After firing head coach Bylsma, Kraken names Francis president of hockey ops, Botterill GM

After firing head coach Dan Bylsma, the Seattle Kraken have promoted longtime general manager Ron Francis to president of hockey operations, with assistant Jason Botterill taking over day-to-day responsibilities.

The shakeup announced Tuesday comes after the Kraken missed the playoffs for the third time in four years and regressed in Bylsma's only season behind the bench.

"These changes reflect our commitment to becoming a sustained playoff team," owner Samantha Holloway said in a statement. "Ron has done an excellent job of building our hockey operations and setting a solid foundation. Our new enhanced structure will allow Ron to continue shaping our long-term vision while empowering Jason day to day."

Francis had been in charge since not long after Seattle's ownership group was granted an NHL expansion franchise. He and Botterill are now tasked with finding a coach and repairing a roster that is lacking in elite talent.

This is Botterill's second GM job in the league after he ran the Buffalo Sabres from 2017-20.

"We are focused on taking the next step as a franchise, and for us, next season starts now," Botterill said. "From roster decisions to player development, we will do everything we can to build a team that can compete for the playoffs every year and ultimately bring a Stanley Cup to Seattle."

That did not happen under Bylsma. The Kraken this past season finished 35-41-6 for 76 points — 20 back of the second and final wild-card spot in the Western Conference — after 81 in 2023-24 for previous head coach Dave Hakstol.

Bylsma had been promoted from within after coaching the American Hockey League's Coachella Valley Firebirds to back-to-back Calder Cup Finals before losing to Hershey. He won the Stanley Cup as Pittsburgh's coach in 2009 and remained with the Penguins through 2014, winning the Jack Adams Award as coach of the year in 2011.

This was his third head-coaching job in the NHL after an ill-fated two-year stint with Buffalo from 2015-17. Bylsma is the third coach fired in as many days after Anaheim moved on from Greg Cronin and the New York Rangers dismissed Peter Laviolette.

Lamoriello won't return to Isles' front office

Lou Lamoriello is out as president and general manager of the New York Islanders, after the team said Tuesday the longtime NHL executive's contract was not being renewed.

Managing partner John Collins will lead a search to find the Islanders' next GM.

"The Islanders extend a heartfelt thank you to Lou Lamoriello for his extraordinary commitment over the past seven years," the team said in a statement. "His dedication to the team is in line with his Hall of Fame career."

Lamoriello, 82, spent the past seven years running the Islanders' hockey operations with a close connection to ownership. They missed the playoffs this season but qualified five times under Lamoriello's watch, including a trip to the Eastern Conference final in the 2020 "bubble" during the coronavirus pandemic.

A Hall of Famer in the builders category, Lamoriello's old-school approach with everything from not sharing information to banning facial hair for players and coaches made him a rarity in modern hockey and arguably played a part in stagnating the once widely successful franchise. It is now more than four decades removed from the dynasty days when the Islanders won the Cup four years in a row from 1980-83.

Moving on from Lamoriello puts the entire organization in flux, including the future of the rest of the front office and coaching staff. Lamoriello hired Patrick Roy as coach in January 2024 to replace Lane Lambert.

Son Chris Lamoriello has worked for the Islanders since 2016, originally as director of player personnel, and was promoted to assistant GM to work for his father in 2018.

Agent Dan Milstein called Lou Lamoriello "one of the greatest minds and most respected leaders our sport has ever known."

"It's been an absolute privilege to work with him over the years," Milstein wrote in a social media post. "His impact on the game — and on all of us who've had the honor to work with and sometimes against him — goes far beyond wins and losses. He brought professionalism, discipline and integrity to everything he touched. [He is] a true legend whose legacy will stand the test of time."