Here are some milestones Seattle fans should have on their radar as we turn the page on 2020, and the Kraken look to make their official debut in the fall of 2021.
Head Coach
There has been a lot of anticipation on the hiring of the Seattle Kraken’s first head coach. General manager Ron Francis has signaled that he is willing to be patient in filling this role. Unless there is a coach out there that he really wants, then there is no rush. However, the head coach should contribute to discussions around the Expansion Draft selections, so we would anticipate a coach will be hired in the April/May timeframe. This is conjecture, and the team hasn’t said anything specific about when it plans to hire somebody, but that would make sense.
Expansion Draft
The Seattle Expansion Draft is set for July 21st. I have this date etched in my brain. This is the date the Seattle Kraken becomes a team. This is how the core of the team will be built and is probably the single most important date on the calendar.
NHL Entry Draft
40% of the players in the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs were playing for the teams that selected them in their respective drafts. Eventually, the Seattle Kraken will be mostly homegrown draft picks from the NHL Entry Draft. We might not see some of these “kids” play for the Kraken for several years, but while the Expansion Draft is the present, the Entry Draft is the future. The 2021 NHL Entry Draft will be July 23rd and 24th. Depending on how the Draft Lottery goes, Seattle will pick somewhere in the top six.
Jersey Reveal
Fans wanted their authentic Kraken jerseys yesterday, but teams usually unveil their jerseys the summer leading up to the season. There might be an exception to the Kraken being that they are not playing this season, so there is a chance the official jersey and uniform will come early. The earliest I could foresee the official jersey reveal happening is May 10th and the latest might be August.
NHL Schedule
I might be anticipating this more than most, but I can’t wait to see the NHL Schedule with the Seattle Kraken listed all over it. When is Opening Night? When are my San Jose Sharks coming to town? When do we get to see Connor McDavid play at Climate Pledge Arena? Schedule reveals tend to be around the NHL Entry Draft, so I would expect this in late July or early August sometime.
TV Partner/Solution
A lot of the current TV deals that sports franchises have are designed for business models and revenue streams built in 1990s. Has anything in the digital video distribution business changed since then? Of course it has.
Hello, Amazon Prime TV and Hulu Live Sports.
Figuring out what kind of “TV” distribution solution the team agrees upon should be interesting. There is the traditional pay TV route (Cable, Satellite, and Internet TV) or the aforementioned streaming services. Both have their pros and cons in terms of demographics, accessibility, user base, revenue, etc. I could write a whole separate article about this, but for now we’ll leave it at this. Expect information about the Kraken’s distribution partners and solutions in the summer.
Youth Hockey Engagement & Programs
The Seattle Kraken have been quiet in pushing youth hockey and Learn to Play programs since being awarded a franchise two years ago. You do not have to play the game to be a fan, but youth hockey has always been the lifeblood of building new supporters for life.
It’s coming. 2021 will mark the inaugural season for the Seattle Kraken, which – assuming everything does get back on track now, as the NHL has planned – will commence in October.
Those are just some of the big milestones Kraken fans can look forward to in 2021. We’re just about 9 months away from dropping that puck. I hope you’re as excited as I am.
The Blackhawks are probably not going to be particularly good this season. A team already in full re-build mode, Chicago has been dealt a series of maladies that will leave it without its captain, Jonathan Toews, and without two of its up-and-coming young players, Kirby Dach and Alexander Nylander, for the foreseeable future. But how does all this affect the plan for the Chicago Blackhawks in the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft?
Well, it doesn’t. Nylander will return in time for the Expansion Draft and will be protected, Dach is exempt, and Toews has a no-movement clause. As far as Expansion is concerned, there’s no impact, but as far as the Blackhawks are concerned, this could be a tough season.
Chicago did surprisingly make it into the postseason bubble in 2019-2020. In fact, it even got through the best-of-five qualifying round with a 3-1 series win over the Oilers before being quickly dispatched by the Golden Knights in the first round of the real playoffs.
