The Stanley Cup Playoffs start this weekend in the NHL, and it will be the last time that the Seattle Kraken will be mere spectators for it. In the future it will be easy to choose what to root for in the playoffs. But what about this year?
Maybe it’s your last go-around with the NHL team that you have rooted for prior to the existence of the Kraken. Maybe you have a favorite player who’s making one final run in his career.
There is plenty to root for in the playoffs and we have chosen a few items to help point in you in a rooting direction. This is by no means a list of demands.
You’re free to root for whatever or whomever you want. We have somewhat open minds. This is a list for those not sure. Should you root for Vegas in these playoffs? No, no you shouldn’t, and we explain why in our list below.
What are you going to be rooting for during the Stanley Cup Playoffs?
Root for plastic rats in Florida
It was back in 1996 when Florida Panthers forward Scott Mellanby one-timed a rat that had snuck into the home locker room. The legend of Mellanby’s ‘rat trick’ – he went out and scored twice with the rat stick – grew and soon Florida fans would flood the ice with plastic rats whenever a Panther scored.
It was great.
The Panthers, in their third year of existence, made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final that year. Obviously, they were powered by the toy rats. The Panthers have their best team since then as they prepare to face Tampa Bay in the first round, and it’s time to bring the rats back.
Sure, in 1996 the NHL put a stop to it by threatening to enforce delay of game rules against the Panthers for the rats, but that was a long time ago. Surely, we can get a couple of games’ worth of rats before the NHL reacts. Bring them back!
Root for the Panthers-Lightning series to be contentious
For the first time ever, the two Florida-based teams are facing off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and we are rooting for it to get intense. Hockey in Florida has never quite taken hold as the NHL hoped but the potential is there.
The Lightning have had more success as a franchise, but a hard-fought, nasty series here could help explode the sport. Playoffs help grow rivalries and a knock-down seven-game series in this matchup will help create some must-see Florida hatred. They played each other at the end of the regular season, and it was chippy so let’s root for that to continue into the playoffs.
Root for a Connor McDavid-Auston Matthews battle
If Toronto avoids a first-round meltdown – and what are the odds of that? – the Maple Leafs and Oilers are slotted to meet in the second round, and it would be glorious. It would lead to two of the best players in the world facing off for a shot to advance to the Conference Finals. The popcorn is being popped now.
A series like this won’t get the attention it deserves in the U.S. because, well, reasons, but it could bring Canada to a halt. McDavid turned in a season for the ages with 104 points in 55 games and Matthews’ bid for 50 goals came up just short at 41 – still amazing. This would be the Gretzky-Lemieux playoff series we never got to see, and we could get it in HD television.
Root for a Maple Leafs loss in Conference Finals
The Toronto Maple Leafs are Canada’s team. At least that’s what the Toronto media and fans would have you believe. We’ve all enjoyed their consistent first-round exits despite a roster full of star players. It’s been fun, but the script needs to be juiced up as the story is becoming stale.
Wouldn’t it be better if they made it all the way to the Conference Finals only to lose a horrible, gut-wrenching Game 7 debacle? We like the schadenfreude that the Maple Leafs provide, and it will be extra tasty if it comes one step away from the Cup Final. Queue the distraught Mitch Marner meme now.
Root for more thrill from Kirill
Minnesota rookie Kirill Kaprizov burst onto the scene this year and was so good that he made the Minnesota Wild interesting. They used to be a bore, but now you can root for the Wild as they suddenly play exciting hockey. At the center of it is Kaprizov, who will easily win the Calder Trophy for rookie of the year. More Kirill, which comes with a run of sorts, will make the playoffs that much more entertaining.
The Vegas Golden Knights were a great story when they shocked their way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2017, their first year. Since that early run, they’ve continued to be one of the top teams in the NHL and last year made a second appearance in a conference finals series. All that success has placed near-impossible pressure and expectations on the Kraken for their first season. Enough already. We get it, but now it’s time to root against Vegas in the playoffs. Let’s calm things down a beat.
