The normal process here at Sound Of Hockey is to publish “Three Takeaways” after (almost) every Kraken game. But with Seattle’s lackluster performance Thursday, getting outclassed at home by the Toronto Maple Leafs for a fifth loss in six games, we thought the time would be better spent considering what might happen for the Kraken at the NHL Trade Deadline, now exactly one month away.
In the past four seasons, it has often been a grim thought to consider how the Kraken will approach the trade deadline, knowing that some beloved players could be on their way out. But with the team FIRMLY out of contention once again, fans should begin to wrap their heads around the fact that some Day 1 Kraken will soon be on different teams.
With the way things have gone this season, we’ve begun thinking that general manager Ron Francis will need to listen to calls made on every player on the roster. Clearly, the current collection of players donning Deep Sea Blue is not strong enough to compete for a playoff spot, so a shakeup is needed, and this is a good time to begin shifting to a younger core.
This may be a difficult conversation for some, but let’s talk about the players that we expect to be traded and those that are less obvious, but could be considered.
No-doubt trade candidates
Yanni Gourde
Until a week ago, I was 100 percent certain that center and two-time Stanley Cup winner Yanni Gourde would be dealt at the deadline. The 33-year-old is on the last year of his deal and is well respected around the league for his gritty and pesky style that is coveted by playoff teams.
I have him in the “no-doubt” bucket because he is one of just three players, along with Brandon Tanev and Josh Mahura, set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, and contenders are looking for rentals at this time of year. But he also just had surgery to repair a sports hernia and is expected to be out through the deadline, which will surely impact the return Francis can get for him.
How low does the return have to be for Seattle to just keep him? After all, they will need a fourth-line center next season and potentially somebody who can bridge the gap until Berkly Catton is ready to become a full-time NHLer in a couple years (at that point, Seattle would theoretically have more mature versions of Matty Beniers and Shane Wright, plus Chandler Stephenson and Catton as its four centers). So if he’s willing to return on a team-friendly deal, would the Kraken bring Gourde back for another season or two?
On the other side of the coin, assuming the offers are decent and Francis pulls the trigger to move Gourde, we’re expecting this to be a painful loss for fans. Though it took him a couple months to see game action in the inaugural season because of injury, the feisty forward has been the heart and soul of the Seattle Kraken since his arrival from the Tampa Bay Lightning after the Expansion Draft in 2021.
Gourde is part of that group of players that came to the Kraken in their late 20s and are now heading toward the latter stages of their careers. He’s a great leader and brings a spark every night that he’s healthy, but with a shift toward the future needed, Gourde’s days in Seattle may be numbered.
Even worse, with his injury keeping him sidelined, it’s possible he has already played his last game as a Kraken.
Gourde has a modified no-trade clause in his contract, in which he would have had to submit a list of 23 teams to which he is willing to be traded.
Brandon Tanev
We’ve viewed Brandon Tanev as a likely trade candidate for the better part of two seasons now. The hard-checking, speedy, and gritty depth winger has been a fan favorite since his selection from the Penguins in the Expansion Draft, and to his credit, he has put together a solid season despite his team’s struggles.
Like Gourde, Tanev is on an expiring contract and plays the kind of hard-nosed style teams covet for the postseason. Will he fetch a first-round pick? Almost certainly no, although you never know how the trade market develops around this time of year. If a team is desperate enough to add some speed and grit, they may be coaxed into overpaying for a guy like Tanev, who will at least help a struggling penalty kill and provide energy.
We won’t be as sad to see Tanev go as we will be for Gourde, but he too is one of the O.G.’s that has been well liked by fans since the early days of the franchise.
Tanev has a 10-team modified no-trade clause, for which he submitted a list of 10 teams where Seattle cannot trade him without his consent.
Could stay, but a trade wouldn’t be shocking
Josh Mahura
I’m putting Josh Mahura at the top of this bunch only because he’s the last of the three pending unrestricted free agents, making him a potential trade candidate. I would guess he doesn’t move, simply because I don’t expect there to be a huge market for him. But once Ryker Evans returns from injury, it is possible that the Kraken move on from Mahura and keep Cale Fleury (who has performed well) up with the big club.
On a one-year deal, Mahura has played himself into a full-time spot on the blue line, taking over the vacated third-pairing role after Will Borgen was dealt as part of the Kaapo Kakko acquisition. He’s on a league-minimum deal and has been a good soldier, but the Kraken would surely listen if anyone comes calling on him.
