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Adam Larsson (Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports)
The “dust has settled” cliché does not yet apply to the Seattle Kraken expansion project. The dust has not colonized. We don’t yet know what deals they might announce after the league-wide freeze is lifted at 1:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, or what additional UFAs they might sign on July 28, when the market opens for all 32 franchises.
What we do know, so far, is how every other team in the NHL positioned themselves coming out of an expansion draft in which no trades were made that would have qualified as “considerations. of expansion draft ”. According to NHL Assistant Commissioner Bill Daly, any transaction made in which Seattle took a player or avoided taking a player to help that player’s team in exchange for other assets should have been announced when the Kraken submitted. his team at 10:00 a.m. Wednesday. . So there were no rescue operations. Trade involving Seattle toppling the players he drafted on Wednesday can still happen, of course.
With no trades made on Wednesday, understanding the winners and losers after day one of the extension draft has more to do with the picks themselves than the deals made. Who came out in front or behind? Note that the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins did not make the “winner” list despite Minnesota retaining goaltender Kaapo Kahkonen and the Penguins losing left winger Brandon’s contract. Tanev. If we look at the entire expansion draft in the days leading up to it, the Wild have consistently paid punitive buyout prices for defenseman Ryan Suter and left winger Zach Parise, while the Penguins lost the Left winger Jared McCann on Tanev. So I would put these teams in a “break-even point at best” category.
Make way for winners and losers.
WINNER: Carolina Hurricanes
With all due respect to the potential of center Morgan Geekie, defenseman Jake Bean’s is higher, and right-winger Nino Niederreiter is a significant contributor to a Stanley Cup contender’s top six forwards. It was quite a blow for Carolina to keep both.
WINNER: Colorado Avalanche
The Avs want to re-sign FRG defender Cale Makar, UFA left winger Gabriel Landeskog and UFA goalkeeper Philipp Grubauer. They really needed Seattle to get them a big deal, the most realistic target was right-winger Joonas Donskoi, and the Kraken did indeed bite him. That’s $ 3.9 million released for general manager Joe Sakic in a crucial offseason.
WINNER: Montreal Canadiens
We can wring our hands on Carey Price’s contract as much as we want, but it would have been a dark moment for the franchise to lose him days after he led them to their first Stanley Cup final in 28. years.
WINNER: Winnipeg Jets
After protecting D-man Logan Stanley, it seemed like a lock for Winnipeg to lose defenseman Dylan DeMelo or need a side deal to save him. Our understanding based on Daly’s comments is that any “saving DeMelo” compensation would have already been announced, meaning the Kraken just passed it off as right winger Mason Appleton.
Loser: Edmonton Oilers
Hell, have the Oilers and GM Ken Holland been beaten in the past few weeks. Caleb Jones traded defender and a third-round pick for Duncan Keith, 38 and kept the $ 5.5 million of his salary when, no doubt, one of these three sacrifices should have been sufficient. They protected Keith, who has an immobility clause, and therefore had no available protection space for right-handed defenseman Adam Larsson, who ended up signing with Seattle for four years at an affordable $ 4 million AAV. Ouch. So the Oilers basically traded Adam Larsson, a third-round pick, and Jones for Keith.
LOSER: Nashville Predators
Not only do they lose a cheap and malleable striker in left winger Calle Jarnkrok, but the Preds were unable to secure a rescue deal for center Ryan Johansen or center Matt Duchene. It was probably wishful thinking that Seattle would face either of their ceiling hits.
Loser: St. Louis Blues
It was wired for months, or so, that the Blues would lose a quality defenseman who moves the puck to Vince Dunn. This theoretically gave GM Doug Armstrong plenty of time to buy Dunn and make sure he has something going for him, as the Nashville Predators did with right winger Viktor Arvidsson and the Dallas Stars with the Jason Dickinson center. Instead, Dunn was still there when it came time for Seattle to pick their squad. General manager Ron Francis ditched dear right winger Vladimir Tarasenko and got Dunn back for free.
LOSER: Washington Capitals
Yes, the Caps have Ilya Samsonov in place as a long-term No.1 goalkeeper. But Vitek Vanecek established himself as a legitimate 1B stopper in 2020-2021 and, more importantly, did so with an AAV of $ 716,667. It’ll be hard to find a new Number 2 at this price point, which means Washington will have to spend some cap space it really doesn’t have on a reserve keeper now. They have already committed $ 71.7million for next season and have yet to sign a UFA named Alex Ovechkin. Sip.
JURY AGAIN OUT: Seattle Kraken
This designation is still subject to change. It was mind-boggling to learn that Francis hadn’t made a single side deal. He claimed teams were much more reluctant to make it after the Vegas Golden Knights exploited their advantages in 2017. Francis also hinted that he didn’t have many subsequent trades in the drawer. The upside of not having side deals is that the Kraken didn’t make any really horrible contracts and still has a lot of ceiling space. They can arm him in future trades or by making plays for additional UFAs, so it’s still too early to judge Francis’s off-season plan.
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