Vegas Hockey Knight
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Six lessons Seattle franchise can learn from the Vegas Golden Knights

By Andrew Steele-Davis

SEA ISLAND, GA - DECEMBER 04: (L to R) Adrian Hanauer, NHL Seattle franchise Vice-Chairman David Wright, Jay Deutsch, Jerry Bruckheimer, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NHL Seattle franchise majority owner David Bonderman, Len Potter, and NHL Seattle franchise President and CEO Tod Leiweke pose for a photo during the NHL Board of Governors Meeting on December 4, 2018 in Sea Island, Georgia. The NHL Board of Governors approved expanding to Seattle, making the franchise the 32nd team in the league. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images)
SEA ISLAND, GA - DECEMBER 04: (L to R) Adrian Hanauer, NHL Seattle franchise Vice-Chairman David Wright, Jay Deutsch, Jerry Bruckheimer, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman, NHL Seattle franchise majority owner David Bonderman, Len Potter, and NHL Seattle franchise President and CEO Tod Leiweke pose for a photo during the NHL Board of Governors Meeting on December 4, 2018 in Sea Island, Georgia. The NHL Board of Governors approved expanding to Seattle, making the franchise the 32nd team in the league. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/NHLI via Getty Images) /
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VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – JUNE 22: (L-R) Kelly McCrimmon and George McPhee of the Vegas Golden Knights attend the 2019 NHL Draft at the Rogers Arena on June 22, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA – JUNE 22: (L-R) Kelly McCrimmon and George McPhee of the Vegas Golden Knights attend the 2019 NHL Draft at the Rogers Arena on June 22, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

1. Surround yourself with good people

Now he’s in place, Ron Francis’ first job as General Manager of the Seattle franchise will be to start building the organization from the inside out, and by that we mean appointing front office members, scouts, coaching staff and, ultimately, a head coach.

We will touch on what qualities Francis should look for in a potential head coach candidate shortly, but first it is important he has people around him on a daily basis that he can trust and that will, ultimately, buy into his beliefs, share the same vision and carry an identical work ethic.

Take the relationship between President of Hockey Operations George McPhee and General Manager Kelly McCrimmon at the Vegas Golden Knights as a case in point. McPhee recruited McCrimmon as his Assistant General Manager on August, 2, 2016 and the duo immediately developed a close-knit chemistry that ultimately laid the foundations for the success that has followed in Sin City.

They slogged away for months in the build-up to the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, putting in place a plan that shaped the team’s immediate future as they collected a haul of players who meshed together perfectly to form a formidable Stanley Cup contender overnight.

McPhee could trust McCrimmon along with the inner circle they built around them and they quickly established a new blueprint for how to not only build an NHL franchise, but sculpt a team in their image that would not only challenge hockey’s upper more established powerhouses from day one, but be competitive for the long-term.

The bond forged between the two executives is so strong that, when faced with the possible scenario of losing McCrimmon to a team like the Edmonton Oilers earlier this summer, McPhee made the ultimate sacrifice by stepping up to a President’s role and giving his good friend and confidant the GM gig to ensure that this dream tandem remained intact.

Francis will no doubt already be utilising his extensive contacts book in order to find an Assistant General Manager, and he will need to follow in McPhee’s footsteps by choosing someone he can trust, work with for days on end and, ultimately, someone that will share his vision for how to execute the build of an NHL franchise.

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