Oliver Bjorkstrand
The names Oliver Bjorkstrand and Andre Burakovsky have been bandied about at times by national media pundits, and it’s easy to see why, being that they both briefly experienced healthy scratch treatment this season in an effort from coach Dan Bylsma to spark the two veteran forwards. But does that mean they’re likely to be traded?
In Bjorkstrand’s case, I would think there’s some market for him as a player that can provide depth scoring off the wing (he eclipses the 20-goal mark every season and is likely to do so again in 2024-25, despite Seattle’s struggles).
Bjorkstrand also has just one year left on his contract at a $5.4 million cap hit, and being that he’s had some turbulent moments under Bylsma, it wouldn’t shock me to see him traded.
Bjorkstrand has the same 10-team trade protection as Tanev.
Andre Burakovsky
The Burakovsky signing was great for about three months. He was leading the team in scoring in the first half of his first season with the team, but since he tore his groin during the 2022-23 season, he has never seemed to regain his confidence or produced with consistency. That trend has continued this season—perhaps the worst (healthy) campaign of his career with four goals and 15 assists in 53 games.
I also know that Burakovsky was not happy about the healthy scratches in December, so there could be some desire from his side for new surroundings.
The challenge, though, is that I’m not sure who would want Burakovsky. Yes, he has been a successful forward in the past, but he has two seasons left beyond the current one at a $5.5 million annual cap hit. What team in the NHL would buy on a “scoring” forward that has notched 11 total goals across the last two seasons and makes that kind of cheddar?
If Burakovsky is moved this season, Seattle will likely have to retain a significant portion of his contract rather than expecting him to be a highly coveted trade asset. If nobody bites, I would think he could be a buyout candidate this summer, but we shall see…
Burakovsky also has a 10-team modified no-trade clause.
Less likely, but the Kraken should listen to offers
Jaden Schwartz
Jaden Schwartz has arguably been Seattle’s best player this season and remains the only forward on the team who will consistently go to the blue paint. On pace for 27 goals, Schwartz has had one of the best statistical seasons of his career thanks, in large part, to [knock on wood] simply staying healthy for the first time since becoming a Kraken.
He also has been a huge help in bringing up the confidence of young linemates Matty Beniers and Kaapo Kakko the last couple months, so losing him now would sting. But, there are only so many opportunities to sell high on a player, and trading Schwartz now could fetch a decent return. With a year left on his contract at $5.5 million, one would have to think that next season would be the 32-year-old’s last with the organization anyway.
Plus, trading Schwartz hurts the team’s chances of winning many more games the rest of the season, which stinks for the fans in the short term but is probably best for the long-term future of the club at this point.
Schwartz has more control than the other players mentioned, with a 16-team modified no-trade clause on his contract.
Eeli Tolvanen
I don’t personally like the idea of trading Eeli Tolvanen, mainly because I believe Tolvanen sticking with the Kraken increases the likelihood that Kaapo Kakko stays beyond just next season (Kakko is a restricted free agent after this season, but when his next deal is up, he will be a UFA. So, he may want to re-sign for just one year and then test the open market next year).
Plus, Tolvanen is having his best season and is in the prime of his career at 25 years old, right in the age range where I hope the Kraken will continue shifting.
But again, Tolvanen may be a player that can bring back a significant return from a contending team looking for depth scoring, so it’s worth listening.
Jamie Oleksiak
Oleksiak could make a lot of sense for a lot of teams looking to improve their defense. While he doesn’t have the edge to his game that a lot of fans would like to see from a 6-foot-7, 252-pound blueliner, I think he’s underrated at keeping the front of the net clear.
He’s also in that category of players in their early 30s whose contracts will be up after next season and will likely move on at that point anyway, so why not see if you can cash in on the Big Rig’s perceived playoff value now?
Oleksiak has the same 16-team modified no-trade clause as Schwartz.
Vince Dunn
This suggestion could upset some people, but hear me out…
As I’ve mentioned, the Kraken need to listen on offers for every player on the team. Seattle was a good team defensively last year but has struggled in that area this season. Part of that is systematic, but part of it is a shift in personnel to more offensive-minded players on the back end.
For the team’s first three seasons, Dunn was really the only offensive defenseman Seattle had. Now that Evans is a full-timer, and Brandon Montour is in the fold, half of the regular defense corps would fit into that “offensive-minded” category.
While Dunn is viewed as one of the Kraken’s best players, he would surely be sought after on the trade market and is one of a very select handful of players that could bring back a bounty and—potentially—some desperately needed scoring up front.
