When the Seattle Kraken announced the hiring of Norm Maciver to serve in the front office, he talked about how excited he was to join a franchise at the ground floor. It played a huge role in leaving the Chicago Blackhawks, where he had served for 14 seasons.
It’s been a common theme among Kraken hires.
The new additions of Jason Botterill and Norm Maciver bring Stanley Cup championship experience to our Hockey Ops staff, as we continue to prepare for the expansion and amateur drafts this upcoming July.
Everyone from general manager Ron Francis to assistant general manager Jason Botterill has expressed that same draw of starting a franchise from scratch. It’s an excitement that’s wrapped up in a huge challenge and undertaking.
Maciver has done it all in the NHL from player to coach to front office work. He’s faced many challenges, but the one in Seattle will be different than the one he faced when he joined the Chicago front office.
The Blackhawks were an established franchise. As the Kraken director of player personnel, Maciver now is tasked with helping the Kraken establish themselves in a similar manner. Winning three Stanley Cups, as he did with Chicago, would be nice as well.
“The challenges are totally different,” Maciver says. “In Chicago you’re dealing with a team that’s had a lot of success, that’s a little bit on the downside now. You’ve got contracts and you’re dealing with a lot of situations like that where here it’s totally fresh. We don’t have any players yet so it’s a matter of looking at what might be available in July and what players might be a fit for what we’re trying to do here…that just sounded so exciting and I’m looking forward to getting into it.”
Maciver will be watching a ton of hockey
As director of player personnel, Maciver will be involved in evaluating players at every level of the Kraken organization.
He’ll monitor the progress of young players in the American Hockey League, in the amateur ranks, and on the NHL roster. He’ll work with the team’s scouts, player development staff, and the general manager to ensure that the players in the system are on the right track.
He’s going to be watching a lot of hockey.
“In a normal year and season, you get your eyes on a little bit of everything,” he says. “You’re watching junior, you’re watching the American League, college and the NHL. You have to be aware of European free agents as well.”
With no players to monitor yet, Maciver will be assisting in the process of preparing for July’s Expansion Draft.
But its more than just scouting players. Maciver and the rest of the Kraken hockey operations team will get their heads together and establish the team’s culture and identity. It’s an underrated aspect to putting together a club and one that again, will be put together from the ground floor in Seattle.
“It’s something you want to establish from day one,” he says. “You want it for the players you’re going to initially acquire but you want it for the guys you’re going to draft over the next few years. You want that in place so when they’re ready to become NHL players they can walk right into it.”
Maciver’s experience an asset for the Kraken
Thanks to some really terrible down years the Blackhawks were able to select two generational talents – Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane. The two stars were the catalysts to the Blackhawks winning Cups and can make coaches, general managers, and Maciver look good.
But it wasn’t as easy as that.
Chicago had to find depth players, guys who would compliment Toews and Kane and push the Blackhawks over the top. Something that’s easier said than done.
“It’s a challenge we saw in Chicago over the years,” Maciver says. “The core guys became really established as star players in the NHL. A lot of times when you brought in young players they were intimidated. A lot of young guys would defer. Meaning, every time they were on the ice with one of these stars they would give the puck to them, let them do their thing…for some players it’s tough to play with star players. It takes a certain mentality of young players to not be in awe and just go out and play. It is tricky sometimes to make sure you find that chemistry when you have those star players.”
Finding guys to do that is one of the challenges and responsibilities of player personnel directors.
Maciver points to Andrew Shaw as a player that the Blackhawks brought up and fit in perfectly with their stars. Not an obvious NHL prospect, Shaw was a fifth-round draft pick of Chicago but made his way to the NHL and contributed to two Stanley Cup winners in 2013 and 2015. Turns out he was a perfect fit.
Being in charge of player personnel also requires weighing in on trade possibilities.
While ultimately the responsibility of the general manager, Maciver will have input on how players with another franchise might fit in. Again, it’s something he had a hand in with the Blackhawks.
It ultimately comes down to trying to project that fit. How will the player targeted fit in with the new team? One such player was Dylan Strome who Chicago acquired early in the 2018-2019 season from the Arizona Coyotes.
After being selected by Arizona with the third overall pick in the 2015 Draft, Strome had a couple of lackluster seasons with the Coyotes. In Chicago, he posted career numbers immediately.
The Blackhawks saw a fit and made the trade.
“In the case of Dylan, in Arizona they had a lot of young guys,” Maciver says of the trade. “We had an opportunity in Chicago, he had had chemistry in junior with (Chicago center Alex) Debrincat. They were dynamic in junior so the thinking at the time was this could be an opportunity for both of them to hopefully do similar to what they accomplished in junior. Dylan has progressed nicely in Chicago.”
