After much discussion and debating about how the Seattle Kraken would handle Jordan Eberle at the NHL trade deadline, the two sides were able to work out a contract extension at the eleventh hour. Eberle has been re-signed for two years, at a $4.75 million cap hit, which will keep him in Seattle through the 2025-26 season. The deal includes a full no trade clause.
Eberle has played 998 career games and should cross over the four-digit threshold on Tuesday against the Vegas Golden Knights. The scoring winger has 144 points (55 goals and 89 assists) in 219 games over three seasons with the Kraken. He has served as an alternate captain for the club and is a consistent, calming presence in the locker room.
Expansion Draft
Eberle came to Seattle via the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft. Previously with the Islanders, he was coming off two straight Eastern Conference Finals losses. The Islanders had a solid team and were forced to expose some good players. When the protection lists were released, many in the hockey world were surprised to see Eberle available, and the Kraken smartly selected him as their pick from New York.
Eberle was one of the six players that flew out to Seattle to attend the Expansion Draft live.
Not being protected by the New York Islanders after recently losing a hard-fought battle in the Conference Finals could have made coming to Seattle difficult. But if it was, you would have never known it from listening to Eberle, a true professional that became one of the faces of the franchise from Day One.
We recall from that difficult inaugural season, when the Kraken stumbled to a 27-49-6 record, that Eberle and fellow veteran Mark Giordano were trotted out to face questions from the media following loss after miserable loss. Eberle handled every question with grace and consistently gave thoughtful responses, even after the most difficult defeats.
In his time with the Kraken, Eberle and his family have grown to love the Pacific Northwest. Sound Of Hockey’s own Darren Brown recently asked about Eberle’s mindset to help determine if he wanted to return to Seattle next season. “My family loves it here, and I think my sole purpose right now and my goal is to try and help this team get in,” Eberle said. Eberle’s positive experience with the Kraken was a deciding factor in getting this deal done.
No trade for Eberle
Ultimately, a deal was struck, as predicted by yours truly in a Sound Of Hockey article on pending unrestricted free agents. In that article, I wrote, “If he re-signs with the Kraken, which he has said publicly he wants to do, we predict a two- or three-year deal in the $4.5-$5.5M range for Eberle to finish his career with the Kraken.” With Eberle’s new contract including a full no trade clause, retiring a Kraken is a likely scenario.
Rumors swirled about an Eberle trade as Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff wrote in his article on trade targets, “Eberle and the Kraken have been grinding on a contract extension believed to be in the neighborhood of two years at $4.5 million, but that wasn’t enough to get it done. Eberle was seeking a third year, though his preference is to stay in Seattle. Without a new contract, the Kraken will be moving Eberle…”
This ended up being pretty close to the contract terms that got the deal done.
Eberle highlights
What is the most iconic goal in Kraken history? There are a few that come near the top, such as Vince Dunn scoring the first ever goal at Climate Pledge Arena, and Matty Beniers scoring seven seconds into overtime against the Washington Capitals.
Eberle, though, has two goals in which both the goal and celebration are burned into my memory. These goals are:
First Kraken playoff win at Climate Pledge Arena:
Overtime goal with 4.9 seconds remaining, followed by a McCann kiss on the head:
Eberle was also the first player in franchise history to score a hat trick for the Kraken and has a bobblehead to prove it.
Congratulations Jordan Eberle
This is a great day for the Eberle and the Kraken. We look forward to seeing Eberle pass the 1000 game milestone, hopefully on Tuesday.
Great signing. Definitely worth the extra $500k to keep the deal at 2 years. I think he should be named “C” as well — this team will likely get a lot younger in the next two years, and Ebs fits the captain role perfectly as a leader and role model for the kids. 🦑🦑🦑!!
I am hoping for the C as well.
Great news to wake up to. Ebs is a Kraken to be proud of and a great mentor to the younger players, especially Matty Beniers. Looking forward to other positive moves the team will make, like keeping Tuna around for a full season or two.
Way way over paid. I wanted him to stay but at the price of around $2.5 per year. His skills / stats are decreasing and no way is he worth 4.75. Another Francis screw up once again we see why Carolina pushed him out. Ya let’s keep the old guys and keep the young guys out. We have at least 3 rookie forwards that should be in the starting lineup next year plus Evans on D, tell me o great kraken know it all fans, where is their room on this team for them.
Ummmm Eberle is on pace for 50 points. Francis is not perfect (looking at you, Grubauer contract) but paying a solid 50-60 point/82g player, good leader etc for two more years with the cap increasing significantly is not a huge loss even if he falls off a cliff. There is close to a 0% chance anyone in the minors comes close to that production next season. Wright is the only one who can be considered close to an NHL ready forward, and I’m not sure who the other “at least 2” could even me. Wright will likely take Wennberg’s spot next year anyway.
Eberle is not off his usual scoring pace this year. He had a slow start, but he has since picked it up. Scorers are streaky like that. Even McCann went through a long cold spell this year, but nobody worried about him losing his touch–of course not, he’s Jared McCann. Whatever went wrong with the first half of this season is in the past now, and the guys are themselves again.
I hear you on the price. It’s a lot to pay an older dude, but it is not off from the usual price for a 1RW. With Oliver Bjorkstrand pairing so well with Jared McCann and Andre Burakovsky just beginning to rediscover his A-game, Eberle is still the best guy to play on Matty’s right wing. I like Ryan Winterton, but let’s not throw the young guy to the wolves on Matty’s line now that Alex Wennberg is no longer around to match up against the MacKinnons, Eichels, and MacDavids of the Campbell Conference. Because that’s Matty’s job now. It would be better to have Winterton learn to play with speed and grit alongside Yanni Gourde and Eeli Tolvannen or with Brandon Tanev and Firebirds teammate Shane Wright.
So, yeah, for next year certainly Jordan Eberle has a big role to fill, one that warrants the pay that he will be getting.
Love it!
Makes me smile the Grinch loves it. 🙂
Only two years… definitely a win!
After this dropped the Taffoli deal came out. Maybe just coincidence, but if that was what was available – a late 3rd this year, a 2nd the next – I don’t feel too bad about the opportunity cost.
If Shane Wright is in the planning for next season, this sets the Kraken up with $20m+ to resign Beniers and Tolvanen, add a center, and find a thirteenth and fourteenth forward. I’m not convinced Wright is Wennberg’s replacement, he may be Bellemare’s.
Go Kraken!!!
“this sets the Kraken up with $20m+ to resign Beniers and Tolvanen, add a center, and find a thirteenth and fourteenth forward.” Beniers and Tolvanen have not exactly set the world on fire this season, so bridge deals of $4-4.5m and $3-3.5m should be all Francis offers. With the two league minimums for the 13th and 14th forwards, that leave $10m for the “center.” That should buy a lot of skill but who will be available?
“I’m not convinced Wright is Wennberg’s replacement, he may be Bellemare’s.” It would seem troubling if Wright cannot take on a 2C role at some point next season. But then again, if the $10m center arrives, Beniers can be 2C, Gourde 3C, and Wright 4C.
Pretty close to what I was implying… although Zegras didn’t exactly “set the world on fire” the last season of his ELC and he got $5.75m on his bridge.
I don’t know about a $10m 1C, but an upgrade on Wennberg at 2C on a two or three year deal may be an option. I think folks are getting a little ahead of themselves on the Shane Wright timeline.
Go Kraken!!!