I personally wouldn’t hate if the Kraken shift back to being a bit more defensive on the blue line if it means more goals from the forwards for years to come.
Dunn is in the last year of having a full no-trade clause on his contract, so to trade him, Francis would have to get his approval. That makes a Dunn move even less likely this season. This switches to a 16-team modified no-trade clause next season.
What will Seattle want back?
Deadline deals typically bring back draft capital, and we’ve seen Seattle load up on extra draft picks in its two previous trade deadline sales.
I do think the whole organization is feeling pressure to be better, though. The front office made some swings in free agency last summer, bringing Montour and Stephenson on splashy free-agent signings, and fired original head coach Dave Hakstol, indicating they’re desperately trying to get back into the playoff conversation.
Yet, in 2024-25, the Kraken have moved even farther from that conversation, and it’s easy to see that the fanbase is already growing impatient, while the “new franchise potpourri” quickly dissipates.
So are the Kraken really looking to trade reliable players for draft picks that may or may not help them five years down the road? One has to think there will be a desire to bring useful, younger players that have either already cracked an NHL lineup or are right on the cusp of being full-time NHLers, rather than more poker chips.
What say you, Kraken fans?
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
Despite this not being a “three takeaways” article, I just want to comment about the game last night and others that have been similar, though I think this was the best example. When the Kraken start a game and are NOT establishing the tone by throwing bodies, hitting, and disrupting the objectives and flow of the opposing team, we are generally losing. This is especially true against teams like The Leafs, where The Kraken see to have the delusion they can go toe-to-toe in a skill game. It’s insane for The Kraken to think they can let a team like The Leafs dance around with the puck at will, in all three zones all game long, and still think they have a chance to win the game.
I don’t know if this exposes terrible coaching, the players not willing to play a hard-nosed physical game, or the absence of guys like Ryker and Yanni, who always seem to charge things up, but I can’t be the only one to recognize the trend.
None of the guys you mentioned will net The Kraken any sort of meaningful return, and I think it’s more important at this stage to have stability in the locker room for the young players. We ain’t going to the playoffs anytime soon anyway. I think moving Dunn is a bad idea. I would consider moving Larsson before Dunn. Frankly, with the exception of Burky who is allergic to physicality, these guys can all play hockey. It just looks like they are choosing not to for whatever reason.
Last night’s game reminded me of the shutout against the Sharks in the final game before the All-Star break last season… when they looked like they were already on vacation.
I don’t have high expectations for tomorrow in Calgary.
If we don’t come out checking in the couple of minutes, we’re losing. That has been the trend.
*first couple of minutes…I can’t type.
Losing.
I feel the kraken want to win so I’d be surprised if they traded players that could be helping them next season without an upgrade plan. It’s not necessarily the way I feel but regardless I’d be surprised to see them move players that are beneficial to our lineup moving forward. Players that are not going to be resigned are almost certainly going.
Interesting comment regarding our center depth looking ahead. Wright and Matty are surely not going to be 4th line centers. I don’t feel that Catton a 4th line center, probably not… did we really lock up Chandler to eventually be the highest paid 4th liner in the NHL? More likely that one of our centers moves to wing or gets traded but that would be hilarious if Chandler ends up on the 4th line.
Yeah, there’s obviously a ton of variability before we reach that point where those are the four, but if you do have a center who’s too good for the fourth line playing on the fourth line, I’ve always seen that as a good problem.
I’d say it seems more likely that one or more of the younger centers (keep in mind that Sale is also a center) moves to wing at some point. Or someone gets traded. I also still see the Beniers contract as a buyout possibility while it’s still eligible for the 1/3 buyout if he doesn’t get things cranking.
Yanni Gourde will be 33 at the end of this season. At the end of his age 33 season Chandler Stephenson’s AAV will be a smaller percentage of the cap than Yanni Gourde’s. Is that ideal? No. Is Yanni’s cap hit even in the top ten of what’s plaguing this team right now? No.
Folks need to get over the short-sighted, ill informed Chandler Stephenson takes.
Especially since Stephenson has a very good chance to lead the team in scoring for the season. He’s been on the upswing since the first of the year, while McCann is still down in the abyss*.
That said, I did catch practice yesterday morning and got to see some McCann/Eberle give-and-go magic and crossing fingers they’ll be back together soon.
Of course that means yet ANOTHER change with the forward lines. Will they pull Beniers away from Kakko and Schwartz? Or does Eberle join McCann and Wright?