The challenge of scouting for July
Obviously, the hockey world is different than it’s been every other season. Most NHL arenas are not allowing fans, some are allowing scouts, and there has been very little amateur hockey to watch.
The Kraken will have to find players for whom they may not have had as many viewings as they’d prefer.
Even at the AHL level things will be different for Maciver. Seattle’s affiliate in Palm Springs won’t be ready to play until the 2022 seasonbut the team will need minor league players for its first year. The team will announce that they will split an affiliation with another AHL franchise for the first season.
Maciver will have to monitor those players to judge their progress towards becoming NHL regulars. Having prospects split may lead to some complications.
“It can be a challenge but it’s not something that hasn’t happened before,” he says. “Back 30 years ago that was more of the norm in the AHL. Virtually all of the teams were dual affiliates. I know from my own experience; I was a coach in the AHL in a similar situation. Even though I was hired by one team, yeah, you obviously wanted to make sure your prospects continued to improve but you had to play the players who deserved the ice time. You want to make sure you have prospects that deserve to play and if they do deserve it, I’m confident they will play.”
Maciver and the Kraken have their work cut out for them with all these challenges. Finding the right players for not only the first year but drafting the future in the NHL Draft will be tough with hurdles the pandemic has placed in front of them.
Its coming quick and its not something Maciver and the Kraken staff are shying away from.
Maciver is currently living in Minnesota and until recently hadn’t been to a hockey game since the NHL shut down the season last March. He’s ready to go.
“The clock is ticking but I think it’s fun,” Maciver says. “Personally, just getting into the rinks again, seeing games live, you’re more confident talking about players versus watching them on video. I’m just excited about that. I think these months will fly by but since I’ve been onboard, we’ve had some really good conversations and I’m looking forward to more.”
The new home for the Seattle Kraken has reached a major milestone. Friday morning, the last steel beam was installed at Climate Pledge Arena. The ceremony took place in front of construction workers from Mortenson along with Kraken and City of Seattle staff.
It took 2,500 craftworkers to reach this point in the arena construction. A total of 147,430 bolts were used to secure the 8.9 tons of steel and 1.3 million craft hours have been put into the project so far.
The final beam was signed by workers and onlookers before being hoisted up and in place.
Climate Pledge Arena is on track to be open in the fall of 2021 in time for the Kraken inaugural season in the NHL.
– Andy Eide
Fans loving the John Forslund news…
On Tuesday, the Kraken dropped a news bomb that the legendary John Forslund had been hired by the team to be its play-by-play announcer.
Seattle, you've got an incoming call – and trust us, you'll want to answer this one. 😏 pic.twitter.com/XRlCkgzDNw
Forslund is truly one of the all-time greats at this particular trade. So when the Carolina Hurricanes cut his pay in July, we at Sound Of Hockey had already begun clamoring for the Kraken to bring him into the fold.
“That’s Crapweasel Hockey, baby!” – John Forslund, October, 2021
We and many other Kraken fans got our wish, and now we can’t wait to hear Forslund whisper sweet hockey-related nothings into our ears for years to come.
This is entirely anecdotal. BUT… It seems like the general reaction from Seattle faithful has been less than favorable about the Kraken’s revelation—announced in tandem with the Forslund news—that their broadcast partner will be ROOT Sports.
This tweet from the Seattle Kraken Troll sums up the sentiment nicely:
Let it be known that we at Sound Of Hockey do not hold any strong opinions here, and we’re just sharing what we’ve seen on social media, on Reddit, in the comment section on our site, and pretty much anywhere else that Kraken fans gather online.
From our in-depth and very scientific investigative reporting, the consensus for why some fans are upset is that ROOT Sports currently does not have a streaming option for folks who do not subscribe to cable. Obviously, there has been a big shift into digital streaming platforms like Hulu, Sling, and YouTube TV, but ROOT cannot be found on any of those.
We conjectured (conjected? conjec…shed?) privately that there might be more news coming about a separate streaming partner. But Reddit user Olbaidon sent concerns to the Kraken and then shared the team’s response publicly.
“At this time games will be available through ROOT SPORTS distribution channels exclusively.” So, that settles the idea of a separate streaming partner, which apparently is not coming.
We understand the frustration from those who don’t want to pay for cable, and we do wonder if this alienates some potential new hockey fans that will end up missing the boat because of a lack of exposure. And this does feel like the very first thing the Kraken have done that hasn’t wholeheartedly put first the interest of the fans and the desire to grow the game in the Pacific Northwest. But we also assume that the Kraken received an enormous bag of money from ROOT Sports, and at some point they do also need to make some decisions that benefit them financially.
We’ll have plenty of discussion on this topic on the next Sound Of Hockey Podcast, so tune in!
