Burakovsky Playing For Team Sweden A Plus For Kraken, Says GM Francis

Whoever came up with the term "off-season" never talked to an NHL general manager.

Seattle Kraken GM Ron Francis and his front office have a packed dance care between now and training camp in September.

"The players stop playing, but on the management side, the scouting side, we still have a lot of stuff to do," Francis recounted at a Monday press conference.  "The U-18's start in Finland, so our people are going there for that."

(Francis is referring to an international tournament for players age 17 and under, which got underway April 25 and runs through May 5.)

"The World Championships start after that." Several 2023-24 Kraken will represent their native countries in Czechia at the tournament starting May 10:

• Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (France)
• Tomas Tatar (Slovakia)
• Philipp Grubauer (Germany)
• Andre Burakovsky (Sweden)
• Jared McCann, Brandon Tanev, Jamie Oleksiak (Canada)

Several other Kraken declined invitations. Vince Dunn would probably have been a natural for Team Canada, except he's still recovering from a March neck injury.

"The combine happens the early part of June," the GM continued. "Then we have the draft. Then we have free agency. We have dev (prospect development) camp. There's a lot of things we're doing."

Francis also mentioned determining which Kraken free agents, both restricted and unrestricted, will be offered new contracts. Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen are the only players in this category certain to return.

Back to the World Championships, Francis named one player he's especially happy will have a chance to continue competing. The GM explains why Burakovsky is that player in this Kraken Reaction video.