It turns out signing goalie Sergei Bobrovsky and Stanley Cup-winning coach Joel Quenneville didn’t solve the Florida Panthers’ problems. On paper, it should have. The Panthers have talent but couldn’t rise above mediocrity last year and were ultimately sent home after a qualifying round loss to the New York Islanders. It’s that talent, however, that opens up interesting options for the Seattle Kraken in the upcoming Expansion Draft.
Bobrovsky should have made more of a difference. The season prior, Florida was one of the league’s top goal-scoring clubs. But the problem was in net. The Panthers were near the bottom of the NHL when it came to save-percentage. They just needed a goalie.
Bobrovsky didn’t play up to the $10 million a year contract he signed and Quenneville couldn’t get the team to live up to its preseason expectations.
The result was a change at the top. Out was general manager Dale Tallon and in was Bill Zito, whose name had long been thrown around as the next GM somewhere. With a new general manager calling the shots, the Panthers could go several ways in the Expansion Draft. Whatever they do, Seattle will have good players to choose between.
Assumptions
Zito has cap space heading into the season so won’t need to dump any salary right off the bat. The roster should stay stabilized during the season but that may depend on how the Panthers fare on the ice. They have room to add if they find themselves in contention but have guys like Patric Hornqvist or Anton Stralman who have salaries above $5 million and would be attractive to contending teams. If the Panthers struggle, those guys could go on the block.
The Panthers have some decisions made for them. Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, Keith Yandle, and Bobrovsky all have no-move clauses in their contracts so will have to be protected.
For this exercise, we’ll assume that the Panthers will protect seven forwards and three defensemen but Zito could choose the eight skater route which would allow him to protect four defensemen. Florida has four strong players on the blue line in a group that might have a bit more depth than the team has up front.
Protected List
There are several ways the Panthers can handle their protected list, but regardless of the route they take, they will have to leave a talented player available to Ron Francis and the Seattle Kraken.
Forwards
Jonathan Huberdeau (NMC)
Aleksander Barkov (NMC)
Patric Hornqvist
Noel Acciari
Frank Vatrano
Brett Connolly
Carter Verhaeghe
A key player to circle here is Hornqvist. A consistent producer throughout his 770 NHL games, the 33-year-old winger can still contribute. He was traded this offseason from Pittsburgh – in a move that was a surprise to Hornqvist – and has three years left on a contract that will pay him $5.3 million a year. His production has slipped ever so slightly the past couple of years, but he still scored 17 goals and 32 points in 52 games last season.
By exposing Hornqvist, Zito could protect a couple of younger guys. We will protect him here but that is nowhere near being a lock.
From there the mix at forward depends on how guys perform.
Alexander Wennberg came to Florida this offseason from Columbus. Zito knows him well, and at 26-years-old he still has some potential. He’ll be a UFA at the end of this year and could play himself into an extension and potential protection.
Like Hornqvist, Brett Connolly is another veteran who could end up exposed. Connolly, 28, scored 19 goals for the Panthers last season and costs $3.5 million a year. He’s on the protected bubble, but if a guy like Wennberg re-signs before the season ends, Connolly could be available at the Expansion Draft.
Coming off his rookie season, Carter Verhaeghe is a player the Panthers like and could be protected with a strong second year.
Defense
Keith Yandle (NMC)
Aaron Ekblad
MacKenzie Weegar
Zito also has tough decisions on the blue line. After Yandle, former first-overall draft pick Aaron Ekblad will be a lock to be protected.
Then it gets interesting.
Does Zito protect Anton Stralman, Mackenzie Weeger, Radko Gudas, or Riley Stillman?
Stralman, 34, is a veteran of over 800 games in the NHL and has been a consistently solid defenseman, but Florida will want to protect Weegar, who has been impressive in his short career. He’s 26 and has three years left on a $3.5 million per season contract. Weegar has strong underlying numbers and chipped in offensively last year with 18 points.
That will push him onto the protected list, freeing up Seattle to choose one of the vets or perhaps take a flyer on Stillman who is 22 years old and has yet to prove it in the NHL.
The Panthers may want to keep both Stralman and Weegar which may push Zito towards protecting four forwards and four defensemen.
