The Sheet with Jeff Marek - On the Sheet: Alison Lukan on Ron Francis, Kraken Direction & NHL Front Office Evolution

Episode Date: April 9, 2026

Jeff Marek and Greg Wyshynski welcome Seattle Kraken analyst Alison Lukan to The Sheet to break down the biggest questions surrounding the Kraken organization following the news around Ron Francis and the direction of the franchise. Lukan discusses whether the criticism of Francis for a lack of “bold moves” is fair, the original five-year plan for the expansion franchise, and how the team’s early playoff success may have actually altered that long-term strategy. The conversation also explores the importance of decision-making structure in modern NHL front offices, the balance between hockey experience and analytics, and how organizations are evolving as the business side of the sport grows.They also dive into the Kraken roster, the impact of players like Matty Beniers, Brandon Montour, Philipp Grubauer, and the debate around the Chandler Stephenson contract. Lukan shares insight into the culture being built in Seattle, the growth of youth hockey in the market, and how the franchise is positioning itself long-term with Todd Leiweke and ownership looking to push the organization forward.From front office philosophy to expansion team realities and the future of the Kraken, this is a deep dive into one of the NHL’s most interesting organizations.Subscribe to the Daily Faceoff YouTube channel for more NHL analysis, interviews, and daily hockey coverage.#NHL #SeattleKraken #RonFrancis #JeffMarek #GregWyshynski #AlisonLukan #Hockey #DailyFaceoff #TheSheet #NHLNews #MattyBeniers #BrandonMontour #PhilippGrubauer #ChandlerStephensonChapters:0:00 Alison Lukan joins the show0:30 Could Alison Lukan work in an NHL front office?1:10 Why modern NHL teams are becoming more data-driven2:20 Do you need hockey experience to work in management?3:25 Skillset vs hockey background in front offices4:25 The evolution of NHL decision making5:10 Why communication matters in leadership roles6:20 Ron Francis and the Kraken criticism7:05 Did Seattle lack bold moves under Francis?8:00 How the Kraken’s playoff run changed the long-term plan9:00 The Chandler Stephenson contract debate10:10 Coaching changes and stability in Seattle11:10 Lane Lambert’s impact this season12:00 Matty Beniers’ development and leadership13:10 Seattle sports market pressure and the return of the Sonics14:25 The Kraken’s youth hockey impact in Seattle16:30 Growing the sport and community involvement17:45 The growth of women’s hockey and expansion19:20 How the Olympic spotlight impacts women’s hockey21:10 The challenge of building stars outside the Olympic cycle22:10 Early Stanley Cup playoff thoughtsLeave a voicemail: https://www.speakpipe.com/TheSheetEmail us: [e-mail] TO OUR SPONSORS!!👍🏼 Fan Duel: https://www.fanduel.com/👍🏼 Ninja: https://www.sharkninja.ca/ninja-crispi-pro-6-in-1-countertop-glass-air-fryer-rose-quartz/AS101CRS.html?utm_source=Meta&utm_medium=Paid+Social&utm_campaign=H1NinjaCrispi&utm_content=NinjaEN&dwvar_AS101CRS_color=cdb9b8Reach out to [e-mail] to connect with our Sales Team and discuss opportunities to partner with us!If you liked this, check out:🚨 OTT - Coming in Hot Sens | https://www.youtube.com/c/thewallyandmethotshow🚨 TOR - LeafsNation | https://www.youtube.com/@theleafsnation401🚨 EDM - OilersNation | https://www.youtube.com/@Oilersnationdotcom🚨 VAN - CanucksArmy | https://www.youtube.com/@Canucks_Army🚨 CGY - FlamesNation | https://www.youtube.com/@FNBarnBurner🚨 Daily Faceoff Fantasy & Betting | www.youtube.com/@DFOFantasyandBetting____________________________________________________________________________________________Connect with us on ⬇️Link Tree: https://linktr.ee/daily_faceoff💻 Website: https://www.dailyfaceoff.com🐦 Follow on twitter: https://x.com/DailyFaceoff💻 Follow on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dailyfaceoffDaily Faceoff Merch:https://nationgear.ca/collections/daily-faceoff Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

From the Too Many Men podcast, a contributor, of course, with Seattle Crack and someone that, the minute we saw the news yesterday, there was only one choice to come and talk about this. Someone who we mentioned the other day is, listen, Mike Johnson said he'd be interested in a management position. We'll start off the interview here before we talk about Ron Francis and the Seattle Crack. Have you ever thought about working in management, Allison? Well, it's great to see you both. I love you both. Although Greg is going to be my first choice for agents since he's one that brought me up and you didn't. But, no, listen, I think it's funny.