Root for the Northwest to represent
As always, there are a number of players with Northwest connections in the playoffs. That makes it easy to root for their teams throughout all the playoff series. Some have better chances than others and while this list isn’t exhaustive, let’s all root for guys who are on contending teams like Washington’s T.J. Oshie (Mount Vernon native) and Brenden Dillon (Seattle Thunderbirds), Tampa’s Tyler Johnson (Spokane Chiefs), New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal (Seattle Thunderbirds), Florida’s Radko Gudas (Everett Silvertips), and Vegas’ Shea Theodore (Seattle Thunderbirds) and Keegan Kolesar (Seattle Thunderbirds).
Root for the playoffs to end quickly
Normally, we want the Stanley Cup Playoffs to last forever, but this year let’s root for them to end quickly. The playoffs are what is standing between us and the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft in July. No, shorter series won’t push up the Draft date but once the playoffs end, all attention will turn to Seattle. Turns out, we’re narcissists so let’s root for these playoffs to go by in a blink so we can continue to speculate on coaches and potential players that the Kraken will be adding.
It was only a matter of time. From the moment the Seattle Kraken officially became the NHL’s 32nd team almost two weeks ago, we knew this news was on the horizon. Now the Kraken have signed their first player in franchise history, agreeing to a three-year entry-level deal with 21-year-old center Luke Henman.
Henman has played the last four full seasons (plus a portion of 2016-17) with the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he has also served as captain the last two years. He has put up impressive numbers in that league, and during his captaincy has been better than a point-per-game player.
Henman was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fourth round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft but did not get signed, becoming an unrestricted free agent. He wasn’t a particularly big guy when he was drafted — Francis referred to him as “slight” when he addressed the media on Wednesday — but Henman has since filled out a bit and is now officially listed at 172 pounds.
Regardless of if he ever cracks the NHL roster for the Kraken, Henman will always be remembered as the franchise’s first player. As such, the team needed a guy with the pedigree to handle the additional spotlight that goes with that distinction.
“I’m a pretty passionate guy about hockey,” Henman, who comes across as affable and polished, said Wednesday. “You know, there’s a few morals that I live by. Being a hockey player is just to compete hard every day and be a good teammate and be a likeable person. If you can do that, good things will happen.”
Francis also shared that additional weight was placed on finding the right guy to shoulder the extra attention.
“I think that’s important in all our players. We’ve done it in the past when I’ve worked with other organizations, and to me character is a big part of who you want in your organization,” Francis said. “It’s always easy when things are going well, but when things are tough, it’s the guys with character that are able to pull you out of those tough situations. The fact that he was a captain for a couple years, and his leadership skills sort of bear that out, there’s no doubt that was a big part of our decision making.”
Henman highlights
Henman, a Dartmouth, Nova Scotia native, notched a few beauties in his junior career.
The QMJHL also put out a pretty great video in March centering on Henman’s game-day routine. In it, Henman’s Armada teammates and coaches speak very highly of him as both a player and as a human being.
This is only a first step for Seattle, but it’s an important one. Francis and his scouting staff needed to get not just the right player, but the right person to be remembered as the first-ever Kraken.
Early indications are that the team has nailed it with Henman.
The Armada are in the midst of a five-game quarterfinal playoff series with the Victoriaville Tigres and currently trail 2-1. The remaining games of the series can be watched via the Canadian Hockey League’s streaming service, CHL TV.
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at Sound Of Hockey and the host, producer, and editor of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is an inconsistent beer league goalie who believes that five players have to make a mistake before the puck gets to him. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFunBrown or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
While general manager Ron Francis tries hard to keep his coaching search under wraps, it’s very likely that his top choices to become the Seattle Kraken’s first head coach are still under contract somewhere else.
Back in November, Kraken ownership reportedly gave the front office permission to hire a coach whenever it felt ready. Last month Francis said he expects a decision by the end of the second quarter and is patiently waiting to see in “the next month or two” who will be available (coaches looking for work, on expiring contracts or “other situations that may be looking to make a change,” i.e., soon to be fired). Clearly, if Francis’ first choice had already been available, the Kraken would have hired him by now.