WHL coming back (sort of)
The WHL has long said it plans to play this season in some form, despite the many challenges and setbacks associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The province of Alberta has granted permission to the teams based within its borders—the Red Deer Rebels, Edmonton Oil Kings, Lethbridge Hurricanes, Medicine Hat Tigers, and Calgary Hitmen—to begin play on Feb. 26.
Does this mean the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips are coming back soon too? Well, not necessarily.
“The WHL continues to work with government and health authorities in each provincial and state jurisdiction to establish a start date for the WHL’s East Division, B.C. Division and U.S. Division. Approval from the health authorities is required in each jurisdiction for the balance of the WHL Divisions to return to play.”
Read the full statement here, which gives some interesting details about the lengths to which the league will go to be able to get at least some of its teams playing.
NWHL Whubble broken
There was some disappointing news out of the Whubble, which has been underway for a week now. The Metropolitan Riveters withdrew from the tournament in Lake Placid after several members of the organization tested positive for COVID.
On the bright side, there’s still a great tournament in progress with regular season games for the five remaining teams continuing on Saturday, all of which are streamable on Twitch.
The Minnesota Whitecaps lead the standings with a perfect 3-0-0 record, but the expansion Toronto Six are hot on their heels at 2-1-1.
Remember, the Isobel Cup Semifinals and Final will be shown nationally on NBCSN on February 4th and 5th.
Rutherford retires abruptly
Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford abruptly retired on Wednesday, citing personal reasons. Newly-hired Seattle Kraken AGM (and friend of the SOH Pod) Jason Botterill’s name is notably being bandied about as a replacement for Rutherford, who had held the role since 2014.
This is all still fresh but would be surprising if former Pens AGM Jason Botterill wasn’t a candidate in some form. Just took a job with Seattle. https://t.co/DLVge5lnAG
Botterill did work in Pittsburgh’s front office for many years and served as the team’s associate general manager, winning three Stanley Cups along the way.
For now, Patrik Allvin assumes the role with an interim tag, making him the first Swede to serve as GM of an NHL team.
That’ll leave a mark
Los Angeles Kings defenseman Sean Walker took a slapshot to the face off the stick of Minnesota’s Matt Dumba on Friday.
In this same game, Matt Roy also took a very dangerous Kevin Fiala hit from behind, which resulted in an injury for Roy and a three-game suspension for Fiala.
Both Roy and Walker were allowed to travel back to Los Angeles with the team, so it sounds like the very serious types of injuries that could have occurred in both cases were thankfully averted. Nonetheless, it was a rough night for the Kings.
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.
The New York Islanders, to many’s annoyance but to some’s enjoyment, made a deep run in the NHL’s Playoff Bubble with good ole-fashioned defensive hockey. It’s a style of play that worked quite well for the Eastern Conference Finalists, but didn’t inspire much enthusiasm among the hockey-watching public. For Seattle’s purposes, will the defensively-focused Islanders possess many options for the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft?
Oh, you bet.
The flat cap might not impact a team in the NHL more than the Islanders when it comes to the Seattle Expansion Draft. General manager Lou Lamoriello built a competitive roster for head coach Barry Trotz, but the Islanders also have a projected cap hit of over $77 million next season, nearly $4 million away from the upper limit of the salary cap.
Along with that, you don’t advance to the Eastern Conference Finals without talented players, so even without cap considerations, there should be a quality selection available for the Kraken.
Islanders protected list for Seattle Expansion Draft
Forwards
Mathew Barzal (lock)
Jean-Gabriel Pageau (lock)
Anthony Beauvillier (lock)
Anders Lee
Brock Nelson
Jordan Eberle
Kieffer Bellows
The Islanders’ forward group features plenty of veterans on big contracts. Not every one of those forwards will be protected.
Young phenom and Seattle Thunderbird legend Mathew Barzal won’t come back to the Pacific Northwest during the Expansion Draft. Nor will promising 23-year-old Anthony Beauvillier, who was terrific for the Islanders during the 2020 playoffs. Nor will Jean-Gabriel Pageau, who Lameriello paid a pretty penny for in a trade with Ottawa and in turn gave him a six-year, $30 million contract extension.
Three veterans and a promising rookie round out the protected list. Anders Lee and Brock Nelson are pretty safe bets for protection and Jordan Eberle gets the nod for his ability to drive offense on a team that’s offensively challenged at times.
Kieffer Bellows, who played one season of junior hockey for the Portland Winterhawks in 2017-18, secures the seventh and final spot. Even though Bellows was suspended last year for violating the AHL’s Performance Enhancing Substance program, he has remained in favor within the organization and has played in six games thus far for the Isles.
Defense
Ryan Pulock (lock)
Adam Pelech (near lock)
Scott Mayfield
After shipping Devon Toews to the Avalanche this offseason, the Islanders’ situation on defense is much clearer.
