We’ve already talked about the impending cap crunch that most of the teams in the league will be facing. The impact has been very evident during the first 18 days of NHL Free Agency where the teams aren’t spending as much as they have in the past couple of years.
Here is the breakdown of the current dollars committed through day #18 of the free agent period and how it stacks up to the prior 3 years.
Of course, the total committed dollars is not the whole story. It’s also important to view the average annual value (Cap Hit) and average term of the contracts. Both are down double digits from last year at this point in time. Here is an interactive dashboard to let you explore the numbers by team.
So teams are signing roughly the same amount of players in the same timeframe, but signing them for less money and for shorter term deals.
And for the heck of it, here is a comparable to how each team is spending and the number of players they have signed this free agent period.
The shorter deals and cap crunch are all good news for the Kraken as they get ready for the Expansion Draft next summer. This won’t be a one-year trend as the cap is projected to stay flat next year as well due to lost revenue of partial season with optimistically, limited fans in the buildings.
Free agency is upon us and, even though the Seattle Kraken will not be participating, there are still things to keep an eye on this year that could impact the Kraken down the road.
Here are my top 5 things to keep an eye on during free agency.
The NMC
Look for any players signing deals that have a Full No-Move Clause (NMC). NMC’s are generally reserved for the cream of the crop of free agent players. A NMC means that the team must protect the player in next summer’s Expansion Draft. It is highly likely that these players would be protected without the NMC, but the NMC will limit teams’ options. Anything that restricts other teams’ options and flexibility should be considered a good thing for Seattle.
Cap Crunch teams
All teams will be impacted by the flat salary cap related to COVID-19 lost revenues, but the more teams spend to the cap, then the more vulnerable these teams will be during the Expansion Draft. This could benefit Seattle during the Expansion Draft in 2 ways:
Teams could expose some high-value, high-cap-hit players with the hopes that Seattle selects these players to shed some salary cap. Of course, this doesn’t mean Seattle will select this player, so let’s go to #2.
Similar to what happen in the Vegas Expansion Draft, teams could negotiate side deals with Seattle to shed some high salary players in an effort to create more salary cap space to sign pending RFAs or other UFAs in 2021. Anaheim traded Shea Theodore to Vegas for taking Clayton Stoner and Winnipeg traded a 1st round pick and a 3rd round pick for in exchange for Vegas selecting Chris Thorburn Bottom line we want teams to spend to their limit.
Shea Theodore was traded to Vegas from Anaheim as compensation for Vegas selecting Clayton Stoner in the 2017 Expansion Draft. (Photo by Jeff Speer/Icon Sportswire)
Goalies Carousel
This is certainly the trendy topic leading into the free agency period and for good reason. This year will probably see the most goalies change teams that the league has ever seen in any prior offseason. There are some high-profile goalies that will change teams this year. Corey Crawford (CHI), Jacob Markstrom (VAN), and Braden Holtby (WAS) are likely to change homes. For the 30 teams participating in the 2021 Expansion Draft (Vegas is exempt), each team will only be able to protect one goalie, so goalie signings this free agent period should give us a better sense of which goalies get exposed in the upcoming expansion draft next summer.
Short Term Deals
Keep an eye out for short term deals, as in really short. The scenario here is that a big time free agent signs a one-year deal with the hopes of either winning a championship with a well-positioned team or the player might take a one-year deal with the hope that they can sign a more lucrative deal with a team that has a lot of cap space…as in Seattle. This would be the Taylor Hall to Colorado on a 1-year deal.
Crowded Blue Lines
Alex Pietrangelo (STL), Torey Krug (BOS), Tyson Barrie (TOR), Kevin Shattenkirk (TBL), TJ Brodie (CGY), and Sami Vatanen (CAR) are all likely to find new homes in free agency. Wherever they sign, odds are decent that they will be protected, which means that some other defender will be exposed. There are several teams that already have some interesting decisions to make regarding who to protect on the blue line in the upcoming Expansion Draft. Having more teams with crowded blue lines will expose more talent and will be better for Seattle.
Several of these scenarios might not play out and we still expect some more roster movement leading up to the 2021 Expansion Draft, but we are starting to put the cake in the oven. We should have a better idea how it will turn out very shortly during this free agency period.
It didn’t take long for Dustin Donaghy to realize his Spokane Chiefs teammate Tyler Johnson was just one of those guys.
You know, one of those guys.
