Seattle Kraken claim New York Islanders forward Jordan Eberle in NHL expansion draft

The rumor circulated early in the day that forward Jordan Eberle is the New York Islanders player the Seattle Kraken would select in their NHL expansion draft.

With Seattle’s roster due to the league on Wednesday morning, names like Eberle leaked out during the day (mostly from Franck Seravalli, although Eberle’s name comes from several other reporters), but it was not yet clear if and what the Islanders might have sent to Seattle to direct them to Eberle instead of, say, Josh Bailey.

On the surface, it shouldn’t have taken much to do it, otherwise the Islands could easily have protected Bailey instead of Cal Clutterbuck or Matt Martin. (Right? Right?!) But the fixed salary cap and Islanders cap issues shift the variables somewhat. The Islands have yet to sign several important restricted free agents, and they hope to re-sign unrestricted free agent Casey Cizikas – whose presence and chemistry make Clutterbuck and Martin more valuable than they would otherwise be – and they also have professed the desire to bring back the acquisition of the Kyle Palmieri transaction deadline.

Either way, after clearing just over $ 10million in cap with Nick Leddy’s trade ($ 5.5million in cap, although they clawed back half of Richard Panik’s cap in trade) and Andrew Ladd’s defenestration ($ 5.5 million), the Islanders are now making $ 5.5 million more with Seattle’s Eberle claim. Arthur Staple estimated their current space at $ 17.6 million, plus a possible additional margin to break the cap of $ 6 million again with Johnny Boychuk’s LTIR).

Eberle is signed for three more years and has been a productive goalscorer alongside Mathew Barzal. In four seasons, he scored 76 goals in the regular season, plus 13 more and 21 assists in 49 playoff games. Was he streaked? Yes, as are most scorers. Was he productive and a game changer? Yes too.

It will need to be replaced, and it’s hard to see where equal production can be earned for less than its cap, but the Islands may have their eyes on a perceived upgrade, more Palmieri, a reallocation of their cap, or even a completely different approach to the Barzal line. Anders Lee is usually on Barzal’s other wing, but he will return from a knee injury that required surgery and ended his 2020-21 season, so it may take some time if he returns to its pre-injury form.

Much is still moving as the islands look to narrow their 2021-22 roster. They made it clear that they had to lose an additional $ 5 million to feel comfortable, and with Eberle’s tenure spanning three years in a still flat world, her departure maximizes future flexibility in that direction. .

Now it is a question of what the islands do with this new space.