From the front office: Ron Francis

Jared McCann is the first player you extended. He is the first player to score 100 goals (with the Kraken). Are you surprised by his production? Looking back on selecting him in the Expansion Draft, are you surprised by the level he has reached?

Well, he’s a Soo Greyhound (CHL), so we were never surprised by those guys (laughs). I remember seeing him in the juniors early in his career and we always felt he had a chance. If you go through an Expansion Draft, he was an interesting guy for us because of the speed and because of the shot. We got him in here, and I think he’s the kind of guy who needs to get comfortable and feel comfortable. I think we’ve built a very good relationship in trusting each other and how things are going, and he’s really delivered on his commitments on the ice; the way he works and the way he can shoot pucks… it’s not easy to score goals in this league, it’s even harder to score goals in this league from 9 or 12 yards out, and he’s one of those guys who can do that.

He has been a very good player for this organization in the past and we believe he will be a good player for us in the future.

Let’s talk about the two most prominent free agent signings, Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour. Sometimes it takes a while for players to get used to a new environment and the burden of a new contract and all that. Your impressions of those two?

I have been satisfied with both. Chandler is one of those guys who is good in all three zones. He is good in confrontations for us, something we have needed in recent years. That’s positive. We use him on the power play. We use it in the criminal killing. We use it in other situations. It’s completely round. (He) probably surprised me a little bit. I think there might even be more talent coming in than I thought. Hopefully we can work with him and take him to an even higher level because I think he has the ability to be an 80+ point guy if he adds it all up.

(It’s) exciting to have him in the group, and it’s an advantage for our younger centermen. We forget Matty (Beniers); he is 21 years old. Shane (Wright) is 20 years old. It’s also an advantage to have a guy like that with (Stephenson’s) experience and maybe play some of the tough games some nights, or the tougher draw-in situations of the younger kids. (I’ve been) very happy with him.

Brandon is just a great personality. You saw it again (against Winnipeg). Matty scores. And here’s a guy (Montour) who just won the Stanley Cup, and the cheer on his face and how excited he was that Matty scored and the team scored. I don’t know how he does it. But he skates about 50 miles in a hockey game and doesn’t look like he’s getting tired. He has been a very upbeat player for us, not only on the ice, but also in our locker room and within our organization. (We’re) really excited to have both guys in the fold.

As we record this, Beniers is playing his best game of the season. As Rookie of the Year, all contract matters are now all set aside. When you look at him where he is now, what would be your message to him? He is still 21 years old. What would be your message to him, maybe on a mental level, moving forward?

Yes, it’s funny. Before the game against Winnipeg, one of our owners came by. I spoke to him before the game. He asked about Matty and I said, ‘I know he only has one assist, but he does more than the numbers indicate. He just needs one going into the net so he can relax and feel better about his game.”

He put in the time in the offseason. He has gained 13 pounds from last year. He looks stronger. If he can maintain that weight this year… you’ll have a chance to gain another 10 pounds next summer. At the age of 22-23, this kid will be a completely different player than we see now.

(Matty) cares about the Kraken and he cares about his teammates. He thinks it’s important that we win. He’s solid in all three zones and does a lot of good things for us. I think (his game against Winnipeg) will hopefully make him a little more comfortable. He gets a few goals and an assist. We’re not looking for that every night… it would be great if we got that every night… but it’s a tough competition and that’s not going to happen (laughs).

I think he just (needs to continue) doing the things he’s doing and shooting the puck because, as you saw last night, he has a great opportunity.

How would you rate Shane Wright and where he is now?

Shane is probably exactly where I thought (he would be). He had a great camp and made the team – it’s exciting and good. I think his last few games have been just good. But again, this is a 20-year-old kid playing in the National Hockey League, and it’s something that we as a coaching staff, as a management staff and as an organization have to continue to work with him and stay optimistic and positive. .

He has all the tools and the ability. To me, Shane is at his best when he’s skating and shooting the puck. (We want him to) play with pace and shoot the puck when he has the opportunity, because he has a great opportunity, and he has really good wheels when he wants to skate.

There are going to be setbacks for every team when it comes to injuries, and you have them now with Vince Dunn out, and it looks like it could be a bit. What is important to the team as we navigate this period with that piece missing?

So before (Dunn) got hurt, we’re in a tight spot cap-wise, right? With basically $4,300 in cap space left, it obviously allows some cap space to be freed up in the long-term injured reserve (with Dunn). That gives us some flexibility to bring up some guys and have some depth around us if we need to.

You never want to lose a player, especially one who plays the kind of minutes Vince does for us at the back. It’s a big loss. But our mentality in this situation, and in every situation, has to be, ‘It’s the next man up,’ right? We signed Josh Mahura as a free agent this summer. He steps in and has done a good job for us so far. The team has continued to play well and that is what we have to do. Vince needs to heal, and once he’s ready to get back into the lineup, we know we’ll be a better team when he comes back. But until then, our job is to keep competing and find ways to win games.

Finally, Coachella Valley. It’s still early in the season for our fans, but can you give a general overview of where that team is and what (fans) might be looking for, maybe some individual names?

Yeah, it was interesting because they only played three games. They’re playing a fourth game tonight while we’re recording this. In the first game (a 2-1 loss to Bakersfield) I thought they played well. It was a close game and they lost in a low scoring match.

In the second game (a 3-1 loss to Calgary), they defeated the other team, but did not win again. Then they go to San Diego and find a way to win. They led 6-1 and held on in the third. There was an interesting play…our young net keeper, (Niklas) Kokko is in the net and it’s 6-4, they dump the puck and he knocks it down behind the net. Instead of just leaving it to his defender, he will try to get to the empty net. It was taken down at the blue line with their defenseman, as it turns out, and (San Diego) ended up 6-5. But we hung in there to win. I like that kind of brash confidence, right? He wasn’t just there to play for the win… he had the chance to score a goal. He wanted to take that with him, and I think you’ll find that.

It will take some time for our young boys to understand that this is a completely different schedule than they are used to in the juniors. They are doing more things off the ice and in our weight room to help them mature and get stronger for the NHL. So there’s a process to get them there, which you see in October and November, and that’s going to be different than what you see with these kids in December and January. It will be different when you see them in March and April. There are a lot of good signals early on from some of the young players. (Jagger) Firkus is playing well. (Eduard) Sale, who could be back in the Juniors, is effectively tied in terms of team scoring. (Jani) Nyman, (David) Goyette, (Ty) Nelson – there are a lot of young kids in the lineup. But (they’re) all playing well. It’s exciting to see.