If neither gets traded, does Bjorkstrand or Burakovsky go down to 4th line? Does Stephens keep centering that line, or does someone (McCann?) move from wing (crossing fingers they don’t try Myers or Winterton there again). Is this a chance to give Sale a callup?
With Eberle’s salary back on the books, does Gourde on IR leave enough cap space to keep extra players on the roster or do they finally have to try to get Kartye through waivers and back down to CV?
No way Chandler ends up as a 4C and also why waste catton’s talent by giving him 3rd line mins. He serve better being a top 6 winger than a 3rd line center.
While I agree that trades are inevitable, and don’t really disagree with any of the proposed suggestion, my number one belief is that the coaching staff needs to be replaced and the team will not be successful regardless of who the personnel is because the coaching staff is not deploying an NHL-level game plan.
At 5-on-5, we’re already about 2/3 through the season and the forward lines are still being tinkered with. It’s not just game to game, but within the games themselves. At one point Sunday, it was Stephenson (started game with Bjorkstrand/Tolvanen), Burakovsky (Wright/Beniers) and Kartye (Stephens/Tanev). Even being in the midst of a line change cannot explain deploying forwards from 3 different lines. I was just about ready to point it out to my seat mate that this was goi g to be a scoring opportunity the for Calgary, but the Flames scored before I could.
PowerPlay continues to be anemic. You know it’s bad when the home crowd starts booing as the puck circles the perimeter for the seventeenth time with no shots on goal.
I went to the PWHL game last month and one thing I noticed was how much the play was more strategically disciplined vs what one sees in the NHL and even in a high-end WHL game.
Since I am a woman, I’m going to go ahead and do what many male commenters (and sportswriters) are hesitant to do and say that Coach Campbell is not ready to be behind an NHL bench, or at least not be responsible for power play strategy. It’s not sexism or misogyny: the truth is that even at the professional level, the way that the women’s game is played is fundamentally different from the NHL and 2 years at the AHL level is not enough experience for the NHL.
Finally, I’m not seeing any growth in the young players, which was supposedly the reason for promoting Bylsma over hiring McClellan.
Beniers keeps rushing his shots and puts minimal to no effort into going for the rebound. He continues to shy away from contact and reminds us all almost every game that ice is slippery by wiping out with the nearest opposing player nowhere in sight (at least McCann waits until someone breathes on him before hitting the ice).
Wright, meanwhile, needs a rear-view mirror attached to his helmet so passes stop hitting him in the back. And when he makes a stupid mistake, don’t take it out on the other team with a critical penalty.
Evans needs a reminder of the location of the blue line and that when the team is in the offensive zone the puck needs to stay in front of him and that line.
And then there’s Kartye…who has gone from a -1 with a respectable 20 point rookie season (following 3 goals in 10 playoff games) and in the league top 20 for hits to -16, with 3 goals and 7 points after 50 games. I don’t know if anyone on the team works as hard as he does, and it’s just so difficult to watch him struggle this year and see his minutes continue to drop as the season progresses. Especially knowing he’s going to be an RFA and it looking less and less likely he’s going to get a qualifying offer.
For me, the final nail in the coaching staff coffin came Tuesday night, watching Detroit extend their second 7-game win streak since their coaching change while watching Seattle make the same mistakes they’ve made since the preseason and letting get another game slip away.
The folks that are booing the PP cycling the puck are the same folks that love to shout “shoot” every time the puck crosses the blueline… there’s one seated right next to me.
It’s honestly an embarrassment.
In early December the PP looked quite good. They were maintaining the zone and creating chances below the dots… but then they seemed to get back to pandering to the “shoot”! crowd and started throwing the puck into clogged lanes… what a waste.
Yes, there are those who always yell shoot, but when there are 15,000 people yelling shoot, it might be worth taking a shot.
You won’t score on 100% of shots, but you 99.9999% won’t score on no shots (not going to go with 100% here because there has already been a team record a goal this season in a period with no shots, a goal off of a faceoff never touched by the scoring team, and Vince Dunn with a goal for the Capitals, so there is a minuscule possibility, but not one I would put money on).
I’m one of those fans who yells, “shoot”, but only when Joey has the puck. 😇
I agree with what you say about coaching even though it pains me a little, but I feel like changing coaching staff should show some positive change in the first year and I don’t really see it. The addition of a few new players has made the most impact. Is the front office bold enough to change coaching after 1 year?