Another quality that’s not necessary, but will certainly help, is Francis’ close ties and familiarity with coaching candidates. After playing 23 seasons in the NHL and working another 13 years in NHL front offices, Francis has accumulated quite a lengthy list of connections.
Just look at some Kraken hockey operations personnel, for example. Assistant GM Ricky Olczyk and pro scout Mark Hunter worked for the Hurricanes when Francis held front office roles in Carolina. Assistant GM Jason Botterill worked alongside Francis on Hockey Canada’s management team for the 2019 World Ice Hockey Championship. Director of player personnel Robert Kron, director of amateur scouting Norm Maciver and pro scout Stu Barnes were NHL teammates with Francis. Pro scout Jon Goodwin was Francis’ junior hockey teammate on the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds.
It’s been said we’re all linked to everyone else by six degrees of separation. But if you want the plumb NHL job as the Seattle Kraken franchise’s first head coach, good luck if you’re more than one degree removed from Francis.
Unfortunately for the Kraken, these notable Francis connections won’t be available: Florida Panthers coach Joel Quenneville, Edmonton Oilers coach Dave Tippett, Washington Capitals coach Peter Laviolette, Philadelphia Flyers coach Alain Vigneault and Minnesota Wild coach Dean Evason.
Inasmuch as it would be refreshing to hire a new face instead of the usual suspects who end up being recycled around the league, Seattle will need a seasoned coach who can command respect and get results from a veteran-laden lineup. Comments by Francis back this up, and it would take an incredible audition and interview for a coach without NHL head coaching experience to blow away the Kraken.
The Stanley Cup Playoffs begin Saturday, and it would be nice to get the new coach involved on player assessments well ahead of the July 21 Expansion Draft. So here’s a rundown of the Kraken’s coaching candidates, divided into three groups: Francis connections, backup plans and longshots. NHL head coaching records are in parentheses.
Friends of Francis
Rod Brind’Amour (120-66-20 in three seasons with Carolina)
Brind’Amour coached the Hurricanes to the Eastern Conference finals in 2019, the conference semifinals in 2020 and first place in the Central Division this year. Carolina’s 80 points are tied with Vegas for most in the NHL through Tuesday night. He is the first Hurricanes coach to make three consecutive playoffs and is a front-runner for the Jack Adams Trophy as coach of the year. Yet, Carolina has bewilderingly dragged out negotiations on a contract extension and might lose him after this season.
Recent reports have the two sides getting closer to an agreement, and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman has said Brind’Amour won’t re-sign unless his coaching and training staff also get new deals. But the longer these negotiations take, the chances increase for the Kraken to swoop in and land the best man for their job.
Brind’Amour was Francis’ teammate on the Hurricanes from 2000-01 to 2003-04 and succeeded Francis as Carolina’s captain. He was also an assistant coach for Carolina when Francis held various front office roles, including GM and director of hockey operations.
John Stevens (171-148-43 in seven seasons with Philadelphia and Los Angeles)
In his second season as head coach, Stevens took the Flyers to the 2008 Eastern Conference finals but hasn’t won a playoff round since.
As an assistant coach in L.A., Stevens helped the Kings win two Cups and became a highly sought-after head coaching candidate. After the Kings fired him from his head coaching duties early in the 2018-19 season, Stevens has been an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars for the past two seasons.
Stevens helped the Stars reach the Cup Finals last season, but they missed the playoffs this year. He’s been in charge of the forwards and the team’s 5-on-5 offense, which ranks 21st in the NHL with 101 goals.
Stevens was a member of the 1990-91 Hartford Whalers along with Francis.
Todd Nelson (17-25-9 in one season with Edmonton)
Nelson played only three NHL games, but one of them was alongside Francis on the 1991-92 Penguins.
After playing many years in the minor leagues, Nelson paid his dues coaching in the American Hockey League and United Hockey League. Nelson served as a head coach for eight seasons in the AHL, winning the Calder Cup championship in 2017 with the Grand Rapids Griffins.