The type of person imbued with so much swagger and subtle confidence that winning just seemed easy.
Whether it was 3-on-3 games, shinny hockey, or games of Halo, Donaghy found out quickly during both of their rookie seasons in the Western Hockey League that Johnson was that type of slightly trusting, but mostly awe-inspiring person.
“He was just clutch, just with everything,” said Donaghy, who is now entering his second year on the Chiefs bench as an assistant coach. “… Tyler, in my mind, he always had his hand in something in a positive manner.”
Winning has been a constant for Johnson, a Spokane, Washington native, in all levels of hockey.
Johnson and the Chiefs won the Memorial Cup, one of the two most coveted championships in junior hockey, and won a Gold Medal with Team USA at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Saskatoon and Regina, Saskatchewan, the second most coveted.
He won a Calder Cup Trophy with the Norfolk Admirals in his first season in the American Hockey League. Johnson was named to the NHL All-Rookie Team and a finalist for the Calder Memorial Trophy in 2014.
And for the second time, Johnson and the Lightning are on the verge of the most prodigious accomplishment in hockey: the Stanley Cup.
The Journey
In the WHL, teams are allowed a 50-player protected list. It includes active players, bantam draft picks and other prospects.
Yes, that same player valuable enough to sign a seven-year, $35 million contract for a Stanley Cup Finalist wasn’t even deemed worthy of being one of the 1,100 players protected by the WHL.
Some of that may have been because of his size — he’s listed at only 5-foot-8 and 185 pounds, but the Spokane native proved to be somewhat of a late bloomer, too.
After failing to make the Chiefs team as a 16-year-old rookie, he erupted with a 120-point season for the Coeur d’Alene Lakers, a Junior ‘B’ team, and helped junior hockey decision-makers notice him.
It didn’t take long for his Chiefs teammates to notice him, either.
“Just looking at him, he kind of had his boyband haircut. You’d look at him and you’d think, is he really a hockey player?” Donaghy said of his first impressions of Johnson in 2007, their rookie seasons. “Then we’d get on the ice, and we’d say, ‘Wow, he’s way more than what he looks like on the outside.”
Of course, Johnson made his way back on to the Chiefs’ list and not only cracked the Chiefs’ Memorial Cup-winning roster as a 17-year-old rookie but was named playoff MVP after totaling five goals and eight points in 23 games.
“He fit in right from the get-go,” Donaghy said.
Johnson had his doubters because he was so unassuming, but it only took a couple of skates for his teammates to buy-in to Johnson being an influential player.
His impact in Junior Hockey was gradual, and while the undersized forward was one of the league’s top scorers as a 19-year-old, no draft buzz followed that production.
Johnson was even looking at playing USports hockey in Canada — or even just attending college in the U.S., where he wasn’t able to play varsity hockey due to the NCAA’s ridiculous amateurism rules, he told The Spokesman-Review, before his 20-year-old season, where he exploded for 53 goals and 115 points as an overage player.
Johnson ended his tenure in Spokane is a hell-of-a-lot of points, a gold medal with Team USA at the 2010 World Junior Championships and, of course, a Memorial Cup run that started it all.
Still, Johnson never attracted much, if any, draft buzz, likely due to his diminutive size.
But Tampa Bay was eventually convinced and inked him as an undrafted free agent.
That’s paid off big time for Tampa Bay, especially early on.
Johnson was a key cog in the Lightning’s 2015 Playoff run, forming ‘The Triplets’ line with Nikita Kucherov and Ondrej Palat. Johnson led the postseason with 13 goals and tied Patrick Kane for first with 23 points as the Lightning finished as Stanley Cup Finalists.
The Lightning fell to Chicago in six games in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, the franchise’s second appearance.
Currently tied 1-1 with the Stars entering Wednesday’s Game 3, Johnson and the Lightning are presented with another bite at the apple.
A Spokane Kid
Johnson was born into a hockey family of sorts.
His parents, Ken and Debbie Johnson, met playing a rec-league hockey game at Spokane’s Eagle’s Ice-A-Rena. Debbie was a skating coach, who not only taught Tyler how to skate, but the Yamamoto brothers, Kailer and Keanu, as well.
Johnson is a cornerstone, along with Derek Ryan and Kailer Yamamoto, of an underground hockey community in Spokane and Northern Idaho that’s never been confused as a hockey hotbed, but has a burgeoning player pool and a passionate, underground fanbase.