Goalie
Bobrovsky has a no-move clause and will have to be saved, but the Panthers need to make an eligible goalie available. Chris Driedger is the current backup but will be a UFA after the season so Florida would have to re-sign him to expose him. They could also expose 24-year-old Samuel Montembeault but would have to get him signed, as he’s currently a restricted free agent.
Florida Expansion Draft Candidates
Forwards
Henrik Borgstrom
Patric Hornqvist (if exposed)
Alexander Wennberg (potential UFA)
Defense
Anton Stralman
Radko Gudas
Riley Stillman
Markus Nutivaara
Goalie
Samuel Montembeault
Thoughts
If Hornqvist or Connolly are exposed the Kraken may take a long look. Hornqvist could provide leadership and can still produce offensively. He will be 34 when Seattle takes the ice but would only be on the hook for two seasons on his contract. If they feel they can squeeze enough out of him, he could be the pick.
Most likely, the Kraken will be looking at a defenseman and could land one who will produce right away. Would Seattle prefer established NHLers like Stralman and former Everett Silvertip Gudas or take a chance on younger, unproven guys like Stillman or Nutivaara?
Side Deal Scenarios
With cap room and no prohibitive contracts, it’s unlikely that the Panthers are going to entertain any trade scenarios.
During the Vegas Expansion Draft, the Panthers ended up losing both Riley Smith and Jonathan Marchessault to avoid losing a blueliner. They are set to lose a defenseman again this time around, but the question remains what Zito will do. He may just resign himself to losing a decent player to minimize the damage.
Did you miss our last Expansion Draft profile on the Nashville Predators? Check that out here.
First, John, Andy, and Darren discuss the latest on the NHL’s return to play plan, which is suddenly gaining momentum after appearing to be stalled just last week.
WHL Correspondent, Andy Eide, then gives a WHL Update on the Portland Winterhawks and that league’s plans for this season. While on the topic of Junior Hockey, the guys talk about the challenges that the World Junior Championship is currently facing.
Segments include a WJC-focused Goalie Gear Corner, a Vegas- and college-hockey focused Weekly One-Timers, and Tweets of the Week.
In the NHLtoSeattle days of yore, we took a deep look at the goalie market to try to understand which netminders could be on the Seattle Kraken’s radar, come the 2021 Expansion Draft. At the time, there were a lot of chips left to fall. In fact, the NHL’s 32nd franchise was still being referred to as “NHL Seattle” then, and the league had yet to even enter its Edmonton and Toronto postseason bubbles.
With so much uncertainty, there was a lot of guesswork about who would be available to become Seattle’s first netminder. Now that more chips have been played and many goalie situations are clarified around the NHL, we thought it was time to re-visit this exercise.
It’s worth noting that even though six months and an entire offseason have passed since that first stab at this topic was taken, well… there’s still a fair amount of guesswork required here. But after a very busy free agency period during this past offseason, there will be far fewer goalies moving around between now and Seattle’s 2021 Expansion Draft. The picture of Climate Pledge Arena’s future goalcrease is becoming a bit clearer now.
Western Conference Goalies for Expansion Draft
Eastern Conference Goalies for Expansion Draft
Goalies in New Homes
In the midst of the miserable summer of 2020, we in Seattle had our eyes on a number of goalie options that we thought could end up being targeted by the then-still-to-be-named hockey franchise in 2021. Among them, Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh, Braden Holtby in Washington, Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko in Vancouver, and Antti Raanta and Adin Hill in Arizona.
There has certainly been some change in that group, and some of those netminders have now become unavailable and can be stricken from Seattle’s assumed list.
First, Murray, the two-time Stanley Cup winner, was traded on NHL Draft day to the Ottawa Senators, then signed a four-year deal worth $25 million in total. This clears up that question in Pittsburgh and means that both Murray and Jarry will be protected by their respective teams. That still leaves Casey DeSmith, 29, who has had respectable NHL numbers as the Penguins backup, but we think the Kraken can do better.
Holtby and Markstrom – along with Cam Talbot – played a game of musical chairs when free agency opened in October. Talbot went to Minnesota on a three-year deal, Markstrom replaced Talbot in Calgary on a six-year whopper of a deal worth $36 million, and Holtby took the vacant spot in Vancouver with a two-year contract. Of those three, Markstrom will certainly be protected by the Flames, but the other two are likely to be exposed.