Notably, the Blackhawks—despite their core group of remaining veterans from the Stanley Cup teams of yore—were the youngest team to make it into the bubble. So, there’s some hope for the future.
But with the recent news that Toews is dealing with a mysterious medical issue and with the departure of Corey Crawford, there’s just no way that this team contends for at least a couple of years, barring some miraculous signings and trades.
While there may be some real talent to select from Chicago, there are no obvious cornerstone pieces that will be available. So, here’s hoping the Kraken can uncover a diamond in the youthful rough.
Assumptions
The big question is whether or not Brent Seabrook—who will almost certainly be asked to waive his no-movement clause—will actually waive his no-movement clause. If he were to agree to waive it, being that the Kraken wouldn’t touch his contract with a 10-foot hockey stick, it would allow Chicago to protect an extra player.
We will assume for the sake of this exercise that Seabrook will not waive his no-movement clause, and he will have to be protected by the Chicago Blackhawks in the Expansion Draft.
Chicago Blackhawks Protected List for Expansion Draft
Forwards
Patrick Kane (Lock, NMC)
Jonathan Toews (Lock, NMC)
Alex DeBrincat (Lock)
Dylan Strome
Alex Nylander
David Kampf
Lucas Wallmark
The thing about the Blackhawks forward group is that there isn’t a super obvious way to decide on which guys to choose in the last couple of protection slots. General manager Stan Bowman could go in a variety of directions, including exposing Kampf—who only had eight goals and eight assists last season but played all 70 games—in favor of, say, Brandon Hagel. Hagel has only played one career NHL game, but is still only 22 years old and posted 19 goals and 12 assists in 59 games with the Rockford IceHogs.
Defensemen
Duncan Keith (Lock, NMC)
Brent Seabrook (Lock, NMC – unless he agrees to waive his NMC to help the team)
Nikita Zadorov
As we mentioned in the assumptions, there is a chance Bowman will be able to get Seabrook to waive his NMC, in which case the ’Hawks would be able to protect either Connor Murphy or Lucas Carlsson.
Goalie
Collin Delia
The Blackhawks also have Malcolm Subban and Kevin Lankinen, but unless one of the three netminders emerges in mythical fashion this season, then move along, as there’s nothing to see here.
Chicago Blackhawks Targets for Expansion Draft
Forwards
Hagel is intriguing, just because of his age and the fact that he’s been a productive AHL player on the verge of becoming a regular NHLer. There is definitely a chance that he will be protected by Chicago, though, so his consideration for the Kraken could end up moot. If Hagel is protected and Kampf is exposed, then Kampf would be worth at least considering.
Defensemen
The play for Seattle is likely on the blue line. Connor Murphy, 27, has proven himself a reliable NHL defenseman. He doesn’t score many goals, but he does chip in anywhere from 15 to 20 points per season.
Another option could be Lucas Carlsson, a 23-year-old blue liner who has yet to solidify an NHL role. The Swedish defenseman played six games for the Blackhawks last season, but has put up good numbers with AHL Rockford over the past two seasons, and is certainly knocking on the door of the highest level.
Side Deal Scenarios
There’s no question that Bowman would love to get out of Seabrook’s contract, but it runs until 2024 at a cap hit of $6.875 million annually with a no-movement clause. We just can’t come up with a scenario in which Chicago is able to sweeten the pot enough to make Seattle Kraken GM Ron Francis take that on.
The Chicago Blackhawks are poised to lose just one replaceable player in the Seattle Expansion Draft and will have more cap space after this season. So, side deals seem less likely here than with contending teams.
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 Montreal Canadiens face some tough decisions on who to expose in the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.
The Habs have been stuck in a lull lately having missed the playoffs three out of the four seasons prior to the 2019-20 campaign. They benefited from the expanded structure of the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs as the last team added to the 24-team field. They (sort of) took advantage of the opportunity by knocking off the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Qualifying Round before being eliminated by the Philadelphia Flyers in the First Round.