It’s taking me a while to get used to the mercenary nature of hockey players used to being shuffled all over the continent because of the salary cap. Dunn and Bjorky would be off my list for trades and instead up for renewals if possible. Tanev, too, if you could talk him into an extension. I just hope we don’t regress by getting younger, unproven substitutes who could never live up to their “potential.”
RB I completely agree and it’s a very difficult situation that the Kraken put themselves into. I didn’t think at the time Jessica had the experience to jump into the NHL and felt there was a very good chance that the reason she was hired is because the Kraken wanted to be the first team to hire a female coach. The right thing to have done is to keep her in the valley and let her gain experience, eventually head coach the team and if she has success then bring her up. It was very rushed and mostly a PR move. The problem is I don’t think you want to be the first team to fire a female coach…. I’m not sure how they get themselves out of this situation and save face. Maybe make her a specialist coach working with skills and skating etc?
Every veteran on this team should be available. It’s time for the organization to stop handing out deals to older, declining players and move forward with younger players even if it means for struggles for a few years. It’s not like the current players are doing better anyways. Passing on an asset to bring back Gourde at 4C would be ridiculous.
Wright, Kakko, Beniers and Evans are the only players that shouldn’t be available, and even then if someone overpays you still consider it.
I’d also put Joey on the unavailable to trade list for now. I don’t see there being anyone on the market who could replace him right now and certainly not anyone in the Kraken’s prospect pipeline for at least another couple of years.
Joey would definitely be in that group too
As the team is in its 4th year the last thing the team should be doing is gutting the roster basically re-build that’s just a sure way of preventing the team from being able to get talented player either via FA to not want to come here or those that are trade clause to not want to waive their movement clause.
But if they can sign Gourde to a short but affordable deal to stretch the time until the young centers are more seasoned that might be a good plan. If he’s not tradeable.
I’m all down for trading whatever it takes to create the cap space this summer to take a swing at Marner, and that includes trading any of the RW’s not named Kakko. This team lacks dynamic players and he’s definitely one.
I’d much rather see them pay top dollar for a player of Marner’s ability than continuing to overpay mid-level talent like they’ve been doing.
Too many atheists and agnostics here (in the actual religious sense but also when it comes to sports in general and even more in the case of the Kraken)…Marner loves being “like a god” in Toronto.
Darren, you didn’t need to write a 3 takeaways article because your readers just gave you 30.
I just way to say that I listened to the latest podcast and very much enjoyed it. Alison Lukan is a great guest. I was wondering if you ever considered having her join y’all for a mailbag episode?
I am down with firing the coaching staff. Power Play is predictable and other teams take advantage. The team is soft with little pressure and very little hitting. First period fails means the team is not prepared coming out of the gate.. No one is affraid to come here and take on the Kraken. This is all on the ccoaching staff. That leaves good players leave and no one wanting to come here. I have very little confidence in the GM and the only way he can sign free agents is because he has to offer the stupid deals. Keep Yani. Scouting staff cannot find diamonds in the rough. We have a poor pipeline and players that come up cannot improve the team.
Finally, is this years draft that thick? Why trade players for draft picks if it is not that deep of a draft just to drap salaries when the cap goes up next year?
What is up with Sprong? Is he now an AHL player coach, and finally Get a better coaching staff.
Poor pipeline? Where are you getting that from?
Great article Darren, including Dunn took guts but if you want to get something valuable you HAVE to give up something valuable. The current roster cannot win, regardless of coaching staff.
All emotional handwringing aside, factual reality is that the Kraken is a very new team and has corresponding issues. The draft this summer will be only the 5th in the history of the franchise. A cursory look at the roster reveals a gaping hole where the core of the team should be; the age 24-28 players at the peak of their careers making up the spine of the team do not exist (nor can you get those players through UFA). The drafted players are growing into their jobs, or have not made the NHL yet, but the majority of the players are expansion draft players that have started to age and fade. Moreover there are too many similar player with similar skill sets which makes the team one dimensional. Add dubious coaching, or coaching at odds with the actual roster available – and rumors of split vision in the leadership group. In other words, there is a lot of work to be done.
Shortcuts to attempt quick fixes will only backfire and create worse headaches down the road. Adding a top end, “elite”, super expensive UFA is not going to fix anything. That player will only be another player that’s aging, fading and blocking the up and coming players (and eating cap space) by the time the team is ready to compete for real. With compete I mean genuinely compete for the cup rather than making the playoffs for the sake of making the playoffs (which is a extremely tedious and counterproductive if the team has no hope of actually winning).