Meanwhile, nothing has changed in Arizona. Hill will still be a restricted free agent at the end of the season and will be ripe for Seattle’s picking. Raanta will be a UFA and will need to be signed in the lead-up to the Expansion Draft if Seattle wants him. Kuemper will be protected barring a massive collapse this season or a trade, which has been rumored at times.
Clever Contracting
The contracts for Holtby and Talbot are interesting, because both are relatively short-term deals that will not protect either goalie from the Expansion Draft. By signing these veteran netminders, the Canucks and Wild each seemed to kill multiple birds with one stone.
With Holtby’s two-year deal at $4.3 million AAV, and with Thatcher Demko emerging as the true goalie of the future there, it’s all but given that Holtby will still be exposed to Seattle. In fact, the Canucks structured his contract to pay him $2.9 million real dollars in 2020-21 and $5.7 million in 2021-22. So, if the Kraken want him, they can have him, but they’re going to pay the bulk of Holtby’s salary. It’s a genius-level signing by Vancouver GM Jim Benning.
Similarly in Minnesota, with last season’s AHL Goalie of the Year, Kaapo Kahkonen, requiring protection, Talbot and his $3.67 million cap hit will likely be made available barring a phenomenal season by the 33-year-old.
The brilliance of these signings is that it gives both teams relatively short-term and low-risk deals for reliable veterans that can bridge the gap to their young backstops. If Seattle doesn’t want them, fine, they stay with the team for another season or two at a reasonable cap hit. If Seattle wants either of them, also fine, because by then perhaps the youngsters will be ready to shoulder the starter load anyway.
UFA Clarity… Or Not
Anton Khudobin shocked the hockey world by carrying his Dallas Stars through the playoff bubble and all the way to the Stanley Cup Final. Dallas rewarded the rolie polie goalie (as Linda Cohn calls him) with a three-year deal at $3.33 million annually. His counterpart, Ben Bishop, has a no-movement clause in his contract, meaning that Khudobin cannot be protected. Khudobin is getting up there in age at 34, but he will have just two years left on his deal when the Expansion Draft rolls around, and he can obviously still play. Might Seattle consider snagging that Kazakh character?
Jordan Binnington is still a question mark in St. Louis. His creasemate, Jake Allen, was traded to Montreal in September, which might have given some clarity about the team’s plans. But Binnington is still on an expiring deal. If the Blues re-sign him, then they will protect him. If he ends up as a UFA, though, Seattle GM Ron Francis will have a 48-hour window to pitch Binnington if he’s interested in signing him.
Tuukka Rask (33), Philipp Grubauer (29), and Petr Mrazek (28) are three other netminders whose contract situations remain unclear beyond the upcoming season.
New to the Mix
Sound Of Hockey’s John Barr put together an interesting look at Nashville’s Expansion Draft situation this week. There are some very talented players that will have to be left exposed by the Predators. But John also clued us in on their goalie situation, which does have our wheels turning.
We didn’t talk about the Preds’ goalies before, because it seemed obvious that Juuse Saros was the guy they’d protect, and frankly, there are some very good veteran forwards that will be exposed by Nashville. With Pekka Rinne 38 years old and on an expiring contract, he’s clearly out, so Saros is probably still the guy.
But another goalie in the Nashville system we hadn’t previously discussed is Connor Ingram.
Originally drafted by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the third round in 2016, Ingram, 23, has emerged as one of the best young goalies out there. He was recently rated by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic as the #4 goalie prospect, has had sterling numbers in the AHL, and certainly appears to be on his way to the NHL very soon.
Nashville also now has the top goalie prospect in the world since drafting Yaroslav Askarov, so GM David Poile may see Ingram as expendable. Could Poile be talked into giving up Ingram in exchange for Francis keeping his mitts off of one of Nashville’s forwards?
Also potentially of note, the New York Islanders only have one Expansion Draft eligible goalie in Semyon Varlamov. With Ilya Sorokin expected to take over the net there soon, we’re guessing the Isles would love for the Kraken to take Varlamov and his $5 million cap hit through 2022-23 off their books.