Ryan Pulock and Adam Pelech are safe bets to land on New York’s protected list. The 26-year-old blueliners are playing big minutes for the Islanders in 2020-21.
Scott Mayfield secures the final spot. The 28-year-old offers stable play in the defensive zone with some offensive upside, and more importantly, comes at an affordable $1.45 million cap hit per year.
Goalie
Semyon Varlamov
This is a bit of a complicated situation, but for now, Semyon Varlamov is the choice. Varlamov has been fantastic early on, posting a .936 save percentage in five games.
But keep an eye on what the Islanders do with Cory Schneider — or any other goalie. Right now, Varlamov is the only goalie eligible for the Expansion Draft on New York’s roster, and if the Islanders don’t sign another goalie past 2021-22, Varlamov will be exposed — at least one goalie needs to be exposed, per the Expansion Draft rules.
Top Islanders targets for Seattle Expansion Draft
Forwards
Josh Bailey
Otto Koivula
Casey Cizikas
Michael Dal Colle
Defense
Nick Leddy
The Islanders present two plug-and-play options that would land high in Seattle’s lineup in year one in Bailey and Leddy.
Bailey, 31, is an experienced winger who is coming off a huge 2020 playoff performance with 20 points (2-18-20) in 22 games. Bailey has underperformed in 2021 so far with just one point in six games, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to imagine him returning to that playoff form soon.
Leddy, 29, is a second-pair defenseman that’s produced well early on. His 0.42 individual expected goals created per 60 is 11th among NHL defensemen — it’s a small sample size, but it’s an encouraging sign. If Leddy keeps playing like that, he should be protected over Mayfield, especially with his presence on the Isles’ power play.
Koivula, 24, is an intriguing young player with loads of potential. The 6-foot-4, 200-pound center is entering his fifth professional season but hasn’t broken into the Islanders lineup yet after a productive year (9-13-22) in the American Hockey League in 2019-20.
For the Islanders’ No. 5-ranked prospect — according to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler — behind four other centers on the organizational depth chart, the path to jumping off the taxi squad and into the Islanders’ everyday lineup is filled with obstacles. But an expansion franchise like Seattle would have plenty of room for him.
Cizikas is worth mentioning because many believe, like Arthur Staple at The Athletic, he will be protected by New York. The pending unrestricted free agent carries a lot of value because he plays center, but is there value in protecting a fourth-line center?
Michael Dal Colle, 24, could be an interesting reclamation project for the Kraken. The fifth-overall selection in the 2014 Entry Draft has only played in 86 NHL games and hasn’t broken through to be an NHL regular yet.
Side deal scenarios
The Islanders are ripe for the picking when it comes to potential side deals.
Not only does New York have to worry about clearing up cap space for 2023-24 when Barzal’s bridge contract is up, but Beauvillier is also a restricted free agent in 2021-22. With just under $4 million in projected cap space next season, the Islanders almost certainly need to move a big contract.
What better team to help them move a big contract — with the right compensation, of course — than Seattle, which is building a team from scratch?
Does that mean the Islanders throw in a sweetner so Seattle takes someone like Bailey, Leddy, or Varlamov and shed their contracts? Bailey is signed through 2023-24 at $5 million per year, Leddy is inked through 2021-22 at $5.5 million per year, and Varlamov carries a $5 million cap hit through 2022-23.
Or, does New York throw even more down on the table so Seattle takes a veteran like Cal Clutterbuck or Leo Komarov? Both are signed for the next two seasons, Clutterbuck at $3.5 million per year and Komarov at $3 million.
Better yet, the Islanders could dangle an enticing draft pick or prospect in exchange for Andrew Ladd, who’s currently buried in the minors, and the rest of his two-year, $8.75 million contract off the books.
Josh Horton is a freelance writer, former newspaper journalist, and former Western Hockey League writer for the Everett Herald and The Spokesman-Review (Spokane). He is NOT a juggler, nor is he a former professional baseball player. Follow him on Twitter @byjoshhorton.
Previous Sound Of Hockey Expansion Draft Team Previews
The process for our Expansion Draft profiles has been to go from worst to first in terms of where teams finished last season. Thus, the Detroit Red Wings—who were historically bad in 2019-2020—were our first profile, while the Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning will be our last. What we’ve noticed is that as we are progressing through better and better teams, the decisions that general managers will have to make is getting more difficult, while the level of talent that will be exposed is generally improving. Strangely, the Boston Bruins do not seem to have particularly difficult decisions to make for the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.
On the contrary, for a team that finished first in the Eastern Conference last regular season with 100 standings points in 70 games, the expansion-related challenges are few, at least for now. If things hold, Boston’s protection list will be cut and dried.
