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.
For a team – and a fanbase – that fancies itself as a legitimate Stanley Cup contender, the Toronto Maple Leafs aren’t exactly gushing with the sort of quality depth that will excite the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.
At least not yet anyway.
Toronto’s core four of highly talented and highly paid forwards – Auston Matthews, John Tavares, Mitch Marner and William Nylander – eat up 49.7 percent of its 2020-2021 salary cap space, leaving the rest to be spread creatively among the remaining 19 roster players. Defensemen Jake Muzzin, Morgan Rielly, and T.J. Brodie and goaltender Frederik Andersen bite off another $20.625 million, causing Leafs Nation and management a lot of wishful thinking and finger-crossing over the rest of the roster.
Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas has kept kicking the salary cap can down the road to the point where he’s skating a thin line in this COVID-19 flat cap market. This means it will be interesting to see how Kraken GM – and one-time Maple Leaf – Ron Francis can exploit this in the Seattle Expansion Draft.
Toronto didn’t make it past the play-in round in 2020 and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs three years before that. In the upcoming abbreviated season the Leafs will escape the brutally tough Atlantic Division for the intriguing and perhaps equally competitive, pandemic-created Canadian Division.
Under the superheated local and national spotlight of living up to Toronto’s Cup contender status, any short-sighted moves in 2021 will only give the Kraken better options when they evaluate the Maple Leafs’ list of exposed players.
Assumptions
In addition to his core four, Dubas has filled out his roster with many pending unrestricted free agents up front. As a result, this shrewdly gives him some salary cap flexibility while not presenting great forward options for the Kraken Expansion Draft.
However, Dubas has painted himself into a corner a little. He will have to re-sign one or two of those pending UFAs or acquire another forward or two to meet the NHL’s Expansion Draft requirements of exposing at least “two forwards who are a) under contract in 2021-22 and b) played at least 40 NHL games the prior season or played in at least 70 NHL games in the prior two seasons.”
After the seven forwards identified below for protection, only Joey Anderson, Denis Malgin and Adam Brooks are signed beyond this season. None of them appear likely to play 40 games this season. And only Malgin, who played 44 last season, has a reasonable shot at reaching the 70-game, two-season mark. Anderson played 18 NHL games and Brooks played seven last season.
It’s pretty safe to assume the Leafs will make some trades before the midseason deadline, so any new forwards with term left on their contracts could be exposed or push some current players off the preliminary list below. We’ve compiled a protection list with the seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie scenario. But if the Leafs can’t lock up more forwards by draft time, they’ll have to go with the eight skaters and one goalie option that allows them to protect four defensemen.
Offseason Wildcards
Toronto is over the cap limit by more than $1 million as of Dec. 13, 2020, so it has some juggling to do before the season starts. Don’t expect that maneuvering to result in the addition of a significant player, however.
Maple Leafs Protected List
Forwards
Auston Matthews (Lock)
Mitch Marner (Lock)
John Tavares (Lock, NMC)
William Nylander (Lock)
Zach Hyman (Lock)
Alex Kerfoot
Pierre Engvall
Kerfoot and Engvall are on the bubble and could be exposed if Toronto obtains quality players worth protecting or other Leafs surpass them on the depth chart. Kerfoot will have a year and $3.5 million remaining on his contract next offseason. They might take a chance by leaving him exposed and protect someone else.
Defense
Morgan Rielly (Lock)
Jake Muzzin (Lock)
T.J. Brodie
Toronto just signed Brodie to a four-year, $20 million free agent contract, so he’s as good as a lock if he lives up to earning that salary. Otherwise the Leafs could leave him exposed in favor of protecting another defenseman, such as Justin Holl or Travis Dermott. And if the Leafs lose Brodie, it will at least free up some cap space.
Goaltender
Frederik Andersen (UFA)
Andersen, Toronto’s No. 1 goalie, will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. As a result, the Leafs will have a big decision on who will be their top netminder in 2021-22. Do they re-sign Andersen or use the $5 million in cap space to find a replacement via trade or free agency?
The pressure is on Andersen, 31, to have a strong contract year after an inconsistent postseason and the worst regular season numbers of his seven years in the NHL. He’s better than his 2.85 GAA and .909 save percentage showed, but his regular season 5-on-5 save percentage fell to .914 after seasons of .927, .924 and .928. We’re guessing Toronto will re-sign the big Dane and protect him.