A yearbook photo of Tyler Johnson from Central Valley High School
It’s been a tradition for all three to attend high school in the Spokane area — Johnson attended Central Valley in Spokane Valley — and, of course, play for the Chiefs as a hometown kid, an enriching experience that also comes with the burdens of unrealistic expectations.
Johnson cut through any concerns from the jump.
“He was the one that had to decide of enjoying the fame of being a hometown kid or really pursuing a career,” Donaghy said. “Obviously, that’s what he’s done and he’s a huge impact in Tampa’s lineup right now in the Stanley Cup Final.”
Let us first have a look at how the players were acquired on their respective teams.
No surprise that “Drafted” is how a good chunk of all teams are built.
Development Path to the NHL
Next, we will look at these players development path. Development Path can be subjective since several players had multiple stops in their development. I used rational assessments to determine which league had a more prominent role in these players early development between the ages of 17 to 20.
Age
The average ages are similar, but it is interesting to look at the different clusters of players that make up the average. Dallas has a group around 34 years old; while Tampa Bay has a large group of players between 29 and 32.
Nationality
And finally, we peek at the nationality mix of the two different rosters.
For more info on nationality, check out this post from last December that gives a broader view on nationality trends across the NHL.
I hope this gives you a bit more understanding of the teams vying for the Stanley Cup.
Every playoff I enjoy digging into the rosters of the playoff teams to see how they compare across relatively basic demographic information such as Nationality & Age. This year I have added ‘acquired type”, thanks to CapFriendly. Quick bit of disclosure, data is grabbed from CapFriendly and NHL.com.
For a player to be counted in these numbers, they must have played a second of ice time of the playoffs. (i.e. Thatcher Demko has been the back up goalie for Vancouver in all their games but has yet to play a second on the ice and will not be counted.)
Age
Nationality
For a comparison, ~48% of the league is Canadian.
Here is a distribution by team
How acquired
This is a fun view on how these teams were built.
As you can see, the Vegas Golden Knights do not have one of their draft picks playing on their team….but their 2nd pick in their history is playing for Montreal.
Kraken fans, we have our name, but the expansion draft is still a year away, so with no team in Stanley Cup Playoffs that begins Saturday, who should we be rooting for? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered with a “high-tech” computer algorithm to evaluate how strong each team’s ties are to our beloved PNW Kraken region. Trust me, this is very scientific and who would dispute science these days? Without further ado, here is the definitive ranking of your allegiances this playoff season.
#1 Edmonton Oilers
Edmonton has volume and value. They not only have a lot of Northwest connections, but the connections are also diverse; four of the US WHL teams are represented.
Kailer Yamamoto – The algorithm always values the Washington born players just a little bit more. Yamamoto was born in Spokane and would play four seasons with the Spokane Chiefs. He was the first round pick of the Oilers in 2017 and established himself as a full time NHLer this year after spending the first half of the season in Bakersfield, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, rehabbing a wrist injury. Since the call-up, Yamamoto has averaged close to a point a game with 11 goals and 15 assists in 27 games.
Ethan Bear is one of the Seattle Thunderbirds fan favorites. Bear was a big part of the Thunderbirds WHL championship in 2017 and played for the team for four seasons. 2019-20 was Bear’s first full season in the NHL and he has already established himself as a regular Top-4 defenseman. Ethan Bear is not only a dynamo on the ice, but he is also a great human off the ice.
Jujhar Khaira has been a steady winger for the Oilers the last 3 years. He played one full season for the Everett Silvertips and put up 43 points in 59 games.
Caleb Jones is defenseman that played 2 seasons with the Portland Winterhawks during the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. He is the brother of elite NHL defenseman, Seth Jones, and is just establishing himself in the league. He played two thirds of his season in the NHL with only a brief stint in the AHL. His comfort seems to be growing in the NHL and I imagine he should get some significant playing time in these playoffs.
Dave Tippettjoined NHL Seattle in the summer of 2018 to take care of a lot of the hockey operations items and strategy, including locker room designs, AHL affiliate, just to name a few. Everything from locker room layout to evaluating the AHL franchise location. Tip would make several public appearances either on TV shows, WHL Games, and even a podcast. (check out this interview with tip on the Sound of Hockey podcast)
#2 Washington Capitals
The Washington Capitals ties to Washington State have been significant with the TJ Oshie trade in the summer of 2015. They also added a Silvertip and a Thunderbird over the last year.