I feel like all of this talk of suddenly people and teams deciding they need to do studies and bring in research firms is proving my past career to be relevant. I mean, and listen, who wouldn't want to be part of working in a front office? I think it would be incredible. And I think it's funny to me, you know, everyone's, everyone latched onto that data-driven comment. And I apologize, I'm at morning skate. So we have pucks. No, ambient sound in the industry. We have ambient sound behind us.

Perfect. That's a crossbar. That's a plexiglass. Go ahead. Perfect. But the data-driven comment that was made, everyone is latching on to analytics and things like this. But for me and my background and what I heard is we have to, hockey is a business.

And we have to transition hockey to operate like other businesses do. And that's not to say that people haven't made good decisions. it's that now you have to any decision, you can't just say, this guy skates good, you have to have return on investment. You have to provide a pathway to why you're making the decision you're going to make, what the repercussions are, what the risks are, what the percentage chance of getting to your goal is, how it helps you meet your goals. And that's not just analytics. The data is not the issue. It's the decision-making process, and it's the questions you're asking of the data. And I used to do that a lot. So if anyone needs help learning how to do

Do it. Have you, have you updated, hang on, have you updated your resume recently? I have, I, I, you know what, I don't even know if I have a current resume right now, actually. I don't think I've updated mine since maybe like AOL sports, but don't, don't, don't, don't flatter yourself, Craig. Don't flatter yourself. I mean, what's, I mean, what's on it? I worked at Burger King in high school and then I worked out of him. From there to puck daddy.

One of the things I found interesting about all this stuff, Allison, is like, it does seem, though, that there needs to be some part of your experience as someone who's, you know, data driven that's going to make the hockey men calm down. Like Eric Tolski had to be an AGM before he became the GM. Sunday might have been an AGM in Florida, won two Stanley Cups. You know, the Leafs and Devils have permission to talk to him. And now he's got some hockey bona fides. Do you think it still is a situation where even if you have a great track record, even if you're brilliant, even if you have the respect to your peers, you still have to be like in the front office and having done the job before someone's going to hire you.

Yeah, you know, when I was a consultant, I always used to talk about consulting in this way, is that to be good at the job, you have, there's two tracks. And the first track is the industry in which you're working, and the second track is the skill set which you bring. And I always believed that you have to be really strong in one. And if you are, I can teach you the other one. So to answer your question, I think you do have to come to understand hockey, but if you have the skill set, you can bring that to hockey.

And I even look at, and I know we're going to get into crack and stuff here too, I do a series called From the Front Office, where we sit down with front office and coaching personnel. And we just were fortunate enough to have Alexander Mandricki, one of the assistant GMs out here on it. And I love watching her career thrive. And just hearing how she has, she's brilliant in data, of course, But it was impressive how much her success has been about bringing process and structure

and a decision-making structure to hockey. And I think that, to answer your question, Greg, you have to have some hockey. But if you're really good at structure or if you're really good at process, or if you're really good at contract negotiation and you are passionate about learning about hockey and you will learn about hockey, you can bring that in. Experience matters, but in which of those two tracks? It seems as if, and you're right, we're getting to crack it after this question, it seems as if this is the way I've been positioned in this sort of,

this next generation of managers in the NHL. And baseball got there 20 years ago, 25 years ago. It is becoming less and less about did you play and more and more about can you think. That's the way it feels to me. Case in point, Julian Breesbois, for example. No one questions Julian Breesbois at all, but go look at his hockey DB. You know what I'm talking? More and more, it's not about did you skate and shoot frozen cow patties off the barn and swift current?

And more and more about can you think? Can you understand? Yeah, I would add, can you think and can you communicate? Because if you can think, but you can't communicate, you're not going to get buy in. I do think if we look at the spheres of influence in a hockey organization, I think your hockey knowledge has to be the closer you are to the day to day of the team. Right? Like obviously your coach can't just be a data-driven decision maker. Your coach has to understand that life and the industry in which they work, he or she.