After their eventual playoff exit, the Canadiens may have still looked a few years away from pushing their chips into the center of the table for a chance to compete for a Stanley Cup. However, based on his offseason roster moves, it appears general manager Marc Bergevin has a different opinion.
The Canadiens had one of the most active offseasons out of any team in the league and added significant contributors to each position.
Even before the Stanley Cup had been raised, they had already traded a third- and seventh-round draft pick to the St. Louis Blues for goalie Jake Allen. A week or two later Montreal sent a fifth-round pick to Carolina for the rights to defenseman Joel Edmundson and signed him to a four-year deal.
Then, right before the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Montreal traded point-producing center Max Domi to the Columbus Blue Jackets for talented winger Josh Anderson and promptly signed Anderson to a seven-year deal.
As if that was not enough, the Habs signed highly coveted unrestricted free agent forward Tyler Toffoli to a four-year deal.
These moves indicate that the Canadiens believe they are ready to compete. With the Expansion Draft looming, they will need to be smart to not let any of their key assets go to the Kraken.
Assumptions
The Canadiens have three significant players that are currently slated to become unrestricted free agents at the end of the 2020-21 season. Tomas Tatar (22G), Joel Armia (16G), and Phillip Danault (13G) together accounted for close to 25% of the Canadiens’ goals during the 2019-20 regular season and all will be in the last year of their respective contracts.
You can imagine that Bergevin signs at least two of them to extensions before the end of the season. A case can be made for any different combination of the three, but for now we are going to assume that two of them re-sign, specifically Tatar and Armia, while Danault hits free agency.
Our only logic for this assumption is that the Canadiens have more up-and-coming depth at center. Nick Suzuki and Jesperi Kotkaniemi are clearly the centers of the future, if not the present. Letting Danault walk for free agency will provide the space for the younger generation, both in playing time and salary.
Protected List
There is a scenario where Montreal could go with the less common eight total skaters and one goalie selection as opposed to the 7F-3D-1G option, but we project the 7-3-1.
Forwards
Brendan Gallagher (Lock-NMC)
Jesperi Kotkaniemi (Lock)
Tyler Toffoli (Almost Lock)
Josh Anderson (Almost Lock)
Artturi Lehkonen
Tomas Tatar
Joel Armia
Again, this assumes Tatar and Armia sign extensions before the Expansion Draft. If only one re-signs, you can add Jonathan Drouin to the list of protected forwards.
Defense
Jeff Petry
Joel Edmundson
Ben Chiarot
Astute hockey fans will realize there is one significant name not on this list of protected players: Shea Weber.
Weber tied for fourth in goals scored by defensemen during the 2019-2020 NHL regular season. Weber is an elite NHL defenseman, but he will be 36 years old by the time the Seattle Kraken take the ice and will have four more seasons left on his $7.8M/year deal. Inevitably, his value will erode and Montreal could take the chance that Ron Francis disregards Weber in an attempt to build a team for the future.
Goalie
Carey Price (Lock-NMC)
We know this will disappoint Tri-City American fans, but Carey Price has a full no-movement clause and must be protected per the rules of the Expansion Draft.
Top Montreal Canadiens Expansion Draft Candidates
Forwards
Jonathan Drouin
Phillip Danault
Defense
Shea Weber
Victor Mete
Cale Fleury
Goalie
Jake Allen
If the Montreal Canadiens protected list for the Expansion Draft plays out this way exactly, then Seattle will have options at all positions. The first step might be to see if a deal can be reached for Danault during the 48-hour period when Seattle is allowed to talk to free agents exclusively.
If Danault is not interested in signing with Seattle, there are still plenty of other options. A case can be made for all the players listed above, including Allen, who could be targeted as a starter in Seattle or part of a 1a/1b combo, depending on who else is available.
Fleury and Mete could provide younger options at defense should the Kraken want a more youthful look on the blue line.
Side Deal Scenarios
The Canadiens signaled that they are trying to take a major step toward being a contender for a Stanley Cup run in the next few years. If this step works, the organization may want to keep the core intact and not lose a significant piece of their team to Seattle in the Expansion Draft.
