SEATTLE — After the Kraken finish their third straight season without a playoff run next week, team architect Ron Francis is set to step down from his role as president of hockey operations.

The decision was mutually agreed upon, according to a team release.

“Ron and I agreed that this is the right moment to make a thoughtful transition for both Ron and the organization, and move in a new direction,” Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke said in the release. “From a small office in Lower Queen Anne to the 32nd NHL franchise, Ron’s leadership and vision were instrumental in building this franchise from the ground up.

“Under his stewardship, we reached the playoffs in our second season, and he leaves behind a strong foundation of draft picks and promising prospects that will continue to shape the future of the team. We are grateful for his dedication and professionalism, and we wish Ron and his family the very best.”

Francis, 63, was named the franchise’s first general manager on July 17, 2019. His job title shifted last summer and assistant GM Jason Botterill was promoted to GM. Botterill will remain in his role and lead hockey operations.

Francis was a key figure during the 2021 expansion draft. He helped select the team’s first coach, Dave Hakstol, who oversaw the first three seasons of Kraken hockey.

The Kraken extended Francis’ contract through the 2026-27 season, shortly after their lone postseason appearance in 2023. After a dismal inaugural season, the second-year franchise surged to 100 points and an upset of the defending champion Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. The future appeared bright.

But it didn’t last, and the Kraken have floundered. Lane Lambert is their third coach in three years. They never contended in Dan Bylsma’s lone season, and the bottom dropped out around the trade deadline twice, in Hakstol’s final season at the helm and the current one. With five games remaining, Seattle is tied for the fourth-fewest points in the 32-team NHL.

The Kraken entered the Olympic break in a playoff spot but flamed out almost as soon as play resumed. They have dropped 10 of 11 games and 16 of 21 since the Milan-Cortina Winter Games.

Much of the growing anger among fans seems to be directed at Francis, who couldn’t replicate the Vegas Golden Knights’ early successes in Seattle. Part of that is unfair — GMs were wiser and warier after Vegas’ 2017 expansion draft. But Francis was never able to lure a star to Seattle, and none of the Kraken’s first-round draft picks at forward have developed into one yet. Their aging expansion-draft core, with modest free-agent acquisitions and trade pickups mixed in, has struggled to generate offense.

To add further insult, Kraken fans watched as players the team let walk away — Morgan Geekie and Tye Kartye are two examples — found greater success with new teams.

This was the second NHL front office for Francis, a center who played 22 NHL seasons and was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2007. After retiring, he started climbing within the Carolina Hurricanes organization and worked there for 12 seasons. He was the Hurricanes’ general manager from 2014-18. Carolina didn’t make the playoffs during that stretch.

Botterill, who has been with the Kraken franchise since shortly before the inaugural season began, took over the day-to-day roster management last April while Francis oversaw “the hockey operations department as the main link between ownership, the senior executive group, the business and the team,” according to the Kraken. Francis and Botterill continued working together closely.

Botterill has been calling many of the shots for roughly a year now, but the bones were assembled by Francis. It’s clearly not going well, and Kraken ownership didn’t wait until the end of the season to turn the page.

“It has been an honor to help launch and lead the Seattle Kraken over the past seven years,” Francis said in the release. “I am proud of the culture we built, the people we brought together, and the milestones we achieved, including our historic first playoff run.

“I want to thank our entire ownership group, everyone throughout the organization, and our incredible fans for their unwavering support. This organization has a bright future, and I’m grateful to have been part of its beginning.”

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