Kraken Expansion Draft Players
Forwards
Joey Anderson
Adam Brooks
Denis Malgin
Jimmy Vesey (UFA)
Wayne Simmonds (UFA)
Anderson, Brooks and Malgin are depth players who will be fighting for roster spots this season. Whomever doesn’t make the cut will end up in the purgatory of an expanded roster taxi squad or dealing with whatever happens with the AHL Toronto Marlies’ schedule.
Anderson, 22, Brooks, 24, and Malgin, 23, have all performed well in the minors, so they’re at pivotal career moments to prove themselves. Only Malgin has spent more time recently in the NHL than the AHL. The native of Switzerland will also be the sharpest when training camp starts after being on loan to Swiss club Lausanne HC where he has notched eight goals and 12 points in 12 games this season.
Vesey and Simmonds were signed this past offseason to low-cost free agent contracts and are listed here in case they re-sign before the draft.
Simmonds is 32 and slowing down since he was a 50- to 60-point man in his peak years. But he always seems to be in trade rumors and was dealt before the past two deadlines. He could be a tough, grinding veteran option who might later be trade bait if the Kraken aren’t in playoff contention in Year 1.
Vesey, 27, is out to prove he can live up to the hype he had when he left Harvard. And the Kraken will be watching how he plays with his head ablaze.
If the aforementioned eligibility crunch drops Engvall, 24, onto the unprotected list, the 6-5 and 214-pound Swede would be an attractive option for the Kraken. He has speed, size and ability to play special teams that could see him blossom with increased opportunities.
Defense
Travis Dermott
Justin Holl
Zach Bogosian (UFA)
Here’s where the Kraken have some decent choices. Holl, 28, has been entrusted with more ice time and shut-down duties, but Dermott, 23, is more mobile and has better offensive potential.
Travis Dermott and Justin Holl had a night to remember during a 2018 game against the Islanders. Both scored their first NHL goals with their dads in the stands. #LeafsForeverpic.twitter.com/j4IV6ZO3NU
Fresh off helping the Tampa Bay Lightning win a Stanley Cup, Bogosian showed he still has more left in the tank. The 30-year-old could be an option if the Leafs re-sign him and feel the need to work a side deal with the Kraken.
Goalie
Jack Campbell
Campbell, the 11th overall pick in the 2010 entry draft, will have a reasonable $1.65 million and one year left on his contract before the Kraken Expansion Draft. This season’s compressed schedule should give Campbell more games to show whether he can push to be a No. 1 goalie.
Side Deal Scenarios
Dubas might want to steer Francis away from Holl and/or Dermott if they have good seasons and become important parts of the Leafs blue line in the team’s long and arduous chase for their first Stanley Cup since 1967.
If that plays out, Francis could turn his attention to one of those pending UFA veterans such as Simmonds, Vesey or Bogosian. To make this happen, the Leafs still have their first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth 2021 entry draft picks. Remember, Toronto traded its 2020 first-round pick to rid itself of former Seattle Thunderbird Patrick Marleau’s contract.
Other Notes
At least the options for the Kraken appear better than 2017 when the Vegas Golden Knights were building their inaugural lineup. Vegas did as well as could be hoped with what the rebuilding Leafs, having just made the playoffs for the first time in four years, left unprotected.
After a strong AHL season, forward Brendan Leipsic was a bottom-six energy guy who has since bounced from the Golden Knights to the Vancouver Canucks, Los Angeles Kings and Washington Capitals before he texted himself out of the league earlier this year.
Previous Sound of Hockey Expansion Draft team previews
Jim Wilkie is a longtime Northwest journalist, former NHL editor and NHL Insider writer for ESPN.com, a onetime GSHL All-Star, and SJHA hockey dad. Follow him on Twitter @jimwilkie.
Of all the teams we’ve reviewed at Sound Of Hockey thus far, the Winnipeg Jets may present the best assortment of NHL-ready players for the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft.
But who knows what might change between then and now?
A promising outlook for the Jets to start the 2019-20 season culminated with a loss to Calgary in the play-in round in the NHL’s Edmonton playoff bubble and a puzzling journey along the way.
Despite Connor Hellebuyck winning the Vezina Trophy this season, poor play in front of him and a rash of injuries led the Jets to a ninth-place finish in the Western Conference by point percentage. In the end, Winnipeg was dismissed in the play-in round, a quick and disappointing ousting.
Through it all, Winnipeg still boasts an impressive core of forwards to choose from for Seattle, as well as a couple of intriguing young defensemen.
Assumptions
Winnipeg almost certainly will protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie from the Seattle Expansion Draft.
Forward Adam Lowry is also an unrestricted free agent in 2021 and is a prime candidate to be protected if he’s resigned.