So, you know, the spectrum of what I don't want to discount the importance of knowing this game and knowing the incredible mental fortitude and strikes of players and coaches. But I'm thrilled that hockey seems to be dragging its feet into the fact that We are all businesses and we can operate better and therefore be more successful if we do. I think it was ultimately going to get here because of the dollars involved. Where once upon a time, like when Garrett, when Betman took over in 93, okay, it was a league and it made a couple of bucks, but nothing close to where it's at now. I think that when you start to see, you know, billions of dollars being thrown around,

it was going to get here inevitably anyhow. And just like, because at the end of the day, it's hockey, it gets. their last. Anyhow. Greg, go ahead. All right, cracking. I don't know how much. Yeah, I don't know how much you can get into, obviously, but like in talking to people

over the last 24 hours, one of the words that kept on coming up was or words, I should say, phrases, lack of boldness when it came to Ron Francis in the way he managed the team. Like there weren't enough big swings. There was a contentment that was there that seemed to manifest over the course of five seasons.

Is that how you saw it play out when he was sort of had his hand on the wheel for that franchise? Yeah, I mean, I understand the analysis. I think, you know, and I think part of what everyone's feel, we just talked about being business, but fans are not business, right? So I think a part of what everyone's feeling right now is that if you go back, myself included, to September, start of October, and said this team would be playing relevant hockey in March,

I think everyone would have been thrilled. The problem is this team achieved. even more and was in a playoff position for the vast majority of the season leading up to the Olympic break. And now something has broken. And it's not systems. There wasn't a big roster change. And the disappointment of that was unexpected and huge. And so I think that that is leading to this emotional reaction. When I look at lack of bold moves, I almost think what we have to realize is it was a bold act that actually kind of threw off the plan. and that was making the playoffs in year two.

Ron Francis came in and said we have this five-year plan. We're going to build from within. We're going to draft good players. We're going to build them up through our system, develop them, and then we're going to be great and be able to cost control the roster. And it's going to be awesome. And then in a year where Connor Bedard goes first overall, this team in their second year of existence makes the playoffs,

which was amazing for fan development and amazing for revenue. But now you're picking 20th instead of maybe among, a top four that would have helped really solidify what Ron was trying to do here. So now you're caught. You're caught in this tension of matching what happened in year two, but still trying to stick to a plan. Is Ron a bold swinger? Maybe not, but, you know, he wasn't saying he was going to be. He had a different plan in mind, perhaps. And, you know, it's one of the big points of contention in Crackenland is the Chandler-Stevenson contract. And is it going to look bad? a couple years. Maybe I happen to be a fan of the player when he's playing at his highest level,

but how many teams this year were screaming that they didn't have center depth? The Cracken were not one of them. So do you overpay for security at a position that you know you're going to need? You know, is that bad or good? So is Ron Francis a bold swinger? Maybe not, but I think his plan got a little derailed. And I think what you have to look at now is I think the Cracken are trying to change that perception with the reports of them going after Panarin and and some of the things that Todd Lightwiki just shared with us this morning. Yeah. You know, one of the things that I keep coming back to with,

and this is true of any expansion team, actually, I remember talking to Ryan Nugent Hopkins about this at a Players Tour interview a couple of years ago, and that is when you have a team of really, really young players, the one thing they need is a consistency behind the bench. And Nugent Hopkins was like, look, I've had like eight coaches in 10 years. Like, imagine what I would be like if I had, like, one coach for five.

Eisenman made the same point when he started with a Tret Red Wing, just running down the entire laundry list of coaches that he had when he started. Initially was supposed to be Rick Tocke. And then something happened between Francis and Tocke. And it didn't end up happening. And then it was Dave Haxthal and then Dan Bilesma. And now it's Lane Lambert. Do you look at what's happened on the ice with the Cracken?

And do you ever say to yourself, man, if there could have only been one coach for the Shane Wrights and the Maddie Baneers and all in Berkeley Caton now and all these players, how much different could things be? Yeah, I mean, I think, and to kind of maybe spoil the lead, Todd LeWiki spoke with us about an hour ago. And one of the things he shared is I joked off the top is that the Cracken are going to be undertaking an audit of all of their hockey operations side to make sure that they're achieving and striving towards excellence, which is how Todd Laiwiki likes to explain it in terms of what the Cracken organization is all about. So, you know, they're going to look at everything, and I think they have to. When you're changing coaches, of course, that matters. Counterpoint, you can't keep the wrong coach, right?