TJ Oshie is Seattle’s native son of hockey. Born in Everett and growing up in Mt Vernon, TJ played in the Seattle Junior Hockey association before moving to Warroad Minnesota at 15 to further develop his hockey talents. TJ became a legend in Sochi in 2014 and won the Stanley Cup in 2018.
On this day, 4 years ago, we witnessed one of the greatest Olympic hockey moments of all-time.
Brendan Dillion was a huge fan favorite when he played in Seattle for 4 seasons including the Key…er Climate…or let’s just say the Arena that existed prior to Climate Pledge Arena. As discussed on the Sound of Hockey podcast, Dillion would be part of the TBirds team that would play the first ever season in accesso ShoWare Center. (Find out why the called him Zeus in Seattle)
Radku Gudas may have only played one year in Everett, but it was a memorable one. Gudas had 37 points as a defenseman and would also log 151 penalty minutes.
#3 Columbus Blue Jackets
Seth Jones played for the Portland Winterhawks during their WHL Championship season of 2012-13 and is now one of the NHL’s elite defensemen. He suffered an injury in February that kept him out of the last 6 weeks of the regular season, but the NHL pause has proved beneficial to his recovery.
Oliver Bjorkstrand was also part of that Portland Winterhawks team. In addition to the Championship 2012-13 season, Bjorkstrand would play an additional 2 years with the Winterhawks where he would put up over 50 goals and 100 points in each of those 2 seasons.
Ryan Murray played 4 seasons with the Everett Silvertips. He was picked second overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. When healthy, Murray is a very reliable top-4 D-man. Unfortunately, for the last few years he had been dealing with back issues that have kept him out of quite a few games including all of last year’s playoffs for the Blue Jackets. He has been a full participant during the return to play training camp which bodes well for him in the post season.
#4 Tampa Bay Lightning
Tyler Johnson is Spokane born and raised. He played 4 years with the Spokane Chiefs and was part of the Memorial Cup winning team back in 2008. This undrafted forward is a gamer. I would not shut up about him back in the 2015 playoffs and if you follow me on Twitter, you will probably get sick of me talking about him there.
Brayden Coburn is a grizzled veteran and the type of player you would love to see hoist the cup. He played 4 years with the Portland Winter Hawks from 2001-02 to 2004-05.
Jason Berger is not someone you will see on a game sheet, but he is the Assistant Equipment Manager, but in a prior life he was the Head Equipment Manager for the Seattle Thunderbirds. Don’t believe me? Check out his fun interview about spinning laundry on the Sound of Hockey podcast.
#5 New York Islanders
Mat Barzal is good at hockey. Mat Barzal played 4 seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds from 2013-14 to 2016-17 and was obviously a huge part of the 2017 WHL Championship Team. He will be a lot of fun to watch in the playoffs and the only downside is we won’t get to see him possess the puck for 2 minutes straight in a 3on3 overtime scenario.
Thomas Hickey also played with the Thunderbirds from 2005-06 to 2008-09. Hickey had a rough year on and off the ice dealing with injuries and his brother’s health issues and eventual death. Hickey has been with the team during return to play training camp and appears to be part of the “top 6” defensemen which translates to being a regular once the games begin.
#6 Philadelphia Flyers
Carter Hart, ever heard of this guy? Hart was 2-time CHL Goaltender of the Year while playing for the Everett Silvertips for the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. Hart will turn 22 during the first round of the playoffs and is the youngest regular goalie in the league.
Nate Thompson played for the Seattle Thunderbirds from 2001-02 to 2004-05. Thompson was traded to Philadelphia at the trade deadline from Montreal. He won’t put up huge numbers, but he is the type of unsung hero that tends to pop up during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Nate is a great person and the type of person you just can’t help not to root for.
#7 Winnipeg Jets
Luca Sbisa played 12 regular season and 13 playoff games for the Portland Winterhawks during the 2009-10 season. It is pretty slim pickens on Winnipeg’s roster.
Eric Comrie played 4 seasons with Tri-City Americans between 2011-12 to 2014-15. Comrie is at best 3rd on the Jets goalie depth chart and might not see the ice during the playoffs, but there have been several teams that have used three goalies in a Stanley Cup Playoff before.
Wade Flaherty. Excuse me…who? Flaherty is the goalie coach in Winnipeg. He played 9 games for the Seattle Thunderbirds and 5 games for the Spokane Chiefs during the 1985-86 season. Now that is a player with some strong connections to the Northwest, am I right?