Looking at the Kraken’s drafts the 2023 class looks to be the weakest. That’s the year the Kraken had a “good” record and made it to the playoffs. No doubt a fun experience but… not sustainable and not built on a genuinely contending team.
So, I like the authors list of potential trade candidates. Over the next 18 months or so management need to start turning over the aging expansion draft players for a new look and a team with better balance and support on the ice. Imo the players know this too, which is why so many “vets” are kind of ghosts of what they should be. Too often they look like placeholders going through the motions.
As fans people should simply embrace reality for what it is, stock up on patience and enjoy the ride watching the team grow. The growing pains are real but they cannot be avoided.
I agree with some of what you say (new franchise, having patience.)
Strange to say it’s “tedious” to try making the playoffs if you aren’t winning The Cup. That’s a new one. It’s rare for teams to come out of nowhere to win a Cup. There’s also just the entertainment value of rooting for a team with the potential to make the playoffs and win a series or two every season. I’d rather be a Dallas fan than, say, a San Jose fan. At least they are trying to win.
Your concept of the range of “prime” for an NHL player is suspect. Teams made of mostly 24-28 year olds are terrible. Just look at Buffalo. Their issue is not having enough 28-35 year olds to be truly dangerous. The best teams have a healthy mix of younger and older players. Is Matt Duchene “aging and fading” at 34? He looked like Nathan MacKinnon last night against LA. Does Pacioretty look out of place on The Leafs at 36? Chris Tanev at 35? Jordan Eberle was looking at the top of his game before he was injured this season, and yes, young players get injured, too.
Finally, you mention adding a “top end super expensive elite talent” like that’s even an option. Granted, you caution against, so I give you points for that. But is it even an option? Those players aren’t really available anyway. Marner will be staying with The Leafs. Reinhart stayed with Florida. Rantenan ONLY left Colorado because he was forced to via a trade. He himself said he would have taken a pay cut to stay in Colorado. People who think teams can just go out and sign truly elite players in the UFA market are mostly delusional. And that’s good, because someday Matty, Shane, Kakko or Catton may be in that category and it’s not so easy for another team to get them to pack up and leave for a few extra bucks.
Between these two takes… couldn’t agree more.
Re: Age of the core. You say Buffalo (they are sad for sure), but I say Tampa’s and especially Florida’s cup winning teams. Sure they had some elder statesmen but the core was 28 or under. On Tampa Gourde, Coleman and Palat were 29. Stamkos, Hedman, Killorn and McDonagh were 30 or 31. The real core, Point, Vasilevsky, Kucherov, were 24 to 27. Sergachev only 22. In other words they were not “that” old. Florida was even younger. Barkov, Verhaeghe, Reinhart, Tkackuk, Ekblad, Forsling, Bennett all 27 or 28. Lundell 22. Bobrovsky at 35 was the big exception.
Now look at the Kraken’s roster. The core is mostly an idea right now. This team lacks a “mature” core at its peak around 24-28. Beniers, Wright, Kakko, Catton et al are not there yet. The Kraken have a lot of veterans that are complimentary, but hardly core pieces, on a cup team. Tampa and Florida paid their dues over time. Those cup winning teams didn’t materialize overnight. (Vegas is and always will be an exception in my view).
Re: Making the playoffs as a mean in itself. My point is that either a team is serious about winning (again referencing the Florida/Tampa cup teams) or you faff around like the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes did forever with the main goal being “just make the playoffs and anything can happen” baloney. I know I am being a little hyperbolic, but I personally cannot stand teams that are not serious about competing for the cup but are content with the playoffs as a reward in itself.
Re: expensive UFA. I agree. I was answering to other people in this thread who want to add high end UFA. Seattle is being saved from itself by not being (currently) attractive for the top end UFAs. Maybe one day they might add one of those as a missing piece once a strong foundation is in place, but that day is not today or in the near future. (Such a piece should be a 1C or 1D or the cap hit is most likely not worth it, but that is another discussion).
Seattle lacks a mature core? What about Montour, Stephenson, Dunn, McCann and Daccord? I would even include Eberle and Larsson, who have re-signed. Schwartz is only 32. There’s a bunch of guys 28-34, some signed for several years. Going out and signing Montour and Stephenson, despite the hand wringing of some fans, was no small feat, whatever their amateur take on the contracts.
Seattle wants to win. Ownership and management have been clear about that.
I think some people are over analyzing this situation.
1) To your point, it’s a new franchise. Patience is required.
2) Grubauer and Burakovsky have sucked way more than anyone on the planet could have imagined or anticipated.