So maybe the decisions weren't made properly at the time. But, you know, one thing that Todd Lightwicky was very strong about in his comments today when asked was he said, Lane Lambert has done a heck of a job coaching this season. And I agree. I think Lane has, again, we talk about them being in a playoff spot for the vast majority of this season. And I give a lot of that credit to Lane. And, you know, again, you talk about the consistency of coaching. It's, of course, an entire staff effort.

But this is the year to me that Maddie Baneers is really taking a step to being a full pro. Is he ever going to be, you know, a blazing scoring machine? I don't think that's his identity as a player. But when we look at when this team started to struggle and got to where they are now, there were guys who understood the moment. And those guys who stood out to me were Brandon Montor, Philip Grubauer, and Maddie Baneers, among others. And to see a young player take that,

I've got to try to will my team into this on the ice, was impressive to see from him. So one of the things I thought about when I saw the news last night was the timing of everything in the big picture. But that I mean, there is now a clock ticking down to the return to the Sonics in this market. And the Cracken have never been shy about talking about how they're not intimidated by how crowded the market is.

They've talked about how it's an advantage to them that people put their money into the sports ecosystem in Seattle because they can be a part of that. However, the Sonics are going to come back soon. And obviously, ownership is probably going to be a part of that effort. But my question to you is like, you know the market. When you're the Cracken and you haven't necessarily planted your flag as deep under the ground as Vegas has, for example, or maybe as Utah has, for example. Like how much pressure is there for them over the next three to four seasons to really make that effort before the NBA comes and starts vacuuming up all that money? Yeah, 100%. And Todd Laiwicki was asked that this morning.

And, you know, again, it is by very much too many men brand to say, how does this affect the Leafs? Which is this organization doesn't want to be caught saying, you know, oh, we didn't see Buffalo coming. Right? Like this is an organization that's aware. But I also, how Todd framed it this morning, and we talk about this when we talk about any sport, Todd framed it and said, the competition we have for ourselves to achieve success is internal. We're not going to wait for external forces to apply this pressure. I think we can all see economic realities. Anyone can in any market of any industry.

If there's five McDonald's in a square mile, do you want to open another McDonald's? You have to be sure, right? But I do think that this team has to be good for reasons that relate to this team. And I think that this market, I have been just amazed by their passion for sport and their ability to support multiple sports. I mean, even the Torrent games are selling out climate plodgerina. It's incredible to watch. And I think if you give them a winning product in a great building, I think people are going to keep coming. One of the ways that I always judge newer organizations,

in their first like 10 years of existence, 15 years of existence, is how is the youth hockey? Because that's like, that's the basis that sets you up. Like that many kids that are interested, those are one day going to turn into, you know, beer leaguers, but also season ticket holders.

Nashville has done a tremendous job with youth hockey. Anaheim has done a tremendous job with youth hockey. Columbus. Well, look at the junior bluejack. Hey, Sean Corral. Right this way. Hey, Kee, for sure. would right this way. Like you're at Columbus has done a great job with youth hockey. How is Seattle done?

Yeah, I think they're, I think that they're doing great things early. And, you know, I'm still waiting for you to come out here, Jeff. You promise me. I know. I was, hang on, I was going as of like two days ago to Seattle and then Everett. And it's still on the agenda, but now it got switched to Penticton and Colonna. But it is coming. Okay. It is. It is coming. Okay. But our practice Our practice facility is a three sheet. I was there for the winter classic. I was there for the winter classic. Come on.

That's something. I know, but you were like in and out. I didn't get to see you. I was very disappointed. Anyway, when the Krakken designed all of this, you know, one of the things they did that was so smart, we see what Vegas did with their practice facility. The Krakken said yes, and we will see you that and add.

