Question is in the title plain and simple. I know he liked to stock up on defensemen when it came to drafting, but I'm curious to know the full details of why Francis got let go by the Canes. Was he not very good at drafting/developing players? Did he not make very good trades or free agent signings? Or was his vision just not satisfactory with other minds such as ownership and coaching staff?

I mean, he's already getting flack for what he has done in Seattle thus far, clearly his reputation has stayed with him ever since. Not that many fans of Dave Hakstol either if any I've noticed

Good question. I think Francis did a good job with Carolina. The team struggled for several years while he was GM but he was able to build a strong foundation that enabled Waddell to make them into a contender. One thing I thought he did particularly well was getting something for his pending UFAs when they were out of the playoffs, usually draft picks that helped build the prospect pool. I think letting him go was just a case of the ownership changing and Dundon wanting to bring in his own man.

I'm not sure what his strategy is in Seattle though. Stocking up on defensemen may have been because those were the best players available due to the expansion draft rules, rather than because of any deliberate strategy on Francis's part. I could understand passing on the good players with big long-term contracts that could have given him a stronger team now, but if his strategy was to build for the future I thought he should have stockpiled more draft picks by drafting more players he could flip to other teams or making some deals for "expansion draft considerations".

Yeah, I have time for the fact that he went the Cap conservative route and tried to build for the future, but I think you are right, I don't think Francis took full advantage of his ability to as you said, stockpile more future assets whether that be via expansion draft considerations or flipping present assets that he drafted, which he performed on several different occasions, flipping Tyler Pitlick and Kurtis MacDermid for fourth rounders, and trading Vitek Vanacek back to the Caps for a 2nd round pick. Maybe Francis could have taken on more big-contract players and flipped them for more valuable returns, such as Taresenko, Domi, Voracek, Van Reimsdyk, or Kuznetsov, all of whom were exposed

All that said, I wasn't impressed with his free agency though, as I thought some of the contracts he gave out to free agents such as Wennberg, Oleksiak, and Schwartz went against his Cap conservative philosophy, but I suppose Seattle still has about $7-8 million in cap space, so it's not like he completely undid himself I guess

We should probably move this discussion to the Kraken forum, but I agree with you for the most part on the free agency. I've always liked Oleksiak, but I wasn't sure Schwartz was still worth $5.5M and a no-move, and he gave Wennberg more or less the same contract that Columbus bought out only 9 months earlier. I thought it was smart that he didn't draft anybody who was signed for more than 4 years, but as you said he seemed to abandon that strategy with some of the free agent signings. I was especially surprised that he went after Grubauer so hard because I thought he had signed Driedger to be their #1, though I must admit that bringing in another team's backup and expecting him to be your #1 often doesn't work. (I'll cite Scott Darling as an example since we're on the Hurricanes forum, but there are many more.)

Francis is overly conservative, doesnt take risks, and will only make trades he knows he knows he wins.

Francis took the most risk adverse route in the expansion draft. He couldnt get out of his own way and its pretty hilarious. Who can justify Geekie over Nino?

Wait a second, Nino was exposed? Geezus christ. Yeah, I don't think being risk averse is going to get him anywhere either. If Seattle isn't a playoff team in 3 years, Francis will get the boot, I know it, won't be a good look to see a Franchis's first ever GM get let go when they never got any results while they were there

yea, Nino, Geekie, Gardiner, Fleury, Bean, and a no name goalie were our exposed players.

I dont think he will make it long. The next GM will benefit from his strategy of taking guys who have a higher floor but low ceiling in the later rounds. The top end of the roster will struggle unless he gets Aho lucky again.

Aho lucky?

Getting a super star in the 2nd round

Oh, right, yeah, that comes like once in a blue moon