Seattle's NHL expansion team has announced its general manager Ron Francis, a Hall of Famer and a two-time Stanley Cup winner.
He will have complete control of operations under Seattle Hockey Partners CEO Tod Leiweke.
The yet-to-be-named team will debut in 2021. The Seattle club said it has more than 32,000 season ticket deposit holders and another 25,000 on a waiting list.
Francis had a prolific NHL career. He finished with 1,798 points in 1,731 games over 23 seasons for the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins, where he won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992.