His only NHL head coaching job was on an interim basis for the Oilers after Dallas Eakins was fired 31 games into the 2014-15 season.
Nelson just completed his third season as an assistant coach for the Dallas Stars where he works on the power play with fellow assistant Derek Laxdal. The Stars’ power play ranks fifth in the NHL (23.6 percent) this season.
Rick Tocchet (178-200-60 in six seasons with Tampa Bay and Arizona)
Tocchet was a formidable power forward in his playing days but hasn’t had close to the same success behind the bench. His only playoff appearance came during last year’s pandemic bubble where the Coyotes lost in five games to the Colorado Avalanche in the first round (though they beat the Nashville Predators in the play-in round).
Arizona dumped Tocchet on Sunday after four seasons. His reputation for what Friedman describes as “one of the best around at handling players that are not easy to reach” could get the attention of his former teammate on the 1992 Stanley Cup champions. Francis and Tocchet played together on the Pittsburgh Penguins from 1991-92 to 1993-94 and in juniors with The Soo.
Paul Maurice (761-670-125 – and 99 ties – in 23 seasons with Hartford/Carolina, Toronto and Winnipeg)
Winnipeg was cruising nicely through most of this season, but a recent slump that had the Jets losing nine out of their past 11 games raises questions about Maurice’s job security. A quick playoff exit against the potent Edmonton Oilers just might bring an end to Maurice’s eight-season run in Winnipeg.
Among active NHL coaches, only Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper has been in his current job longer than Maurice. Fair or not, the shelf life of hockey coaches doesn’t last very long.
Maurice is well-respected around the league, has his players’ backs, and won’t have to wait long for a new job if he hits the market. He coached Carolina when Francis returned to play for the Hurricanes/Whalers organization from 1998-99 to 2003-04.
Francis and Vellucci were teammates on Hartford in 1987-88, and Vellucci served as assistant GM and director of player development in Francis’ front office with the Hurricanes from 2014 to 2017.
Plan B coaching options
Gerard Gallant (270-216-51 – and four ties – in nine seasons with Columbus, Florida and Vegas)
Gallant is high atop most everyone’s Kraken coaching list after he took the Golden Knights to the Stanley Cup Final in their first season.
Knowing how to squeeze the most out of a first-year expansion team is invaluable. But he’s been unemployed for a little more than a year. If the Kraken really valued and wanted Gallant, they could have landed him by now. Being perceived by some as unwelcoming toward analytics doesn’t help his case with the progressive-minded Kraken either.
Mike Babcock (700-418-164 – and 19 ties – in 17 seasons with Anaheim, Detroit and Toronto)
Winning a Stanley Cup with the Red Wings and two Olympic gold medals with Canada speak for themselves. But Babcock’s history of mind games and questionable treatment of some players can’t be brushed aside. That and the $5.875 million per year he’s being paid to not coach the Maple Leafs through 2022-23 will likely be tough obstacles to overcome.
Travis Green (123-130-31 in four seasons with Vancouver)
Green’s Canucks improved every season until a sudden regression had them miss the playoffs this year. Vancouver’s surprising run to the 2020 Western Conference semifinals was probably more indicative of Green’s abilities than this year’s COVID-19 train wreck. Green’s contract ends after this season, and the Canucks’ baffling indecisiveness in re-signing him could end up sending a rising coaching star to Seattle.
Bruce Boudreau (567-302-115 in 14 seasons with Washington, Anaheim and Minnesota)
In his favor, the longtime coach has never had a losing season in the NHL and worked with Kraken director of hockey strategy and research Alex Mandrycky in Minnesota. Boudreau hasn’t won a playoff round since 2015, however.
We’ll have to see if the Kraken want Boudreau.
Claude Julien (667-445-152 – and 10 ties – in 19 seasons with Montreal, New Jersey and Boston)
Julien won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011 and took them to the Cup Final again in 2013. But he hasn’t won a playoff round since 2014 and an emergency heart procedure caused Julien, 61, to miss part of the Canadiens’ 2020 postseason. Montreal fired him 18 games into this season after he couldn’t pull the team out of an early slump.
