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What the Kraken can do with their pending unrestricted free agents (Part II)

Blaiz Grubic

This is Part II of What the Kraken can do with their pending unrestricted free agents. Part I can be found here. In Part I, we reviewed the Seattle’s pending UFA’s that are over 30 years old and outlined what can be done with each of the four players. For Part II, we will shift our focus to the trio of UFA’s under 30 years old.

Kraken UFA players

For review, these are the seven pending UFA’s in question, split by over/under 30 years of age.

Part I – Over 30

  • Jordan Eberle (33)
  • Justin Schultz (33)
  • Tomas Tatar (33)
  • Pierre-Edouard Bellemare (38)

Part II – Under 30

  • Alex Wennberg (29)
  • Chris Driedger (29)
  • Devin Shore (29)

Alex Wennberg (Age 29) – Target: re-sign for four years at $4.5 million AAV

Alex Wennberg was signed to a three-year, $13.5M deal as a free agent in the days following the Expansion Draft. Wennberg is one of the more divisive players on the Kraken, as fans either love what he brings to the team or desperately want him to shoot more.

Let’s start this with a little quiz, but don’t worry; it will be easy. (Hint: The answer to every question is “Alex Wennberg.”)

Wennberg Quiz

  1. Who leads the Kraken for most game-winning goals in franchise history? Wennberg, tied with Eberle at eight game-winning goals.
  2. Iron-man Adam Larsson has played every Kraken game, but who is next in games played? Wennberg. 208 games and counting.
  3. What Kraken forward has the most blocked shots in franchise history? Wennberg. 156. The next closest forward is Brandon Tanev at 121.
  4. What forward has averaged the most ice time per game over the first three seasons? Wennberg. 18:23 average time-on-ice per game. He also averages the highest power-play-plus-penalty-kill time of any forward on the team with a 3:50 (PP: 2:06, PK 1:44) average per game.
  5. Most face-offs taken? Wennberg. He has led in the number of face-offs taken overall in every Kraken season.
  6. Who leads the Kraken in percentage of high-danger shots at 15.38 percent? Wennberg.
  7. What player leads the team in takeaways minus giveaways? Wennberg. He leads the team in both takeaways at 158 and takeaways minus giveaways at 88. “Best friend of the pod,” Alison Lukan, wrote a great article on this topic last year.

How did you do on the quiz? If you got less than seven out of seven, feel free to try again. Remember the answer is “Wennberg.”

The Swedish center is trusted in all situations on the ice, consistently rolled out on the PP and PK, and is defensively sound. To address the amount of shots Wennberg takes, this is nothing new to his playing style, but the key to focus on is that he opts to pass rather than take low-percentage shots. But he takes high-percentage shots as they are available. Here is a heatmap of Wennberg’s shot attempts this season, as found on Moneypuck.com.

Trade return possibilities:

The following three trades were used for comparison (player name, age when traded):

At 29, Wennberg should fall somewhere between the Eller and Copp trades, if Seattle decides to move him. A first-round return might be asking a bit much, but a second-rounder and an additional pick is more practical.

Shane Wright is developing in the AHL and will look to make the Kraken next year. This does create a log jam in the center position if Wennberg stays, but having too many centers is a good thing, and the Kraken have options with the current rostered players that can play both wing and center. We would rather see Wright make the team first and eventually ease him into a top-six center role. Keeping Wennberg around gives them the ability to do that.

Wennberg, a former first-round pick, has a 10-team modified no-trade clause (M-NTC).

What it would take to re-sign Wennberg?

Three comparable contracts were used (player name, contract terms, age when signed):

Wennberg is currently at $4.5M AAV, so he falls in the middle of these contracts, and that is about right. Both Trocheck and Danault were able to sign longer-term deals due to their skill sets. The defensive-minded Wennberg is in the same camp and will be looking for the longest term possible (four-plus years).

We think the Seattle Kraken will look to capitalize on his early 30’s and try for another three-year deal. We see the AAV landing in the $4-$5.5M range with a three-to-five-year term.

Chris Driedger (Age 29) – Target: Let walk

The goaltender was the Kraken’s Expansion Draft pick from the Florida Panthers after he compiled 21 wins and a .930 save percentage over two years. Unfortunately, the Canadian netminder has not panned out in Seattle, posting an .899 save percentage in the inaugural season before getting injured in the IIHF World Championship in 2022. Since that time, Driedger has only played two NHL games and spent the rest of his time in the AHL.

The WHL product cleared waivers after this season’s training camp, as other NHL teams did not want any part of his $3.5M cap hit.

With Philipp Grubauer being activated off injured reserve Tuesday, Driedger was re-assigned to the Coachella Valley Firebirds. A trade still could happen, but there are currently teams in need of goaltending, and a deal has yet to be done. This indicates his cap hit and small sample size, since returning from injury, are issues. The Kraken will most likely keep Driedger as an insurance plan in the AHL, in case there is a future goalie injury. We foresee Seattle letting Driedger and his 10-team M-NTC walk at the end of the season.

Devin Shore (Age 29) – Target: Trade for a fifth-round pick

The veteran of over 400 games is the perfect depth insurance policy. He can play center or wing and jump up and down the lineup as needed. Having this flexibility is something that NHL clubs in the playoffs value. Shore is on a two-way contract, meaning he is paid $250K in the AHL and the league-minimum $775K when with the Kraken.

The following two trades were used for comparison (player name, age when traded):

In return for Shore, a fourth- or fifth-round pick could be expected.

Overall

Trades are hard to predict, and we don’t see the Kraken pulling the trigger to sell, as long as they have a path to the playoffs. Another aspect that was not covered is the NHL salary cap is expected to go up to $87.7M next year, so every team is going to have some extra flexibility.

Please comment on what trades you feel are possible and if the Kraken should re-sign or trade their existing UFA’s. If you missed part I, you can find it here. 

Next project is to review the Kraken’s restricted free agents (RFA), so look for that in the coming weeks.

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