#8 Calgary Flames
Derek Ryan, a Washington native, flies under our local radar. Ryan’s path to the NHL is a story worth knowing and is another one of those guys that you just love to root for. Here are the Cliff Notes on Ryan’s journey: After 4 years with his hometown Spokane Chiefs from 2003-04 to 2006-07, the undrafted center would play 4 years in the Canadian University system where he would get his degree. He then played 3 years of pro hockey in Austria which he parlayed into a season in Sweden which then earned him his first North America pro contract with the Carolina Hurricanes organization. After one year in the AHL in 2015-16, Ryan would be a regular in the NHL with 3 years with the Hurricanes and the last 2 years with the Flames.
Juuso Valimaki was a 1st round draft pick of the Calgary Flames in 2017. He played 3 seasons for the Tri-City Americans and averaged a point per game in his last 2 years. That is good for a forward, but he is a defenseman. Valimaki suffered an ACL injury last summer and was expected to miss the entire season. It sounds like he will be ready to go for the playoffs, but the team might keep him out to make sure he is exempt in next year’s expansion draft.
#9 Carolina Hurricanes
Nino Niederreiter played 2 years with the Portland Winterhawks during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons where he averaged over a point per game.
Morgan Geekie played 3 full years with the Tri-City Americans. During the 2017-18 WHL playoffs he would put up 17 goals over 14 games. He has been averaging over 20 goals per season in his 2 years in the AHL. He has only played 2 NHL Games to date, but the Canes could inject some fresh legs into the lineup if they win a few rounds.
Jake Bean also played for the Tri-City Americans for a half of a season in 2017-18. Bean only played half a season + 14 playoff games. Like Geekie, he has also played the last two years with the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL and is on the edge of breaking onto the roster and is probably an injury or two away from making his Stanley Cup Playoff debut.
#10 Minnesota Wild
Jared Spurgeon played 5 seasons with the Spokane Chiefs from 2005-06 to 2009-10 and was part of the WHL Championship and Memorial Cup winning team in 2008. This 6th rounder NHL draft pick has over 650 games and is one of the Wild’s top defensemen.
Matt Dumba played half of a season with the Portland Winterhawks in 2013-14 and was part of the team that reached the WHL Final. Dumba is another top defenseman on the Wild and has a bright future in this league.
#11 Vegas Golden Knights
Shea Theodore played with the Thunderbirds for four years from 2011-12 to 2014-15. Theodore ended up in Vegas via a side deal during the 2017 expansion draft. Since then he has been stellar on the blue line for the Golden Knights and has been getting better with every season. Even with the shortened regular season, Shea had a career high on goals (13) and assists (33) before the stoppage.
Keegan Kolesar was a big part of the Seattle Thunderbirds 2016-17 WHL Championship Season. Keegs has only logged one NHL regular season game, so he might not play much in the early rounds. But, if Vegas makes a deep run and by the law of attrition due to injuries, you might see him suit up in the playoffs.
Dylan Coghlan played 4 years with the Tri-City Americans from 2014-15 Season to 2017-18. This undrafted defenseman has yet to play in the NHL, but he was invited to return to play training camp. Coghlan will travel to the Edmonton bubble, but is almost guaranteed to be further down the depth chart.
#12 Nashville Predators
Ryan Johansen played 2 seasons with the Portland Winterhawks during the 2009-10 and 2010-11 seasons. He centers the top line for the Predators which will need to produce should Nashville expect to advance past the first round of the playoffs.
#13 Boston Bruins
Brandon Carlo has been a steady blueliner for the Boston Bruins over the last 4 seasons. He played 3 seasons for the Tri-City Americans from 2013-14 to 2015-16 and should get plenty of ice time during these playoffs.
#14 Pittsburgh Penguins
Patrick Marleau played two seasons with the Seattle Thunderbirds in 1995-96 & 1996-97. In his last season in Seattle he put up 51 goals and 125 points over 71 games. Not bad for an 18 year old. Marleau is one of the local’s favorite Thunderbirds ever and is the NHL’s 5th all-time in games played with 1,723. I know there are a lot of Sharks fans and Tbirds fans that will be big Penguins fans this playoff.
#15 Arizona
Michael Grabner played 3 seasons with the Spokane Chiefs from 2004-05 to 2006-07. This speedy winger has been inconsistent over the last couple of years, but can score flashy goals from time to time.