Nonetheless, there’s legitimate NHL talent that will be exposed by the Boston Bruins, and it is our duty to consider Seattle’s options for the Expansion Draft.
Assumptions
If the Bruins had kept Torey Krug, they would have had to go with the eight skaters and one goalie protection scheme, and Matt Grzelcyk, a point-producing defenseman in the prime his career, would have been the obvious pick. Alas, Krug is gone to the St. Louis Blues, and now the more common seven forwards, three defensemen, one goalie option is Boston’s route.
One question surrounding Boston’s immediate future is what general manager Don Sweeney decides to do with David Krejci. The second-line center is 34 years old and is reaching the end of an enormous contract. He has had a profound impact on the Bruins’ organization and is just one year removed from scoring 73 points, so his production is not yet waning.
We are assuming that Krejci’s contract status is moot, though. It’s our guess that he will remain a free agent until after the Expansion Draft, then re-sign with Boston so that he does not need protecting.
The only way we see the below changing is if Boston makes in-season trades—this feels likely, being that the B’s are still bona fide contenders—or somebody new emerges as must-keep talent. For this exercise we will assume no trades are coming.
Boston Bruins protected list for Seattle Expansion Draft
Forwards
David Pastrnak (Lock)
Patrice Bergeron (Lock, NMC)
Brad Marchand (Lock, NMC)
Charlie Coyle (Lock, NMC)
Jake DeBrusk (Lock)
Craig Smith
Ondrej Kase
There really aren’t any questions with this list. Even Craig Smith and Ondrej Kase—neither of whom earned our “lock” distinction—appear highly likely to be protected.
Smith was signed to a three-year deal in the offseason, and at an average annual cap hit of $3.1 million is reasonably priced considering he averages close to 40 points per season.
Kase has shown glimpses of star power in his career—he potted 20 goals in 2017-2018 with the Ducks—and Boston paid a significant price to acquire him, sending a first-round pick, David Backes, and Axel Andersson to Anaheim at the NHL Entry Draft. So, Kase will be protected unless one of Nick Ritchie or Anders Bjork has an enormous season.
Defense
Matt Grzelcyk (Lock)
Brandon Carlo (Lock)
Charlie McAvoy (Lock)
This is the way.
Ok, but seriously, all signs point toward this trio being protected by the Bruins. There is one young blueliner whose stock is rising quickly in Jeremy Lauzon, but it’s hard to imagine Boston exposing Grzelcyk or Carlo, and McAvoy is obviously cemented on the top pairing.
Goalie
Tuukka Rask (UFA)
Neither of Boston’s netminders—Rask or Jaroslav Halak—is signed beyond this season. There’s a chance that Rask could still be a UFA when Seattle’s negotiating window opens. Daniel Vladar is a highly-regarded goalie prospect and also needs protecting, but we don’t think netminder will be the focus out of Boston.
Top Boston Bruins targets for Seattle Expansion Draft
Forwards
Ritchie, 25, seems like the most obvious choice at the most obvious position out of Boston, just based on his role in that lineup. He’s a large-bodied, gritty winger, listed at 6-foot-2, 230 pounds, and with players out of the lineup is currently getting time in the top six and on the power play. But in his career, Ritchie has not had massive offensive outputs, so far peaking at 31 points in 2018-2019 with Anaheim.
Ritchie would be an effective player that could get opportunities in Seattle’s top six, but one must wonder if there are higher-upside options available here.
Other forwards to consider would be Bjork or perhaps Trent Frederic.
Bjork, 24, is lower on the depth chart than Ritchie and has had a relatively quiet and injury-riddled start to his NHL career. Last season was his first showing of real promise, as he notched nine goals and 10 assists in 58 games. It will be worth watching to see how Bjork performs this season if he stays healthy, though he so far does not have a point and is mired in Boston’s bottom six.
Frederic, meanwhile, is younger than the other options at 22 years old, but his NHL experience is limited to 22 games over three seasons. In that time he’s registered just one point, an assist against Philadelphia on Saturday. Frederic was a star at the University of Wisconsin, where he scored a point per game over two seasons and had decent numbers in the AHL. Still, the Kraken would have to see something special this year to make them believe Frederic will develop into more than a fourth-line grinder.
Defense
Jeremy Lauzon (some people call him Jérémy Lauzon, which is way more French Canadian and certainly more interesting) could end up being an x-factor in this whole process. As straightforward as Boston’s protection schemes appear, Lauzon is making a name for himself and could throw a wrench in Sweeney’s plans. At 23, the 2015 second-rounder has been hovering around 20 minutes per night on Boston’s blue line this season.
If Lauzon’s role continues to grow, Sweeney may be forced to think twice about his protection plans, and if he leaves Lauzon exposed, then the Kraken may have to think twice about taking a forward.