3) It’s very unfortunate Eberle suffered an early injury this season after just being named C and frankly looking awesome at 34.
4) Finding good coaching at the NHL level is VERY hard.
5) It’s actually a really hard league. Winnnig means something.
I take exception to No.2… Grubauer has suck more than I expected… but not WAY more.
Darren – Thanks for the synopsis regarding alternatives at the trade deadline – and ALOT of spot-on comments.
As stated by Wittmont, the Kraken really don’t have a “core” right now – just players (Beniers, Wright, Kako, and/or Dunn/Evans) that could become that in a couple of years. Your final comment infers a preference for acquiring high-end prospects rather than draft picks. Makes sense in that (at best) draft picks would be middle-late 1st round at best. However, adding high-end prospects (per my prior definition being players better than anyone currently in our farm system) could add to the potential core players above and create the nucleus of a promising young team. Of course, this only works if such prospects are available.
I don’t know other teams’ farm systems that well, but do you (generally) think there are enough of these types of players available for the Kraken to pursue this strategy? The trading partner would have to be a team that thinks acquiring a Gourde or Tanev (or others see below) materially increases the probability of reaching the conference finals, i.e. a desperate team.
Your analysis also implies while the Kraken should be open to trading ANYONE on the current roster, practically speaking they may be unwilling to move a few. Eli Tolvanen? He’s buddies with Kaapo Kako who we NEED to resign, so ET is off the list. IMHO the most attractive asset they have right now is Jared Schwartz. However – per SOH’s recent article – the Beniers/Kako/Schwartz line has been magic and would hopefully continue the magic next year. So, Schwartz is off the list.
The only way to add legit high-end prospect(s) is trading assets like Vince Dunn and scorers like either Bjorkstrand or McCann, and glue-and-grit guys like Tanev/Gourde. Moving Dunn and two forwards should net at least a couple of prospects and add to the potential core players listed above and create the nucleus for a perennial playoff contender.
Are Kaapo and Tolvanen really good friends or just from the same country? I’m really not sure if trading ELi would have any effect in contract negotiations with Kaapo, if a good offer was on the table I think you go with it. Same thing with Schwartz, he has another year left on his contract and is getting to the age that with our current track he’s probably not going to be resigned unless it’s a very short contract that he’d probably not be interested in, same thing if an offer is out there for a relatively high pick or a decent prospect the Kraken have to start looking long term and move on it. I’m not saying trade everyone but none of the older players should be off the table.
Nino – you’re probably right – I was more inferring their “friendship” given the article above, and yes ET and JS’s contracts expire next year, so they may not have any impact on the “keeping Kako happy” quotient. Hopefully they’ll be able to identify promising “core” type players they can acquire..
TFL… I know this was a question for Darren – and I’m sure he’s got better ideas and insights – but one specific option I’ve been curious about and someone Curtis mentioned on the pod recently is Šimon Nemec. There have been rumors and denials, but given the turmoil in the East and the situation in New Jersey I feel like this could be a real opportunity.
Coincidentally, at the 2022 draft Nemec was a player linked to Seattle at No.4 because the assumption was…. Wright would go No.1 and the Devils would take Slafkovsky at No.2. With the Coyotes already all in on Cooley at No.3… that would leave the Kraken to take the top defenseman in the draft, Nemec, at No.4. When the Canadiens took Slafkovsky at No.1 everything changed. I’m sure this is just review for most, but ironically, the talk was the Devils passed on Wright and Cooley because they were already loaded down the middle and with Slafkovsky off the board they decided to go D. Flash forward three seasons and the Devils are overloaded with defenseman but are looking for a depth center. (Aside — As John pointed out on the latest podcast… worry about Berkly Catton when Berkly Catton arrives).
Anyway, talk is the Devils are looking for a scoring forward and center depth. As I see it the East seems like a mess and kinda wide open… so a team like New Jersey should be willing to move a future like Nemec for immediate needs. If a piece can be a player with term… deal.
So here’s the “who says no”… Yanni Gourde and Jared McCann (half retained on both) to the Devils. Šimon Nemec and Tomáš Tatar to the Kraken. The dollars work… and I know that’s two more seasons of $2.5m for McCann, but the pipeline is very thin on the backend right side, it’s overflowing with left-shot forwards, and Larsson’s age is really showing. I don’t think McCann is cooked, but if this goes on much longer… he’s going to be worthless and he’s probably not in the plans beyond medium-term. He has a ten team, but it seems like the Devils would be long shot to be one of those ten.