There will be some good assets available from the Montreal Canadiens for Seattle in the Expansion Draft. Montreal might want to steer the Kraken’s selection in a certain direction by adding a prospect or draft pick to avoid losing specific assets.
Circle this date: July 21st. This is when the NHL will conduct the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft. Obviously, that will be a momentous day for the hockey world and particularly for Seattle fans. But with the league’s Return to Play plan for the NHL 2020-21 season now coming into focus, some other key dates surrounding the Expansion Draft have also been identified.
If you want more information on the NHL’s Return to Play plan, check out this article on NHL.com. For the rest of this post, we will focus on the key dates and activities that impact the Seattle Kraken in the 2020-21 NHL Season and beyond.
NHL Trade Deadline – 4/12/21
The trade deadline is a little bit of a mirage for Kraken fans. Trades can and will still happen leading up to the Expansion Draft, but the trade deadline is when the majority of moves will most likely be made. Rosters will be 95% locked after the trade deadline, so Kraken fans should have a pretty solid understanding of which players will be available in their mock drafts at that point.
Expansion Draft Window – 7/17/21 – 7/21/21
July 17th is when the 30 NHL teams that are participating in the Expansion Draft will submit their protected players list to the NHL. If everything runs similarly to the Vegas Expansion Draft, the league will quickly publish the list of protected players for each team.
This date will also trigger the ability for the Seattle Kraken to contact unprotected pending unrestricted free agents. During this time, the Kraken will be seeking assurances from UFA’s of interest to learn if they will actually sign with Seattle upon selection in the Expansion Draft. In a way, it serves as an exclusive negotiating window for the Kraken. For more information on the Expansion Draft rules, check out the this post from a couple months back.
The Seattle Kraken will need to submit their Expansion picks to the league by 10AM on 7/21. The details of that day are still to be determined, but we imagine after a validation of the picks and compliance with the rules, the team should be announced in the early evening.
Here is a breakdown of what will be a wild two weeks for Ron Francis and the team.
Block your calendars for the last two weeks of July because we should see about 40 players added to the franchise around that time. If you want a taste for what to expect, check out this post we did on the anatomy of the Vegas Expansion Draft.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are trending in the wrong direction as we head toward the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.
After winning consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, the Penguins had a second-round exit in 2018, a first-round defeat in 2019, and last year were ousted by Montreal in the qualifying round. General manager Jim Rutherford has a veteran club, but will he have to expose any key players to the Seattle Kraken in the NHL Expansion Draft?
Not likely. But, Seattle will still have an opportunity to find a depth player.
Rutherford made two moves that will make his life easier in the Expansion Draft. He sent Patric Hornqvist and his high salary to Florida while also solving his goalie controversy by trading Matt Murray to Ottawa.
The pickings are going to be slim for Ron Francis and the Kraken as the Penguins will have relatively easy decisions to make on who to protect and at the same time won’t have to lose an up-and-coming prospect.
With Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin at the top of its roster, Pittsburgh will be competitive in the upcoming season. With older stars, the shortened season could even work in the Penguins’ favor.
Assumptions
The Penguins are $1.3 million under the cap. If Rutherford wanted to create some cap space, he has players that would be attractive. The problem is those players, like Jason Zucker or Kasperi Kapanen, were recent additions to the team and are expected to be a big part of the Penguins attack.
Since it’s unlikely Rutherford would quickly flip those players, we will assume the roster is set.
Penguins Protected List
It shouldn’t take Rutherford too long to figure how his list is going to look. That’s not to say he won’t have to choose among a couple of productive players. The Penguins’ two superstars, Crosby and Malkin, both have no-movement clauses on their contracts and need to be protected – which would be a no-brainer even without the clauses.
Forwards
Pittsburgh most likely will protect seven forwards with three defensemen and a goalie. The first six forwards to protect are easy to predict.