Jack Roslovic is currently a restricted free agent and has yet to ink a deal, but he was being shopped in October, according to Mike McIntrye of the Winnipeg News, and it’s unclear where the forward will be playing at the current moment. But for now, we’ll assume the Jets strike a resolution with Roslovic.
Andrew Copp is also reaching restricted free agency soon, in 2021-2022, and we expect him to resign. The same goes for defenseman Neal Pionk.
Offseason Wildcards
Patrik Laine becomes a restricted free agent, but trade rumors have swirled around the polarizing Finnish forward for a few years. If Laine is ever shipped away from Winnipeg, it could greatly impact the general course of the franchise.
Protected List
Winnipeg’s protected list has plenty of surefire locks, starting with a trio of talented forwards in Blake Wheeler — who also has a no-movement clause — Kyle Connor, and Mark Scheifele. If Laine inks a new deal with the Jets, he will be protected as well.
Jets Protected List
Forwards
Mark Scheifele (lock)
Blake Wheeler (lock, NMC)
Kyle Connor (lock)
Patrik Laine (lock, if re-signed)
Nikolaj Ehlers (lock)
Jack Roslovic (if re-signed)
Andrew Copp (if re-signed)
What forwards are available will depend on what Winnipeg does with the aforementioned situations with Lowry, Copp, and Roslovic.
Lowry, Winnipeg’s third-line center, is a good candidate for selection if he’s left unprotected. The 27-year-old two-way center plays a premium position and adds grit and toughness.
Lowry’s linemates, Copp and Roslovic, are also trendy picks to be selected by Seattle if unprotected. Copp, 26, is lauded for his defensive abilities and has posted encouraging Corsi and Fenwick numbers the past three seasons.
Roslovic, 23, is chock-full of offensive upside, but his reported tenuous relationship with the franchise has not been resolved — yet.
The odd-man out of that aforementioned trio is a good candidate for selection.
Wingers Jansen Harkens, 23, and Mason Appleton, 24, are young options that Seattle may consider as well.
Defensemen
Joshua Morrissey (lock)
Dylan DeMelo (lock)
Neal Pionk (lock)
Sami Niku, 24, was an intriguing option for protection, and was projected to be by Sportnest in their initial list. But that was before the Jets inked 27-year-old Dylan DeMelo to a four-year extension with an annual average value of $3 million.
For now, it’s hard to see them parting with a relatively young trio of Morrissey, 25, Pionk, 25, and DeMelo, with the caveat that Pionk is re-signed.
Goalie
Connor Hellebuyck (lock)
It would take quite the downfall for Hellebuyck, the 2020 Vezina winner, to avoid protection.
Top Expansion Draft Players
Forwards:
Adam Lowry
Mason Appleton
Jansen Harkens
Defensemen:
Sami Niku
Tucker Poolman
Logan Stanley
Overall Thoughts
Lowry would be a mighty fine option for the Seattle Kraken, considering how difficult it is to find capable centers. He is an unrestricted free agent in 2021, but Seattle can take him if they agree to terms with Lowry during the 48-hour negotiation window.
Roslovic would be the most attention-grabbing of the options above, but with his youth and offensive upside, the Jets may not leave that option open for Seattle.
Niku’s fourth professional season will be one to keep an eye on for Kraken fans. The Finnish rearguard was ranked the No. 4 prospect in the Jets organization by Corey Pronman of The Athletic in 2018 after a 54-point season with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League in 2017-18.
Since then, Niku hasn’t been able to break through to the NHL and a lot of his prospect sheen has worn off after an injury-riddled 2019-20 campaign. Niku’s waiver exemption is gone for the 2020-21 season, meaning Winnipeg can’t freely option him to the minors without him being exposed to the other 30 teams. He should get a chance to play in the NHL this season.
A lottery-ticket-type option would be Logan Stanley, who is a “divisive player in the scouting community,” according to Pronman. The enormous 6-foot-7, 231-pound blueliner has 32 points in 117 games in the AHL spanning over two seasons thus far and was a first-round pick — No. 16 overall — out of the Ontario Hockey League in 2016.
Side Deal Scenarios
Bryan Little, who has dealt with chronic concussions ever since taking a slapshot from Ehlers to the head at the start of the 2019-2020 season, is signed through 2024 with an annual cap hit of just over $5.2 million. And with plenty of outstanding contract situations to address and $30 million of projected cap space available entering the 2021 offseason, the Jets will need to make some tough decisions.