Rikard Gronborg
If the Kraken really like to do things differently, then hiring Gronborg would fit that model perfectly. The former national team coach for Sweden just completed his two-year deal with the ZSC Lions of the Swiss National League and reportedly has designs on landing an NHL job. New Jersey pursued him last year before hiring Lindy Ruff, and we can expect Gronborg’s name to be linked to more NHL coaching rumors.
Gronborg, who was an assistant coach for the WHL’s Spokane Chiefs in 2004-05, has won two World Championships and 16 medals for Sweden. It’s only a matter of time before he becomes the third European to coach in the NHL.
David Quinn (96-87-25 in three seasons with the New York Rangers)
Fresh off being fired Wednesday by the Rangers, Quinn should land a second chance somewhere after MSG chairman James Dolan got impatient with the team’s rebuild. Quinn’s background in college hockey (Boston University) sets him up better to work with younger players.
Longshots to be Kraken coach
John Tortorella (673-541-132 – and 37 ties – in 20 seasons with Tampa Bay, New York Rangers, Vancouver and Columbus)
Tortorella won a Stanley Cup with the Lightning and has had impressive results nearly everywhere he’s coached. But his old-school style and abrasiveness wouldn’t be a good fit in a new market. The Kraken coach needs to be on board for selling hockey to new fans, and Torts’ frequent condescending or curt responses to questions from the media won’t help.
Kirk Muller (80-80-27 in three seasons with Carolina)
In one of his first moves as Hurricanes GM in 2014, Francis fired Muller after he missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season. Have assistant and associate coaching gigs with St. Louis and Montreal since then made Muller better suited to lead an NHL team?
Dave Hakstol (134-101-42 in four seasons with Philadelphia)
Since he was fired by the Flyers, Hakstol has spent the past two seasons as an assistant coach with Toronto. He oversees penalty killing, which ranks 26th (79.9 percent) in the NHL. He never got out of the first round in two playoff appearances with the Flyers, but the former University of North Dakota coach could get another shot at a head coaching job in the NHL.
Hakstol and Francis worked together on Team Canada when Hakstol was an assistant for Alain Vigneault’s coaching staff at the 2019 World Championships.
Samuelsson first left the Kraken to become head coach of Leksands IF of the Swedish Hockey League in 2019-20. He previously coached MODO in Sweden for two seasons and was 39-29-8 as head coach of the Charlotte Checkers, Carolina’s AHL farm team, in 2016-17 when Francis was Hurricanes GM.
Francis has obviously aided Samuelsson’s coaching aspirations, but can the Kraken GM objectively determine if Samuelsson is ready to be an NHL head coach?
Jim Wilkie is a longtime Northwest journalist, former NHL editor and NHL Insider writer for ESPN.com, onetime GSHL All-Star, and SJHA hockey dad. Follow him on Twitter @jimwilkie.
The Seattle Kraken are going to select T.J. Oshie from the Washington Capitals in July’s Expansion Draft. At least that’s what media and message board punditocracy seem to have already determined.
It’s a presumption that makes sense on the surface.
Oshie has been a great NHLer for over 800 games, and his accomplishments are cemented in hockey fans’ memories. He’s an Olympic hero for his shootout antics during the 2014 games, he won a Stanley Cup with the Capitals and drank beer through his shirt. Just this past week he recorded an emotional hat trick, days after his beloved father passed away.
Simply put, he’s got cache.
Oh, and he also has a Northwest connection. In case you weren’t aware, Oshie grew up in Snohomish County before moving to Minnesota as a teenager to find more competitive hockey. Of course, if he’s exposed by the Capitals, the Kraken will select him for that local angle, right? Imagine the jersey sales and marketing opportuities.
But should they? What matters more, his local connection or his production on the ice? While Oshie being selected in the Expansion Draft would make for a nice story, the Kraken want to win.
Will selecting Oshie in the Draft help the Kraken market the team?
Oshie returning to his hometown would be a great narrative. The local kid leaves home as a teenager, achieves great success before returning home to lead the new NHL club in its infancy. It’s got a feel-good Disney movie written all over it.
