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.