Would attaching a prospect and/or high draft pick to Little’s albatross contract compel Seattle to take it on? If it was a Shea Theodore-caliber prospect, perhaps someone like Ville Heinola, Dylan Samberg, Kristian Vesalainen or David Gustafsson, then Seattle general manager Ron Francis probably would probably listen.
Regardless of what happens with Little, there are too many quality players for Cheveldayoff to protect. So one could certainly imagine a scenario in which Winnipeg throws something at Seattle to get them to leave certain players alone in the Expansion Draft.
This week, the Sound Of Hockey Podcast goes deep into the world of the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.
As you may have seen on soundofhockey.com, John, Andy, and Darren (with help from Josh and Jim) have been taking deep dives into NHL teams to try to understand which players each one may expose in the 2021 Expansion Draft. On the podcast, the guys have a hearty discussion about the teams covered so far and whether or not some of the bigger names out there may actually be feasible for the Kraken in their Expansion Draft. There are definitely some interesting nuggets, and a fair dose of #Minnutiae.
Also on this week’s episode, the guys do a Mailbag segment to answer listener questions.
They then move onto You Don’t See That Every Day (view the clips they discuss hereand here), Weekly One-Timers, and finally Tweets of the Week.
After a tough go in 2017, Minnesota Wild fans are wondering how their team will handle the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft in 2021.
When the Golden Knights constructed their first roster through their own Expansion Draft, it was widely publicized that a number of teams around the NHL had been badly fleeced by Vegas’s first general manager, George McPhee. The Wild were one of those teams.
You may recall that McPhee managed to get then-Wild GM Chuck Fletcher to hand over Alex Tuch in exchange for Vegas selecting Erik Haula (McPhee also threw in a conditional third-round Draft pick). At the time, Minnesota faithful thought it was the best that Fletcher could have done under the circumstances, being that their blueline had two valuable young chips in Jonas Brodin and Matt Dumba, and only one of those two could be protected.
Well, as history would have it, Haula played a key role in Vegas’s success that season, scoring 29 goals and 26 assists, and finally became the player that Wild fans had hoped to see after watching him shine at the University of Minnesota. Even worse, Tuch has since developed into one of the VGK’s better players, notching 106 points in 194 career games after he wasn’t really given a chance by the Wild.
Certainly, Minnesota will avoid finding itself in another such predicament for the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft, right?
Assumptions
It’s odd that Brodin and Dumba are once again central to Minnesota’s Expansion protection plans, but here we are. The difference this time is that Brodin has a new contract with a no-movement clause, meaning that he is guaranteed to be protected.
With Jared Spurgeon and Ryan Suter also carrying NMC’s, new GM Billy Guerin has four options on how to handle Dumba:
Protect eight total skaters to keep Dumba, but this will mean exposing two more forwards.
Expose Dumba, but losing him for nothing would likely be worse than the 2017 outcome.
Make a side deal with the Kraken to get Seattle to avoid taking Dumba.
Trade Dumba before the Expansion Draft.
As soon as Brodin signed his seven-year extension in September, speculation began swirling that Guerin would trade Dumba. It’s no secret that Minnesota needs to upgrade at center, and Dumba is Guerin’s most valuable trade chip. Though Guerin was recently on the record saying he is “prepared to start the season with [Dumba],” all signs indicate that he will move the stud defenseman prior to the Expansion Draft.
For this exercise, we’re going to make a big assumption and say that Dumba will be traded for a top-six center prior to the end of the upcoming season. The Wild will end up going with the seven forwards/three defensemen/one goalie protection scheme in the Seattle Expansion Draft.
The Wild also now have a whole host of forwards on expiring contracts, including Johansson, Nick Bonino, Marcus Foligno, and Nick Bjugstad. Of those four, we’re going to assume that only Foligno – who has emerged as a leader for the Wild – will be re-signed.
Offseason WILDcards (Get It?)
Minnesota oddly got – at least on paper – even weaker down the middle this offseason when Guerin traded his top center, Eric Staal, to Buffalo for Johansson. He also allowed long-time captain Mikko Koivu to walk in free agency.
Johansson is a fine player, but he’s historically been more successful on wing. This leaves Johansson, Joel Eriksson Ek, Bonino, and Victor Rask (and perhaps the Wild give Nico Sturm a chance).
That’s simply not a good enough center group for the NHL, so one could still see a Dumba-for-a-center trade being consummated sooner rather than later.
Otherwise, this roster is set.