The Kraken really don’t need help marketing the team, though.
They’ve sold out all their season tickets, built a waiting list of 60,000 people, and merchandise has been flying off the shelf – and that’s without jerseys being available.
Further, while the local hockey fans – of which there are plenty – are aware of who Oshie is and where he came from, the casual sports fan may not. If you randomly polled ten local Seattle sports fans, ones who don’t follow hockey but will root for all the hometown teams, how many will know Oshie’s name? Four? Three?
Still, his selection would be a story, one that every local and national hockey writer will write about in the post-draft excitement. The local news will produce features and Oshie will make the rounds on the local sports radio stations – stations that have mostly ignored the NHL to date.
That exposure will capture those six or seven casual sports fans who didn’t previously know him. They will relate to Oshie, connect with him, and it will help cement the Kraken into the local sports scene – plus, he’s already a Seahawks fan.
Is being a local product worth the Kraken taking T.J. Oshie at the Expansion Draft?
So, there is a benefit to having a local guy come back, but still, what about the production on the ice? After all, winning is the ultimate marketing tool. Nothing will excite the city better than putting out a competitive product early into the Kraken history.
Is Oshie’s production worthy of an Expansion pick from the Kraken?
Oshie will turn 35 two months into the upcoming season, but his play has not shown any decline at this stage of his career. In 53 games with Washington this season he’s scored 22 goals with 43 points.
Those numbers are on pace with the bulk of his career.
He can still shoot, and this year’s 20.8 percent shooting percentage is the second highest in his career, coming off a 19 percent mark the season prior. Throughout his time in the NHL he’s averaged just over two shots per game and is at that pace this year as well, showing no drop-off.
Oshie has only had one NHL season where his Corsi-For percentage was under 50 – this year he’s at 52 percent – and his expected goal (xG%) percentage this year is also 52, which is an increase from last season. Not only is he still driving possession but he’s creating chances for the Capitals.
Those are all great five-on-five numbers, but the Capitals use Oshie quite a bit on the power play, and that’s where he’s really come through. With Washington this year, he’s scored 13 power-play goals for a total of 17 points with the man advantage.
His salary is high, with four years left of a $5.7 million contract that would have the Kraken on the hook until he’s 39 if they were to select him at the Expansion Draft. That amount may be reasonable now, but will it in four years?
If they like the local angle, defenseman Brenden Dillon may also be available. He’s younger, cheaper, still productive, and his time as captain of the Seattle Thunderbirds was more recent. It’s not clear if he’s ever drunk beer through a jersey or t-shirt but Dillon would be a solid top-four defenseman for the Kraken.
Seattle could also consider a young goalie from Washington. Vitek Vanecek, 25, burst onto the scene as a rookie this year and is worth a look. He will likely be exposed (we think Ilya Samsonov gets protected, but if it’s the other way around, then Samsonov is also worth considering), and while he does not have a long NHL track record, Vanecek would be a promising young goalie that the Kraken could groom for the future.
In the end, the Kraken do not have to select Oshie. They have options when it comes to the Capitals, but Oshie will certainly be in the mix. While he is aging, he is still producing at a high level and would instantly become a fan favorite for the way he plays the game and carries himself off the ice.
General manager Ron Francis will weigh all the Oshie factors and have to decide if the salary is worth his age. The prospect is enticing and there is a strong chance that Oshie will be in Kraken colors this fall. If that does come to fruition, it will be because he can and will produce on the ice.
During the 2017 NHL Expansion Draft, Vegas made 10 side deals that netted the Golden Knights an additional six players, 10 Entry Draft picks, and signing rights to one player. Such Expansion Draft side deals will be an important element of the upcoming Seattle Expansion Draft. We went ahead and tiered all 30 NHL Teams that are participating in the 2021 Expansion Draft into four buckets based on the likelihood of the team making a side deal.
We’re starting in the Eastern Conference.
