron Francis<\/p>\n

The president of hockey operations for the Seattle Kraken, who will step down from his position at the end of the current season.<\/p>\n

Got photos? Submit your photos here. \u203a<\/a>
\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw the potential in year two. It was incredible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tod Leiweke, Seattle Kraken co-owner<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the lousy parts of this job was a day like yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Tod Leiweke, Seattle Kraken co-owner<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

The Kraken will need to find a new president of hockey operations to lead the team’s efforts to build on their early success and address the recent struggles.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

The Kraken’s early success had generated excitement in Seattle, but the team’s recent struggles have prompted the need for changes in the organization. Leiweke’s comments highlight the challenges of building a winning franchise and the importance of maintaining momentum after a promising start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a The Kraken’s early success and recent struggles have created a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":549055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[5,4188,4,2686,234,5318],"class_list":{"0":"post-549054","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-seattle-kraken","8":"tag-hockey","9":"tag-kraken","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-seattle","12":"tag-seattle-kraken","13":"tag-seattlekraken"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116377179900535528","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/549055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}