And there's a three sheet facility that is constantly booked, which is where the Krakken offices are. It's where the Torrent practice. It's where the Krakken practice. And again, those sheets are packed and there's learned to play. We're seeing triple digit percentage increase, particularly in the women's side, in terms of people participating and playing and having access to a sport that they did not even have access to. And to that point, the One Roof Foundation, the charitable arm of the Cracken organization, has done a ton to bring people who, for reasons outside of their not even being a facility, couldn't have access to the sport, gaining access to the sport. And we're starting to see that passion.

you're starting to see people talk about their beer league teams. You're seeing Mara Wagner who plays on the Torrent, who coaches young girls here in Seattle. And Caitlin Parker, who grew up out here, is now part of the Cracken development team. So you're seeing roots start to grow. And I think the Cracken understand that assignment, take it very seriously and put their money where their mouth is.

I'll tell you what, I don't know if it's a contingency of expansion, expansion teams now. but I really do firmly believe that when you're applying for an expansion team, part of the process has to be, what are you doing for youth hockey in this market? Like whoever goes into Atlanta, okay, so what's your plan for the Atlanta junior flames or whatever, the junior thrashers, whatever they're going to be called? Okay, Houston, what is your plan for youth hockey? I don't know if that's part of the application process now, but I really do friendly because

that's, you want to talk about long-term sustained growth. It sticks in kids' hands, boys and girls. That's how you do it. It should be like the second thing that Batman asks after. Do you actually have money? Are you a criminal? Do you call you boots? Oh, what a deep pull that is.

Oh, wow. Okay, sorry, I appreciate that. Thank you. Alison, you mentioned the torrent a bunch of times. Let's talk about the PWHL for a sec. I mean, like, the selling out of large NHL arenas, be at the TD Garden in Boston, Madison Square Garden here in New York, has been one incredible story this year.

Obviously the Winter Olympics seems like it's been an accelerant for the league as well, as well as expansion been an accelerate for the league. Where are we now at the PWHL? What do you see as the next two or three years for this league? Yeah, I mean, leadership is talking another year of expansion. So it's going to be interesting to see where that goes. The coach in Vancouver has a true. comments that have been kind of making the rounds where he's commented on the two expansion teams out here,

West have a lot to learn just how to manage the travel and the demands of multi-week road trips. So I think, you know, that's an interesting thing to consider when you think about expansion as well. Does that aid in this? It grows opportunity for more players. And it certainly doesn't seem to slow down. I think in everything that happened at, at the Olympics, all of which was amazing for that team. I think that one of the things that Hillary Knight said,

and I remain in awe of her for a million reasons, but mostly for how she processed that moment and how she chose to address it and take it back for the women's team. And I think that the comment that doesn't get enough time for her is that this is about reframing how we talk about women's sports. And I think that that is what this league is doing, is that everyone who saw that team and rallied around that team and even Team Canada, as they should, now has an avenue to continue to express that passion

and that support because the PWHL is putting the brightest lights in a great way. And because expansion is coming, that means these rosters have the potential to get shook up all over again. So, you know, starting the season, Ken Clee out in Minnesota, their head coach said to me, he said, we have to be in win now mode because we can't plan for two to three years down the road. So there's an interesting wrinkle to how they think about team building right now compared to even a league like. the NHL, so it's a lot of fun. Okay, let's get totally irresponsible. I'll throw a name and then you throw a name.

Detroit for the next round of expansion. Detroit. I'm agnostic. You're agnostic on this one? Greg, you want to throw it, be irresponsible and throw names out that you heard? Yeah, Washington. Come on. I would, listen, I think it would be, that game was fantastic and sold out and that was a real

eye opener. See, I keep going back on whether they're going to do two and two. or they can do four all at once because the plan is to add four more four more teams before they look to to start selling them. I just don't know if it's going to be staggered or it's going to be all at once.

The only one that I keep hearing and people keep coming back to is Detroit. And they already started making the room. I don't know. I mean, you'd think that they would finally bring some form of organized women's hockey since Division I schools there can't seem to be bothered supporting programs.

Well, there is that. That is not lost on a lot of people. As you know, out that is the one say what? Yeah, precisely. Well, let me sort of close this conversation on this one too, and we'll stick with women's hockey. The challenge, I don't know how long it's going to take, is right now the stars are made at the Olympics. The next challenge for the PWHL, again, like, this is still a brand new. The challenge for the PWHL is to make a star outside of an Olympic cycle.