Wild Protected List
Forwards
Zach Parise (NMC, Lock)
Mats Zuccarello (NMC, Lock)
Kevin Fiala (Lock)
Mystery Center (Whichever player the Wild get in assumed Dumba trade)
Joel Eriksson Ek
Jordan Greenway
Marcus Foligno
There’s definitely a chance that Foligno ends up being exposed in favor of a younger player like Sturm, but based on the central role he’s played over the past couple of seasons for Minnesota, we will surmise that Guerin wants to keep him.
Defense
Ryan Suter (NMC, Lock)
Jared Spurgeon (NMC, Lock)
Jonas Brodin (NMC, Lock)
Goalie
Kaapo Kahkonen
The Wild signed Cam Talbot to replace Devan Dubnyk as their starting netminder this offseason, after Dubnyk was traded to the Sharks. Talbot’s deal runs through 2023, but this definitely feels like one of those, “sign and expose” deals, similar to what Braden Holtby signed in Vancouver.
Kahkonen has upside, just won the AHL Best Goaltender Award with the Iowa Wild, and even showed well in five games with the big club, going 3-1-1 in December.
Barring a phenomenal season by Talbot, if the Kraken want him, we think they can have him (but they probably won’t want him).
Top Kraken Expansion Draft Players
Forwards
Nico Sturm
Ryan Hartman
Marcus Johansson
Nick Bonino
Victor Rask
As far as Sound Of Hockey is concerned, Sturm is the most appealing of the forwards that we project to be made available by the Wild in the Seattle Expansion Draft. Again, his exposure would only happen if a Dumba trade is carried out and Foligno is re-signed and protected.
Sturm, 25, has been knocking on the NHL door for some time now. At this point, he’s still only played eight games for the Wild, but it’s easy to imagine him getting significant time this season, especially with the weakened center group.
The German-born player was signed in 2019 as an undrafted free agent out of Clarkson University, where he was nearly a point-per-game player over three seasons. In 2019-2020, he had 12 goals and 20 assists in 55 games with the Iowa Wild and two assists in six games with Minnesota. He’s 6’3” and 206 pounds and plays a solid two-way game.
Hartman, 26, is a known quantity at this point. He scored 19 goals and 12 assists in his first full NHL season in Chicago in 2016-2017 but has since been typecast into bottom-six checking roles in Nashville, Philadelphia, and Minnesota. This is likely the role Hartman would play in Seattle as well, should the Kraken be looking to fill that off the Wild roster.
Johansson and Bonino are both UFA’s, so for the Kraken to select either of them, the two sides would have to agree to a deal during Seattle’s 48-hour negotiating window, then the team would select one of them in the Expansion Draft. Either player would represent a solid veteran presence, but there will be more impactful forwards out there to fill those spots for Seattle.
The Wild would love for Seattle to take Rask and his $4 million cap hit off their hands, but we don’t think the Kraken will want that.
Defense
Carson Soucy
Louie Belpedio
Soucy, 26, has emerged as a bona fide NHL defenseman that would be playing in a top-four role on a lot of NHL teams. The former UMD Bulldog flew largely under the radar as a prospect after being selected in the fifth round in 2013, but has grown into a solid and reliable presence for Minnesota. He scored seven goals and seven assists in 55 games in his first season in the NHL in 2019-2020, and had 20 points the year before in Iowa.
Soucy earned a three-year $8.25 million extension this offseason, and with three NMC’s on Minnesota’s blueline, he cannot be protected from the Expansion Draft.
Belpedio is also intriguing (though less so than Soucy). Now 24 years old, it feels like Belpedio has been on the cusp of the NHL for a long time, but has never cracked the lineup, save for three total games over three years. As an AHLer, the former Miami University (Ohio) captain has notched 43 points in 142 games.
Goalie
Cam Talbot
Alex Stalock
We at Sound Of Hockey think there will be better veteran goalies available than Talbot. The real play here would be if Talbot has a great season and earns himself protection in Minnesota, making Kahkonen available. If that does happen, then Kahkonen would be worth snagging for Seattle.
Side Deal Scenarios
If Guerin does pull off a Dumba trade for a center, then he’s pretty well set up to only lose one relatively replaceable player in the lineup. After seeing how things played out with Vegas, Wild owner Craig Leipold likely won’t want to see Guerin throwing in any sweeteners for Seattle, so we would expect a Soucy- or Sturm-type player to be given up to the Kraken without a side deal.
That said, you can bet that Guerin would love to move Rask and/or Zuccarello, though Zuccarello would have to waive his NMC. Taking on one of those contracts could serve the Kraken a nice young prospect, à la Alex Tuch of 2017.
Also, what does happen if Guerin can’t find a trade partner with the right offer for Dumba?
The Wild have some big decisions to make before the Seattle Expansion Draft.
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.
