Those who know new Seattle Kraken assistant general manager Ryan Jankowski best describe him with a single word: “Passion.”
Jankowski once described that passion to the Calgary Herald. “I have been around hockey all my life, and it is just something that seems to be in my blood. I live for the game, and to be in the rink.”
The man who hired him this week in Seattle, general manager Jason Botterill, previously hired Jankowski in 2017 to lead his amateur scouting department in Buffalo. “There’s a passion that you have to have as a scout,” Botterill told GoPhnx.com in 2023. “As great as it is that Ryan gets paid to go watch hockey games, traveling as a crossover scout is an immense job. Different time zones into different cultures, working long hours.”
The Hockey Translated, Even If Seinfeld Didn’t
Botterill wasn’t exaggerating. As assistant GM and chief European scout for the Islanders, Jankowski estimated that in 2006-07, “You’re looking at 100,000 air miles plus. I saw 202 hockey games. Most of the time, you can’t be at home. You shouldn’t be at home to do this job properly. There’s a big commitment from that standpoint.”
Jankowski fondly remembers his three years based in Prague, overseeing a network of scouts. “It was an unbelievable time in my life. You’re going to all these countries for the first time; being alone in Moscow. You’re learning the different aspects of the countries.” The downside? “Being away for 28 days, coming home, flipping on the TV and seeing Seinfeld dubbed over in German.”
With the Kraken as he did with the Sabres, GM Botterill is sure to tap into Jankowski’s international experience. “That ability to further understand where people are coming from and what adversity they might be feeling just allows him to, one, make a proper evaluation, but then also help the player enter the organization when they do make the transition over to North America, and help them to become a successful NHL player.”
Botterill also pointed to Jankowski’s tenure as player personnel director for Hockey Canada, building rosters for international tournaments. “He’s gotten a very good feel for the different styles of the countries and what a European player goes through; some of the challenges that they have to experience in making an adjustment off the ice going from Europe to North America.”
The Family That Hockeys Together…
Dad Lou Jankowski had himself been a longtime NHL scout, with son Ryan tagging along on weekends.
“That’s how I grew up, on the road with him driving to Lethbridge or Medicine Hat or wherever it was. I would just sleep in the backseat while my dad drove home.” Though Ryan has also spent much of his adult life criss-crossing the globe in search of hockey talent, the younger Jankowski was once sure he’d never take such a job. “I said to my dad, ‘I don’t want to do what you did. I saw how much you were away and how much you traveled.'”
But as he told the Buffalo News, “Then I started going to the rink – I finished playing, just a Junior B career in Western Canada – and watching hockey; it was natural.” No wonder, given all the hockey-playing Jankowskis.
Before his scouting career, dad Lou had once played for the Red Wings alongside Gordie Howe, Ted Lindsay and Alex Delvecchio. Lou’s wife was the sister of Hockey Hall of Famer Red Kelly, who won eight Stanley Cups. Nephew Mark Jankowski, a center, has played 414 NHL games, splitting last season between Nashville and Carolina.
Mark recalled how special it was as a kid to know grandad Lou was in the stands. “We were pretty close, even though I would only see him a few times a year,” said Mark. “It was always more exciting when you knew he was at your games.”
What Jankowski Brings To The Kraken
Tim Speltz, at the time GM of the Spokane Chiefs, gave Jankowski his first scouting job.
“He was very flexible, (but) he wasn’t afraid when asked to have an opinion. None of us is always right, but he told us what he thought.”
TSN TV analyst and former NHL GM Craig Button is a longtime friend of Jankowski’s.
“He’s a bright guy, a thorough guy, a thoughtful guy. He understands all the different hockey cultures around the world. One of the things that I’ve always seen with Ryan is he takes responsibility for the things that don’t go right, and he’ll give praise to all the other people for the things that do go right. To me, that’s a leader.”
Former Sabres assistant GM Randy Sexton also noticed those qualities in Jankowski.
“A lot of leaders like to do all the talking. Ryan is certainly no shrinking violet on his own opinion, but I think one of the greatest strengths he has as a leader is he listens. He has tremendous listening skills.” Jason Botterill added, “He has an upbeat personality when he interacts with his staff.”
Seattle hired Jankowski away from Utah, where he was associate director of amateur scouting for five seasons under general manager Bill Armstrong.
“Ryan’s really good at managing, he’s really good at the details, he’s really good at getting stuff organized for all the meetings and making sure the schedules work.”
‘Believe In Your Dreams’
As Ryan Jankowski begins his second stint as an NHL assistant general manager, he hasn’t forgotten humble beginnings in the equipment room in amateur hockey. As he advised in a YouTube interview, “Never give up. Believe in your dreams. Have goals set and keep working at it and keep getting better.” Let’s hope the Kraken are listening.