Goalie
The Rask contract situation is worth monitoring for Seattle fans, but it seems unlikely we will see the 2019-2020 Vezina Trophy finalist in the home goalcrease at Climate Pledge Arena. Rask, 33, has been the backbone of some great Bruins teams over the years, and Francis could do much worse than signing Rask as a UFA to a short-term deal. We’re guessing that Rask is going to want a longer term on what could be his last contract, though, and that just doesn’t make sense to us for Seattle.
The more likely play—should the Kraken be interested in a Boston goalie—would be for the future option in Vladar. The touted 23-year-old prospect had stellar numbers with the Providence Bruins last season, and is expected to one day be an NHL starter.
Side deal scenarios
We foresee side deals happening with teams that are right up against the salary cap. Surprisingly, the Bruins project to have plenty of room after this season, though they have some big-time restricted free agents—Carlo, Ritchie, Frederic, and Kase—due for raises and decisions to make on veteran UFA’s like Rask and Krejci. Even so, they shouldn’t be cornered into an unfavorable deal due to the cap.
In Boston’s case, a side deal would become more likely if a guy like Ritchie, Bjork, Lauzon, or even Vladar really does prove himself indispensable. If that happens, the cut-and-dried protection list will be difficult to alter and could lead to some wheeling and dealing.
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.
John Forslund remembers the moment he became a hockey fan. It was 1970 and Bobby Orr scored his famous ‘flying’ goal to win the Stanley Cup in overtime.
That was a big moment for Forslund who grew up in Springfield, Mass. as a Boston Bruins fan. While he didn’t know it at the time, the goal would influence him in a way that would end up shaping his life’s work.
“I was watching the game at my aunt’s house on Mother’s Day,” he says of the moment. “It was great the Bruins won but it was the cadence of (broadcaster) Dan Kelly.”
That goal and that call led Forslund to a long career of calling hockey games on television and has landed him in Seattle 50 years later.
Seattle, you've got an incoming call – and trust us, you'll want to answer this one. 😏 pic.twitter.com/XRlCkgzDNw
The Seattle Kraken announced Tuesday that they’ve hired the former Hartford Whaler and Carolina Hurricanes broadcaster –and his well known ‘hey, hey, whaddya say’ goal call – to be the television voice of the team. The announcement came at the same time the team announced a multi-year agreement with ROOT SPORTS to broadcast up to 75 Kraken games locally.
The agreement is a joint production with the Seattle Mariners, ROOT, and AT&T Sports Network which allow the Kraken to establish a footprint in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, and Alaska.
Origins of John Forslund’s famous ‘Hey, hey, whaddya say’ catchphrase
After hearing, and seeing, Kelly’s famous call of Orr’s goal, Forslund knew he wanted to call hockey games on TV.
He would watch Bruins games and call them himself in his living room. His Dad would serve as color analyst, and it prepared him for the career he would ultimately carve out. The pair would call every game together.
Forslund learned how to prepare for the games and how to do play-by-play and still utilizes lessons he learned on the couch with his father. It was his father who would say, ‘Hey, hey, whaddya say’ during those in-home broadcasts.
The AHL’s Springfield Indians would give Forslund his first chance to call pro hockey games in 1984, but unfortunately, his father passed away the day after Forslund received his first paycheck. It was then that he looked for a way to honor his father during broadcasts.
Using the catchphrase was the way to do it.
“It’s all for him,” Forslund says. “He was my best friend, and it was hard. I just thought I’d utilize this phrase in a broadcast somehow. Down the road I figured I would use it when the team scored a goal that I felt clinched the game.”
He says that when the goal is an overtime winner, its easy to use the phrase. A big goal in the second period is a little riskier but that won’t stop him if he feels the game is indeed over.
From the Hartford Whalers to the Carolina Hurricanes
In 1995, Forslund took over the television calls for the Hartford Whalers. He stayed with the club up until 1997 when the team was in turmoil with new ownership and the local politicians. Ultimately, the franchise packed up and would leave town. Forslund called the final Hartford Whalers game to be played.
“It was heartbreaking,” he says of the game. “It was hard. We put a lot of work to keep them there, more than a lot of people give us credit for. It was political. It became the greedy owner narrative. We tried to make it work. I grew up near there, went to WHA games, but I was kind of lumped in with the new ownership group. People viewed me as a traitor of sorts.
“The last game was difficult to get through, but you had to be professional. I never watched it until many years later, someone sent me a YouTube link. I was proud of how we handled it. It was credible, we said the right things, I hope.”
Forslund followed the franchise to Carolina and helped introduce the NHL to a new market. They had four months between the end of the 1996-1997 season and the start in North Carolina.
He now joins an expansion franchise that will bring big league hockey to a market that has yet to experience it. There are some similarities with what the Hurricanes had tasked before them, but the Kraken have had a longer prep time and access to modern marketing techniques such as social media as a way to build a groundswell of support.