To me that’s a “top prospect” and “core piece” that Darren is talking about. I think there are other examples, but that’s one that jumps out at me.
DW – I hadn’t thought about Nemec, but if Vince Dunn is traded it would almost be a necessity to acquire a top-caliber D prospect, and Nemec would be a great choice. He may be easier to acquire as I noticed the Devils just demoted him to Utica (i.e. not part of this year’s plan for NJ).
As I was writing, I began to realize how difficult it will be to acquire high-end prospects. Any potential trading partner would likely be limited to teams in the league’s “upper tier” needing to fill specific needs to materially improve their odds of making it to the conference final. Using a simple criterion of teams more than 10 games above .500 (excluding OT losses) would create a small universe of Florida, Toronto, Tampa Bay, Washington, Carolina and New Jersey. Basically “mature” legit contenders. I’m excluding Western Conference teams from the universe as intra-conference trades are harder to pull off.
Using the criterion above, only a few players come to my mind: Easton Cowan (Toronto), Bradley Nadeau (Carolina) and my personal dream-come-true Riley Leonard (Washington). If Western Conference trades are possible then Liam Greentree (Los Angeles) and Brad Lambert (Winnipeg) would be good acquisitions. (Note: I’m not a hockey scout nor do I play one on TV, so would love to hear thoughts on these or other players not mentioned above).
In any case it should be a fascinating trade deadline. Hope GMRF has the creativity to pull something off to help build the “future core” and make this a perennial playoff team!
Go Kraken
Love the thinking on this.
I have to think Ryan Leonard is untouchable… in fact, I think the Caps expect him to log minutes in the playoffs this season. I don’t think we have anything Carolina would really want and in their situation I don’t think they’re moving prospects. The Kings – much to their chagrin I believe – have shown they’re willing move young players, but I don’t know about Greentree. I feel like the Kraken are already loaded with young, left hand wingers. To me, Lambert seems like the sort of “cautionary tale” the Kraken would avoid.
I don’t think Dunn is going anywhere. I know “everyone” should be available but that just makes no sense. You get rid of that guy and you spend a bunch of time trying to get that same guy somewhere else. The Kraken don’t really have any right-shot clear cut NHLers coming. With Larsson showing his age, I could see Nemec on a top pair with Dunn, Montour and Evans as a second, and Larsson and whoever (maybe Oleksiak) as a shutdown third. (or some combination) The problem of course is… with all these “defensemen”, who plays defense?
One other option I was wondering about… Bowen Byram. He’s a left shot so you’re pushing Evans down to a third pair, but I’m not convinced he’s more than that anyway. Buffalo isn’t looking for what we have to offer, but if we could trade the returns for Gourde, Tanev, etc then maybe that accelerates the core a bit.
All just thoughts…
Most likely scenario… a couple seconds and thirds for Gourde and Tanev.
Go Finland!!!
Yah you’re probably right on this. But the Capitals two best players are old (Ovechkin 39, John Carlson 35). With Dunn they’d be getting a 1st pairing defenseman 7 years younger with a similar (but still developing) skillset. To pry Leonard loose they’d probably have give the Caps their pick of any one forward not named Beniers and Wright. So the trade would e.g. be Dunn & McCann? plus a draft pick or one player at CV for Leonard and Cole Hutson. Caps acquire younger players in their prime to keep their champtionship window open for the next 1-2 years in exchange for “core” prospects. The more I read it, the more it seems implausible.
I didn’t think about non-contenders ergo not Bowen, but if GMRF can effectively pull off some sort of threeway-like trade for Bowen (to replace Dunn) then I’m all for it.
Another player I didn’t mention is Nic Robertson. Not sure he’s a top “core” kind of guy but he has Tanev’s “Tasmanian Devil” playing style, but with a more skill. The Ontario Snowflakes always need more veteran grit so maybe trading Gourde or Tanev could get this done. And if the Kraken still like BT or YG they can always try to resign them after end of season 🙂
John has talked about Robertson before and I like him also… I’m just not sure what he does for Seattle. I feel like he probably tops out as bottom six forward and it seems like there’s a bunch of those guys on the way. At this point I think I’d rather have a pick.
Isn’t Robertson basically Yamamoto 2.0? I don’t see the attraction. If the Leafs would part with McMann, I’d be interested, but that’s not happening.
Seattle G,
Yes good comparison (that I didn’t think of). Only worth it if NR’s upside is a more skilled version of KM