Ron Francis out as Hurricanes GM

[Willie Dog]

He is now President of Hockey Ops.. . Which means Carolina is looking for a GM... I am sure Julien Brisebois is high on their list

[folatre]

This is reality. Francis was the picture of patience with his young core but he is in year four and the fluidity (and uncertainty) that comes with day to day judging what it takes to make the team better did not seem to be his strength. As President, he will be a sounding board strategically, add the right quotient of gravitas, and represent the club in various points of contact with stakeholders (the league office, fans, charities, media, etc.).

Willie, without a doubt, Tampa is seen as a model organisation and I imagine BriseBois is high on the list of many clubs (Carolina, Seattle, Detroit, Islanders, Edmonton, Calgary). I wonder if Geoff Molson ever asks himself, if I handed my General Manager his walking papers tomorrow morning, who would be beating down the door to hire Bergevin as their GM.

[seventeen]

From what I've read, the GM will report directly to the owner, not the president of hockey Ops, which looks like a job with a desk and no responsibility. In other words, Francis has been fired without the honour of actually being fired.

He didn't make a single person for person trade during his tenure, (2014). His strength seems to be building up the franchise's assets via the draft and in hiring an excellent coach, Bill Peters. His downfall, as with so many coaches and GM's was his inability to attract or develop (not at the job long enough to develop) a goaltender. Carolina is one of the best possession teams in the NHL, but lack finish (remind you of anybody?) and have experienced weak goaltending, which crushes team spirit. Eerily similar to another team (despite supposedly having a great goalie). We can only hope the GM story finishes the same way.

At centre, the Canes have Teuvo Terevainen a rising player, and Jordan Staal. They also have Sebastian Aho and of course, Jeff Skinner. Not as good as us, but better at centre (who isn't?). The back line is a different story. Slavin, Hanifin, Faulk and Pesce are miles better than Montreal's, and in the pipeline they have Jake Bean and Haydn Fleury. Last year, they drafted Martin Necas, a centre, and he's looking very good.

The likelihood is that Carolina will be better next year than Montreal, and if they can get a goalie, they will take several leaps up the table. Yet Francis gets fired and we still get to look at MB's lovely personage. Lucky us.

Personally, I think the new owner is showing himself to be tad impatient. Carolina looks a lot like Winnipeg of a few years ago, developing the strength up the middle and on defense, but needing a goalie badly. The new owner is a good friend of Mark Cuban of the Dallas Mavericks and Cuban is more or less the GM of the Mavericks. If you're a really knowledgable guy I guess you can do the job as owner, but if you're not....recipe for disaster. Dundon knows nothing about hockey as he himself has stated. He'll know business practices, but one key business practice is hiring the right people for the job.

Pacioretty would have been a good fit in Carolina. I don't know if Berg and Francis had any talks. What we do know is that the GM's all thought Berg was asking too much. Personally I would have accepted Jake Bean and a draft pick for Pacioretty or Necas and a draft pick. Berg wanted more according to reports.

[blny]

Scott Darling was their gamble last Summer. He hasn't worked out in his first year, and Cam Ward took over when it was planned for him to be a mentor.

Along with Brisebois, Fenton in Nashville and Mark Hunter in Toronto will get serious looks.

[Disgruntled70sHab]

Mar 8, 2018 11:57:51 GMT -5 blny said:

Mark Hunter ...

Check!

[Willie Dog]

Mar 8, 2018 12:15:37 GMT -5 Disgruntled70sHab said:

Mar 8, 2018 11:57:51 GMT -5 blny said:

Mark Hunter ...

Check!

Being a former Hab might help.... or hurt