I don't know how long that takes, but that's going to be the next challenge. But I think it can be different, right? Because what we were just discussing is that you can now have hometown heroes that are stars. And you can have stars that start at the local level that grow up even if they don't play at the national level. I'll take Michaela Grant Mentis, who's playing out here with the Torrent. She is centering a line that has clicked that has developed an identity. She's also gone through some strife with some legal hits. against her. And the fans here love her. So we can have, I think, gradients of stars. You're always

going to look to the Olympics, of course, but we do that on the men's side as well. And so I think there's going to be the opportunity to not just have one tier of star. We're going to have more stars at different levels, which creates more passion from the fans, which creates more support, more involvement in the game, more players, and so on. By the way, that is Toronto's Michaela Grant Mentis, thank you very much. Actually, I think she's Brampton, so I think she's Brampton, so I want to Brandon be screaming at me, but well, claimer is our

own from Toronto. How about that? All right. I got one for, one more, one more for Allison, like, I can't believe if we're going to let this incredibly intelligent person go without bugging her about the Stanley Cup playoffs. Look, I know Seattle is still mathematically in it, so I'm going to caveat that.

Yeah. But assuming they don't get in, who do you like, what's what's your back of the cocktail napkin cup final right now. Oh, see, I've been so busy having to agree with Jeff and defend the fact that I like these first round matchups being best against best that I haven't

even gotten to the championship yet. Who cares about the cup? Just the first round. That's all I care about. I want a team to be at their best when they're playing the best, right? Versus being hobbled and broken when they play the best. So let me think about this. Who's going to make, see, I always

while you think about that, while you think about that. See, that is, I think, the essential difference between me and you guys in this playoff. I've heard your argument, Greg. My arguments are airtight, but like, I love, I prefer, my favorite time in the playoffs is when everyone on the battlefield has been felled, bodies with arrows strewned about the ground, and then you have two warriors, bloodied and battered who can barely stand up, and only one will leave the battlefield with their lives. Like, that's the part of the playoffs that I love more than the beginning of the fight. But remember, this is at the same time, everyone, when it was Team USA versus Canada, everyone said, well, they want Marie-Philippe Poulant to play because if they beat them without Marie-Philippe Poulant, it's going to be an asterisk.

So you can't have it both ways. Yeah, but we were lying. Of course we didn't want to play. She's like the best player. We were lying. Listen. Listen. Who would I pick?

For some reason, I always, I always have a soft. spot for Dallas. I don't know why. I agree. You know, Colorado, I almost need them to see a little bit more adversity. I don't wish ill on them, but I think it's come pretty easy and they have no power play. So how are we going to do this? So Dallas on the West and on the East. Do it. I want to do it. Say Columbus. You're all on. Do it. Do it. I want to say Buffalo.

That's what I wanted to say. I'm between Buffalo and Tampa. That's what I'm debating between. Can I pick three? Buffalo or Tampa versus Dallas. How about that? That's fine. That's great.

That's perfect. How come no one ever says sweet FAA about the Carolina Hurricanes? Every time, every time. I know we've seen them conference final, conference final. Flame out, intimidated by the Florida Panthers, blah, blah.

I come still, like, they're the riding. Dangerfield of the East. Well, I mean, I think it's... But the new one! No one! No fault other than their own! Yeah, that's exactly...

Allison just named the team that has the fourth best goaltending in the league this year, and the other team has Andre Vasileski. Like, to me, that's my biggest concern for Carolina right now is in goal. I think offensively, it's one of the deepest teams that they've ever had, but they're going back in the battle with the same damn problems I've always had between the pipes.

Bussiecon Smyth. Here we go. Bussiecon Smyth. The new kid. No, Lord, ladies' gentlemen. That's right. Patrick Caw. Ken Dryden.

We've kept you far too long. You're far too busy and important to be talking to two jokers like us for this long. So thank you, Allison, as always. And on a very newsy day, we appreciate you coming on. Well, I'm always honored to spend time with two of my very favorites in the world, even though I now know Greg loves me a little bit more. That's true. I have your best interest in mind.

Sorry I know. Sorry I had to find out like this. I'm sorry. Love you guys so much. Thank you for having me. Can we go to therapy and sort it out, Allison? Oh, there she goes out. We'll never find out.

Oh, boy. Ah, she's the last.