Major factors in determining if a side deal can happen
Too many players to protect. This is where a team has too many quality players and not enough spots on the protection lists. Example: In 2017, the Minnesota Wild had an abundance of defensemen they wanted to protect. The Wild traded Alex Tuch and a third-round pick in exchange for Vegas selecting Erik Haula in the Expansion Draft. This prevented the Golden Knights from selecting Matt Dumba, who was unprotected in the 2017 Expansion Draft.
Bad contracts. In this scenario, a team might have a player with a high annual average value (AAV) cap hit, but the player might not be performing at a level expected based on the AAV. Example: In 2017, Columbus traded their 2017 NHL Entry Draft first-round pick and David Clarkson for Vegas selecting William Karlsson. In this case, Clarkson was the bad contract and the combination of the draft pick and Karlsson was the incentive Columbus provided to Vegas for taking the bad contract in the Expansion Draft.
Reduction of cap hit. Like the bad contract scenario, this is where a team wants to reduce its salary cap obligation for the next season to create space for current and future players. This was not prevalent in 2017 but may be very important in the Kraken Expansion Draft due to a flat salary cap caused by the pandemic.
Likely side deal candidates
Tampa Bay Lightning – Heading into this season, Tampa Bay was already doing some salary cap gymnastics to be compliant before the season opener. Nikita Kucherov had surgery that landed him on the long-term injured reserve list (LTIR). This enabled the Lightning to move his $9,500,000 salary cap off the books to keep the team in compliance. Kucherov is expected to be healthy next season and the Lightning will need to move money off the payroll to be compliant for the 2021-22 season.
Possible side deal candidates
Boston Bruins – How the Bruins approach the Expansion Draft is anyone’s guess. They have several young players in Trent Frederic, Jakub Zboril, and Jeremy Lauzon. Plus, they have some vets that are making a strong case to be protected in Nick Ritchie and Craig Smith. Three of those five players could be exposed and could create an opportunity for a side deal to protect them.
Buffalo Sabres – Buffalo will want to offload the bad Jeff Skinner contract, but with six seasons remaining on Skinner’s contract, I do not think the Sabres could offer enough to Seattle for them to take it on. However, with only two years remaining on Kyle Okposo’s contract, the Sabres might want to offer some incentives to the Kraken that will create more cap space in Buffalo.
Morgan Geekie was a third-round pick by Ron Francis in the 2017 NHL Draft (Checkers photo)
Carolina Hurricanes – Two months ago the Hurricanes looked like a prime candidate for a side deal, but it now appears Dougie Hamilton will not be signing an extension with the Canes. This will allow them to protect Jake Bean. The Canes also sent Haydn Fleury to the Ducks at the trade deadline, so the Expansion Draft options suddenly do not look nearly as appetizing. It is possible that the Canes offer up a draft pick to Seattle if the Kraken do not select Morgan Geekie in the Expansion Draft.
Florida Panthers – At the beginning of the season the Florida Panthers looked like one of the teams with not much to offer the Kraken in the Expansion Draft. Several players are having career years, though, and have made the protected list a bit trickier for Florida. The Panthers further complicated matters for themselves by acquiring Sam Bennett at the trade deadline, and the list of candidates for protection at forward is now a bit crowded. They might want to encourage Seattle to take on a big contract like Patric Hornqvist at $5 million a year by offering up a draft pick to influence the decision.
New York Islanders – As we see it, the Islanders will expose Josh Bailey or Kieffer Bellows in the forward category and either Nick Leddy or Scott Mayfield on defense. General manager Lou Lamoriello might consider offering up a sweetener to influence the Kraken’s decision here if there is a player he prioritizes over another.
Philadelphia Flyers – Signing Scott Laughton to a contract extension last month really threw a wrench into forecasting the exposure list for the Flyers. They will need to expose three of the following forwards: Jakub Voracek, Nolan Patrick, Nicolas Aube-Kubel, and James van Riemsdyk. The Flyers might want Seattle to take on some salary cap and offer up some incentive for Seattle selecting Voracek or van Riemsdyk, both of whom have salary cap hits over $7 million per year compared to Patrick and Aube-Kubel’s cap hits of ~$1 million per year.
