SEATTLE (AP) — Ron Francis will step down as president of hockey operations at the end of the season, the Seattle Kraken announced Wednesday.
Francis, 63, was promoted from his longtime role as general manager last April, shortly after the Kraken fired coach Dan Bylsma. The Kraken said the decision was mutually agreed upon to have Francis step down at the end of the season.
In their fifth season, the Kraken are 32-34-11, have lost 10 of their last 11 games and are tied with the New York Rangers for the fourth-fewest points (75) of any team in the NHL.
“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,” co-owner Tod Leiweke said in a statement. “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."
Barring a late surge and some help from the teams ahead of them in the standings, the Kraken are in line to finish their third straight season without a playoff appearance. Seattle has not qualified for the Stanley Cup playoffs since the 2022-23 season, in which they lost in the second round to the Dallas Stars in seven games.
“It has been an honor to help launch and lead the Seattle Kraken over the past seven years,” Francis said in a statement. “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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FILE - Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis speaks during an NHL hockey news conference, July 3, 2024, in Seattle. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — A group of new accounts on the prediction market Polymarket made highly specific, well-timed bets on whether the U.S. and Iran would reach a ceasefire on April 7, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars in profits for these new customers.
These bets were made even though, in the hours before a two-week ceasefire was announced on Tuesday, President Donald Trump’s rhetoric had escalated sharply and there were few signals that a ceasefire deal was imminent. Early in the day Trump had issued a warning on social media that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran did not meet his demand to open the Strait of Hormuz by his 8 p.m. ET deadline.
An analysis of publicly available blockchain data from Polymarket, using the crypto analytics platform Dune, shows that at least 50 accounts, or wallets, placed substantial “Yes” bets Tuesday before Trump announced the ceasefire in a Truth Social post at around 6:30 pm ET. These were the first bets made by these particular wallets.
One of these wallets, created Tuesday around 10 am ET, placed roughly $72,000 in bets at an average price of 8.8 cents. The buy-in for each betting event ranges from $0 to $1 each, reflecting a 0% to 100% chance of what users think could happen. This Polymarket user then cashed out for a profit of $200,000.
Another, which joined the platform on April 6 and traded on this exact event, shows a win of $125,500.
Another wallet, created 12 minutes before Trump’s post, made $31,908 of “Yes” bets at 33.7 cents, and is estimated to have earned a profit of $48,500. The higher price for “Yes” at that time may have reflected the efforts late Tuesday by the government of Pakistan to get Trump to extend his deadline by two weeks.
There is also the possibility that these individual Polymarket users placed their bets expecting Trump to back down, given his habit during his second term to make bold threats only to retreat — a phenomenon his critics have derided as “Trump Always Chickens Out,” or TACO.
While some users took handsome profits, others must wait for payouts because Polymarket has labeled the April 7 Iran-U.S. ceasefire contract as “disputed,” given that Iran was still placing restrictions on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz and missile attacks in the region continued. That dispute could take 48 hours to resolve.
Public blockchain data cannot identify who controls the new wallets. Polymarket uses proxy smart contract wallets, meaning a single user can create multiple accounts. Only Polymarket has the internal data needed to determine whether these were new users or existing users opening additional accounts.
Polymarket did not respond to a request for comment.
Rep. Blake Moore, R-Utah, who has introduced legislation to regulate prediction markets, released a statement Wednesday saying: “It’s highly unlikely that these are good-faith trades; it’s much more likely that these are insiders with access to information ahead of the public. Without some kind of restrictions, there is nothing stopping government or military officials from profiting from their positions.”
The trading pattern of newly created Polymarket accounts placing strategic, well-timed bets mirrors earlier episodes on the platform. Newly created accounts placed large wagers hours before the January capture of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, and made hundreds of thousands of dollars in profit. Similar clusters of accounts have also repeatedly profited from well-timed bets on military actions involving Iran.
Such bets have repeatedly raised questions from the public as well as members of Congress about whether some traders are using inside information to profit in these prediction markets. Bipartisan groups of senators as well as representatives have introduced legislation that would broaden the definition of insider trading to include prediction markets.
Even the two biggest platforms in the industry, Kalshi and Polymarket, have said they see a need to broaden the definition of insider trading on their platforms.
“This is why these markets need regulation,” said Todd Philips, a professor at Georgia State University who has written on prediction markets and the industry’s regulations. “We can’t have people trading with inside information and expect other traders are going to be OK being in these markets.”
Keller reported from Albuquerque, N.M.
A government supporter chants slogans during a gathering after the announcement of a two-week ceasefire with the United States and Israel in Tehran, Iran, Wednesday, April 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