There will be a decision on who forward number seven should be, however.
Brandon Tanev is the favorite to be the seventh guy saved from Seattle. Last season was the 28-year-old’s first in Pittsburgh and he was a solid forward. He averaged just under 15 minutes of ice time and chipped in with 11 goals. He has a non-prohibitive $3.5 million per year contract that runs through 2025.
Another candidate for protection is Jared McCann. He’s four years younger than Tanev, cheaper, and scored 14 goals last season. He could play his way into the conversation with a strong campaign in 2021.
For this exercise we will project Tanev to end up with the protected slot, leaving McCann exposed to Seattle.
Sidney Crosby (NMC)
Evgeni Malkin (NMC)
Jake Guentzel
Jason Zucker
Bryan Rust
Kasperi Kapanen
Brandon Tanev
Defense
The Penguins’ most promising young defenseman is John Marino. The rookie recorded 26 points and would be attractive to Seattle. The problem? He’s not eligible for the Expansion Draft so the Kraken will have to look elsewhere.
Kris Letang is the automatic protect on the blue line (NMC) and the Penguins again have some clear-cut choices for the other two. Brian Dumoulin, 29, and Marcus Pettersson, 24, should also be easy to protect for Rutherford.
That would leave veteran Mike Matheson exposed. Matheson, 26, was acquired from Florida in the Hornqvist trade this offseason. He’s played just under 300 NHL games and is a serviceable blue liner. Matheson is signed through 2026 at $4.875 million per year, and the Penguins should feel confident that the Kraken would steer clear at that price. Exposing him would allow them to protect younger defensemen.
Kris Letang (NMC)
Brian Dumoulin
Marcus Pettersson
Goalie
If not for the Murray trade, goalie would have been an issue at the Expansion Draft for the Penguins. Jarry will now take over as the clear-cut number one guy and again, an easy choice to protect for Rutherford.
That would leave 29-year-old Casey DeSmith exposed.
Tristan Jarry
Pittsburgh Penguins Expansion Draft Targets
Forwards
Jared McCann
Teddy Blueger
Brandon Tanev (If exposed)
Defense
Mike Matheson
Chad Ruhwedal
Goalie
Casey DeSmith
Thoughts
Seattle’s best bets are to look up front with the Penguins. Tanev is a quality player and could be a top-six forward for the Kraken. Getting exposed would mean he turned in a poor season or that he was outplayed by McCann or a guy like Blueger. That might be worthy of a second look.
McCann is a hard-working forward with some offensive skill. Most likely would project to be a bottom-six guy but has some experience and could improve with a larger role. Blueger, 26, is a former second-round pick who has had productive AHL seasons. Last year he spent 69 games with Pittsburgh in the NHL and reached career highs with nine goals and 22 points.
If the Kraken desire an experienced defenseman who will help them reach the cap floor, Matheson could be the pick here.
Side Deal Scenarios
The only sensible side deal target would be Matheson. He has yet to lace them up for Pittsburgh but is signed to a long-term deal. If Rutherford is desperate to free up his $4.8 million in cap space, he could be on the market.
It seems like a stretch to think that the Pittsburgh Penguins would be willing to give up a young prospect in exchange for Francis taking Matheson off their books in the Expansion Draft. But the Kraken might be able to pick up a draft pick for him. Matheson is not a terrible defenseman. He has some offensive punch and could contribute. He has a modified no-trade clause in his contract so trading him down the line would be tougher but not impossible.
Previous Sound Of Hockey Expansion Draft Team Previews
With Lisa, the guys discuss the Kings’ plans for the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft, their deep prospect pool, and how long the team might stink. Great interview.
Also in this episode, John, Andy, and Darren discuss some of the travel woes that have been experienced by teams trying to get into the World Junior Championship bubble and consider some of the rosters that have been released.
Segments this week include a controversial Goalie Gear Corner, You Don’t See That Every Day, and Weekly One-Timers. Also, Let’s Get Quizzical makes its triumphant return from a long hiatus.