“It is the same in the sense that you’re going into a brand-new market looking for your piece of the landscape,” Forslund says. “We had to crack into Tobacco Road, college basketball, and college football. The Kraken are going to have to find their place and that will be challenging.”
Despite a Seattle sports landscape that includes the NFL, Major League Baseball, and Division I college sports, Forslund is confident that the sport can and will be a draw.
“I believe hockey sells itself,” he says. “Once they see it, that’s it. That’s what happened in North Carolina with the Caniacs…I think we’ll have have the same thing. I’ve never been to Seattle, but I’ve watched over the years and I remember the glory days of the Supersonics with Gus Johnson and Jack Sikma. They were playing in the Kingdome and I remember how great the crowd sounded through the television. I think when the Kraken get to the playoffs, whether it’s in year one or later on, it will be another level. It’s going to be a tough place for the opponents.”
John Forslund’s road from Carolina to the Seattle Kraken
After being with the Hurricanes for their entire history as a franchise, Forslund’s contract was not renewed when it expired on July 1 last summer.
While he was dealing with the disappointment, he received a phone call from Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis. Forslund was with the Hurricanes during Francis’ time as a player and general manager with Carolina and the two had remained friends.
The call was a check in but led to more.
“He was asking about my family and he thought it was a rough deal,” Forslund says. “He told me he’d put me in touch with Tod Leiweke. It went on for a few months and they had to figure out who would have the rights and when it came to be, I thought that I couldn’t pass this up. I jumped at it.”
It was a pleasure working with you in the past, @JohnForslund, and I’m really looking forward to working with you again here in the PNW!
After he was let go by Carolina the local Seattle hockey community had speculated about the chance that Forslund would end up here.
Hockey fans are familiar with Forslund’s work and the speculation locally was rampant. He was hired by NBC to broadcast playoff games in the bubble but that didn’t temper the speculation. Could the Kraken snag a top broadcaster who suddenly was available? Some of that speculation made it’s way to Forslund, who was aware of the excitement in Seattle and found it flattering.
“I don’t take for granted my career or working for any of these teams,” he says. “I was very fortunate that I only worked for a minor league team and then Hartford which turned into Carolina. I was blindsided and emotionally down. Really happy that NBC had me for the two bubbles, that kept me going. I had to figure out what the next track was. I’m blessed.”
Forslund is currently calling national games for NBC – you can hear him call Wednesday’s Chicago-Nashville tilt – and hopes to continue even after he starts with the Kraken. NBC’s contract with the NHL is up after this season so there is an unknown about the national rights. He hopes to be a part of that but will always prioritize the local Kraken games.
Forslund says that fans can expect him to be a homer of sorts on the local calls but not an unabashed homer. You’ll get an exciting call for goals and great saves, no matter which team is behind it.
Calling the game like that is important to Forslund who feels he owes the fans a credible broadcast of games.
We will get to hear him over the next five or six months as he wraps up the Stanley Cup playoffs this summer. Then he’ll be Seattle’s broadcaster. The voice of the Kraken.
“The excitement is over the top,” Forslund says. “To get this opportunity is amazing. You don’t get a chance if you’re a play-by-play announcer to get two cracks at it, so to speak. To be part of it day one and be part of the journey for the team and the fans. It comes at a great time in my life and I know I’m joining a great team of people.”
The Philadelphia Flyers had a breakout season of sorts last year. They finished one point out of first place in the Metropolitan Division when the league stopped but were top four in the Eastern Conference and earned a bye during the qualifying round.
While it was a breakout, it was one that you could see coming a mile away.
Starting with former general manager Ron Hextall and continuing on to Chuck Fletcher, the Flyers were acquiring talent. It all came together in 2020 and now the Flyers are a contender again, armed with a roster that has a mix of veterans, youth, and an up-and-coming goalie.
That’s the good news for the Flyers. The bad news? All that roster depth means that they’re most likely going to lose a good player to the Seattle Kraken at this summer’s Expansion Draft. Fletcher has some work to do and multiple paths he can choose to walk down when it comes to handling his roster.
Fletcher doesn’t have a lot of cap space – less than a million dollars – and while the Flyers are in a ‘win now’ mode, he will need to find space for the near future. Will he look to unload some cap at the trade deadline? Will he try to hold on to those expensive vets to take advantage of the window he has now?
Those answers are yet to be revealed but a reason to keep an eye on how Philadelphia fares this season. Whatever choice they make, it will impact the Kraken.
Assumptions
Flyers forward Scott Laughton is an unrestricted free agent after this season, and if he’s re-signed prior to the Expansion Draft he may end up protected. Laughton, 26, is a glue type player for the Flyers. He provides solid minutes and works hard despite not lighting up the stat pages.