Less likely side deal candidates
Montreal Canadiens – The Canadiens approach to the Expansion Draft hinges on their desire and ability to sign any of their big three pending UFAs: Joel Armia, Phillip Danault, and Tomas Tatar. Signing two of the three would create an exposure issue for Montreal. It might also be possible for the Canadiens to offer up some draft picks to the Kraken for them not to select platooning goalie Jake Allen who has played roughly half of Montreal’s games this season. It seems like a long shot for any of these scenarios to play out.
New Jersey Devils – The Devils continue to rebuild and do not seem like a team that needs to shed any salary. PK Subban’s contract is high at $9 million a year, but he has had a bounce-back season. And with only one year remaining, there is no sense of urgency to get Subban off the books.
New York Rangers – Colin Blackwell might be having an impressive season, but if he is exposed, we do not anticipate the Rangers offering up anything extra to protect him.
Ottawa Senators – The Senators are positioned very well to not lose much in the Expansion Draft and are unlikely candidates for a side deal.
Pittsburgh Penguins – There are a couple players of note that could be exposed in the Expansion Draft, but Pittsburgh is unlikely to part with draft picks primarily because they don’t have many left in the next two years.
Toronto Maple Leafs – The Leafs situation is a bit complicated. They need theoretical space for re-signing Zach Hyman and/or signing a UFA starting goalie not named Frederik Andersen. If they want to sign Hyman and a higher-caliber goalie, then they are going to need to move money off their payroll to create cap space. My feeling is that Hyman will not be re-signed and therefore no side deal with Seattle will really be needed.
Washington Capitals – The only way the Caps make a side deal is if they want to create some cap space, and we just do not see any obvious bad contracts on the Capitals roster to move.
Close to zero chance of a side deal
Columbus Blue Jackets – The Blue Jackets do not have much to offer Seattle in the Expansion Draft and their salary cap position seems fine.
Detroit Red Wings – The Wings are another team with very little to offer to the Kraken and do not need to worry about the salary cap anytime soon.
Tomorrow I will run through the Western Conference teams of possible Expansion Draft side deal candidates.
It becomes official Friday. The Seattle Kraken are scheduled to make their final payment to the NHL, making them the league’s 32nd franchise.
The NHL awarded Seattle a franchise in December of 2018, and the team has moved forward with hiring staff and preparing for the Expansion Draft in July. But paying the remainder of its $650 million expansion fee represents the final hurdle for the Kraken becoming official members of the league.
So, what does this mean?
For 30 other teams, it means they get their cut of the expansion fee sent to them – the Vegas Golden Knights are not eligible to receive a portion of the fee. More importantly for the Kraken, the payment means as an official NHL franchise they can sign free agents and have a say in league-wide decisions.
There are undrafted college players, and soon CHL players, that will have completed their seasons and can be signed by NHL clubs. We have already seen a flurry of college players signed and while on the surface it feels like maybe the Kraken missed out, general manager Ron Francis says Seattle would not have been a destination for those players even if they were allowed to sign them.
“The college ones are a little more challenging,” Francis said two weeks ago. “It’s not so much the payment happening later. A lot of times with those big college free agents and what the agents and the players want is to burn this season (of an entry-level contract), which is this year. We can’t burn this year and would have to start next year, so that takes us out on a lot of those negotiations.
“We’re looking at that and we’re certainly looking at the Ontario League, the Western League, and the Quebec League and free agents in Europe that we might be interested in signing.”
By contrast, the Vegas Golden Knights signed their first player in March of 2017, seven months before their first NHL season. They signed Reid Duke from the Brandon Wheat Kings as his WHL season was ending. Junior leagues are nearing a conclusion over the next few weeks and the OHL didn’t play at all, so there are players that the Kraken could consider bringing into the fold.
The final payment also means that the Kraken can now weigh in on league decisions, GM meetings, and Board of Governors’ issues. Previously, the franchise had no say in these choices and just watched as the league dealt with restarting the playoffs last year and shortening the current season.