Adin Hill played 2 seasons for the Portland Winterhawks during 2014-15 & 2015-16. He is the 3rd goalie in the depth chart for the Coyotes heading into the playoffs, but their starter, Dacey Kuemper, had some injuries that have sidelined him for a bit. With the NHL’s long pause, you wonder if goalies could be more vulnerable this playoff season and therefore trigger an opportunity for Adin Hill. Additionally, Adin Hill could be an expansion target for Seattle next year. Keep an eye out.
#16 Montreal
Carey Price has established himself as a legend in the NHL, but before that he played for the Tri City Americans from 2003-04 to 2006-07. Price doesn’t need much of an intro, but for those that don’t know, he is largely considered one of the best goalies in the league. Canadiens will probably need Carey Price to stand on his head to have any chance in these playoffs.
Noah Juulsen played 4 seasons with the Everett Silvertips from 2013-14 to 2016-17. Juulsen is having a bit of a rough road to the NHL and has yet to establish himself as a permanent fixture in the NHL. Despite not playing any NHL games this season, he did get a training camp invite, but it might be a stretch to get in a game this playoff season.
#17 Florida Panthers
Colton Sceviour played 2+ seasons with the Portland Winterhawks from 2005-06 to 2006-07. He plays further down the line on the Panthers forward lines and will play important minutes on the 3rd or 4th line.
#18 St. Louis Blues
Derrick Pouliot played 4 seasons with the Portland Winterhawks from 2010-11 to 2013-14. He ended up playing most of the 2019-20 regular season with the Blues AHL affiliate, the San Antonio Rampage, yet was invited to Phase 3 training camp. It would not be unheard of for the Blues to go deep into playoffs and rely on some of their depth as injuries happen in the playoffs.
#19 Dallas
Landon Bow played half of a season in Seattle during the 2015-16 season and would mind the pipes during the Tbirds run to the WHL Championship final where they would lose to the Brandon Wheat Kings. He was not in Seattle long, but it was an impressive and important time in Seattle Thunderbirds history. Being that he is roughly the 3rd or 4th goalie for the Stars, he is unlikely to see the ice. But if either Bishop or Khudobin go down with an injury, we might be able to get a glimpse of him on the bench.
Deep Cut: The Stars assistant coach, Derek Laxdal played 39 games for the Portland Winterhawks his rookie WHL season back in the 1982-83 season.
A bit of a stretch
#20 Colorado
Jared Bednar – The Avs head coach played for the Spokane Chiefs for 2ish years from 1991-1992. In his only complete season with the Chiefs, he amassed 200 penalty minutes in 62 games played. (https://www.nhl.com/avalanche/team/jared-bednar)
#21 Toronto Maple Leafs
I may or may not be reaching here, but Assistant Coach, Dave Hakstol, was the head coach of the University of North Dakota while Seattle’s native son of hockey, TJ Oshie attended UND from 2005-06 to 2007-08. In addition to Hakstol, the Leafs Director of Pro Scouting, Troy Bodie, is the nephew of Seattle Kraken CEO, Tod Leiweke and son in law of OVG CEO Tim Leiweke.
Teams with no Northwest Fandom whatsoever
#22 Chicago Blackhawks
There are a lot of Blackhawks fans out here, but for the life of me I could not find a connection to our region. What this tells me…it is time for you Blackhawks fans to move on.
#23 New York Rangers
Unfortunately, I could not find any Seattle connection to this franchise. I tried; you know I tried.
#24 That team to the north
That team might be the closest team to Seattle, but they have no players or coaches that have ties to our territory. This is fate! We did not want to root for them anyway!
bit more. Yamamoto was born in Spokane and would play four seasons with the Spokane Chiefs. He was the first round pick of the Oilers in 2017 and established himself as a full time NHLer this year after spending the first half of the season in Bakersfield, Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, rehabbing a wrist injury. Since the call-up, Yamamoto has averaged close to a point a game with 11 goals and 15 assists in 27 games.
the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons. He is the brother of elite NHL defenseman, Seth Jones, and is just establishing himself in the league. He played two thirds of his season in the NHL with only a brief stint in the AHL. His comfort seems to be growing in the NHL and I imagine he should get some significant playing time in these playoffs.
Silvertips. He was picked second overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. When healthy, Murray is a very reliable top-4 D-man. Unfortunately, for the last few years he had been 