His salary is palpable at $2.3 million per year and while he would most likely get a raise, he would still be affordable to Fletcher. If Laughton is not re-signed by the Expansion Draft then Seattle general manager Ron Francis could negotiate with him during the Kraken’s 48-hour free agency window prior to the draft.
We are going to assume that Francis won’t do that, considering the other players that should be available from Philadephia. While Laughton has some value, he would most likely be a guy for the bottom of the lineup. Therefore, for this exercise, we will assume that Laughton is not an option for Seattle.
Philadelphia Flyers protected list
Forwards
Claude Giroux (NMC)
Kevin Hayes (NMC)
Travis Konecny
Sean Couturier
Oskar Lindblom
Nolan Patrick
Nicolas Aube-Kubel
There is a ton of depth with the Flyers forwards. Among those guys, Jakub Voracek will be a lynchpin in how Fletcher proceeds with his protected list.
Voracek, 31, has four years left on an $8.25 million-per-year contract and the Flyers could use some relief. He’s only a couple of seasons removed from 2017-2018 when he scored 20 goals along with a career-best 85 points in 82 games. His cap hit puts him a tier under the highest paid players in the league and an argument could be made its too much for a player of his caliber.
Fletcher has a major choice to make here.
He could try to move Voracek this year, but that cap hit could be tough with a flat salary cap, and the additional complexities of trading during Covid would limit suitors. Fletcher could also protect Voracek and look for cap space elsewhere – like not signing UFA’s Laughton and/or Eric Gustafsson.
The Flyers may also leave Voracek unprotected and hope that his salary would be too rich for Francis. While Seattle will need to hit the required cap minimum, the term on Voracek may not be something the Kraken want to entertain.
Further motivation to do something with Voracek is that Philadelphia will have Claude Giroux and Sean Couturier become UFA’s after the 2022-2023 and if they want to re-sign both, will have to clear room.
For this exercise we will go with the theory that Fletcher is willing to leave Voracek unprotected in the hopes that Seattle doesn’t take him. If the Kraken pass, it allows Fletcher to protect a younger player, like 24-year-old Nicolas Aube-Kubel who was a standout for Philadelphia in the playoffs after a couple of solid AHL seasons.
Fletcher will most likely leave veteran James van Riemsdyk unprotected. Van Riemsdyk, 31, has three years left on a contract that pays $7 million per year and is coming off one of his least productive full seasons in the NHL.
Defense
Ivan Provorov
Travis Sanheim
Philippe Myers
Fletcher has an easier decision when it comes to his defense. Both Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim are former first-round draft picks who are talented and young. They’re not going anywhere.
Veteran Shayne Gostisbehere may end up on the outside looking in. The 27-year-old has been a productive, puck-moving defenseman but was limited last season with injuries and started this year on the injured list, although appears close to returning. His $4.5 million yearly cap hit makes the younger and cheaper Philippe Myers a better long-term option for Philadelphia.
Goalie
Carter Hart
Carter Hart is one of the best, and youngest, up-and-coming goaltenders, and despite the best wishes of some Northwesterners hoping for a return to the area for the former Everett Silvertip, Hart will be protected. Veteran Brian Elliot is Hart’s backup this year but is a free agent to be so there will be no need to protect him. Philadelphia has to expose an eligible goalie, and that honor will fall to 24-year-old Felix Sandstrom who has yet to play a game in the NHL.
Philadelphia Flyers Expansion Draft targets
Forwards
Jakub Voracek
Scott Laughton
Nicolas Aube-Kubel
James van Riemsdyk
Defensemen
Shayne Gostisbehere
Justin Braun
Robert Hagg
Goalie
Felix Sandstrom
Thoughts
Francis has good choices with the Flyers roster. If Voracek is exposed the Kraken will have to consider adding a guy who has been productive, is a leader on and off the ice and would add instant credibility to the top-six. His salary is high, and Seattle would have him on the books for three seasons.
If the Kraken want to go with a defenseman, Gostisbehere would be an interesting selection. He’ll by 28 when the Expansion Draft happens and just three seasons ago turned in a 13-goal and 65-point season. Injuries have surfaced lately so his progress this season will need to be monitored closely.
Seattle would also have solid options in veterans like van Riemsdyk and Justin Braun.
Philadelphia Flyers side deal scenarios
Any team with the combination of limited cap space and high salaries brings side deals into the picture. The Philadelphia Flyers fit that description. Would Seattle be able to pull draft picks or prospects in exchange for taking high salaries like Voracek, van Riemsdyk, or Gostibehere off the Flyers hands? They might be interested in those players without a side deal but if Francis can get a player he wants plus say, a draft pick, it could end up being a great haul for the Kraken.