Finally, what about Montreal? Carey Price is guaranteed to be protected with his mammoth contract that features a no-movement clause, meaning that Allen will be exposed. Allen has been unreliable as a true starter in his career, but as a back-up or even in a platoon scenario, he can be excellent.
Conclusion: We Still Don’t Know
Ok, so maybe we didn’t quite solve who will be Seattle’s first goalie following its Expansion Draft. There’s still a lot that needs to happen between now and then. The upcoming season will certainly have some bearing on which goalies end up protected, and who Seattle will actually want to take.
Who are you taking?
All salary information comes from CapFriendly.com.
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.
There have been a lot of high expectations of the Nashville Predators since they made their first Stanley Cup Final in 2017. Unfortunately, the team has struggled to advance past the second round of playoffs over the last three seasons. Although the team had led into the 2019-20 season in “win now” mode, the season turned into a significant step back. In that season, they had the lowest point percentage (56%) compared to the previous six seasons, and they failed to make it out of the qualifying round in the playoffs when they lost to the Arizona Coyotes.
The Predators did not change their roster too much during the offseason, implying that they still believe in their core group of players to hopefully get them back to the Stanley Cup Final. During the offseason, the Predators did make one trade, acquiring 22-year-old forward Luke Kunin from the Minnesota Wild for 32-year-old veteran Nick Bonino. The only other significant roster change this offseason was losing forward Craig Smith via Free Agency.
Assumptions
There are no significant pending free agents to extend into next season. Career Predator, Pekka Rinne, is on the last year of his contract but at 38 years old 2019-20 was his worst season in the NHL so an extension seems unlikely.
Nashville Roster Wildcards
Nashville is in a good position when it comes to salary cap compliance, but they do have a few big, long-term contracts in Ryan Johansen at $8M/year through 2024-25 and Matt Duchene at $8M/year through 2025-26. Considering their current output, those two contracts look fine right now, but both of those players will be over 30 at the tail end of their contracts when their salaries might seem expensive for a downturn in expected output for their age.
Nashville could approach the Expansion Draft as an opportunity to shed one of those contracts by exposing one of them in the Expansion Draft. Seattle will have a very hard time not selecting Johansen or Duchene if left exposed due to their immediate contributions. For now, we will project them as protected.
Predators Protected List
For the 2017 Expansion Draft, Nashville protected four forwards, four defensemen, and one goalie (4-4-1) as opposed to the seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie (7-3-1) option that was much more common.
They protected defensemen Mattias Ekholm, Ryan Ellis, Roman Josi, and PK Subban. Since then, Subban was traded to the New Jersey Devils and 22-year-old Dante Fabbro is now emerging as the future of the blueline in Nashville. It is possible that Nashville protects Ekholm, Ellis, Josi and Fabbro, if they stick with the 4-4-1 option. But we think that is unlikely because they have more than four promising forwards that they’ll want to protect, so we are predicting that they will go with the 7-3-1 approach.
Forwards:
The only pure lock we see at forward is Filip Forsberg. Duchene & Johansen are pretty close to locks as well, but like we mentioned above, they each carry a heavy annual salary ($8M/each) at a time where salary cap space is hard to come by. It would require a decent drop-off in production from either of those guys to imagine they could be exposed.
After those three, Nashville has a productive group of forwards in Victor Arvidsson, Calle Jarnkrok, Rocco Grimaldi, and Colton Sissons. Our estimate is that the Preds protect only two of these four to make sure they also protect some of the younger, up-and-coming players listed below. Arvidsson is top of that list, but after that, it is probably a coin flip between Grimaldi and Jarnkrok. As it stands today, Sound Of Hockey would protect Jarnkrok, but the final decision will come down to how these guys play during the upcoming season.
To round out the forwards, the Predators will probably protect two of their sub-23-year-old players that are expansion eligible. Newly acquired Kunin feels like a safe bet to be protected, and we would add the young Russian playmaker, Yakov Trenin to the list as well.
Projected Protected:
Filip Forsberg (Lock)
Matt Duchene (Close to a Lock)
Ryan Johansen (Close to a Lock)
Victor Arvidsson
Calle Jarnkrok (or Rocco Grimaldi)
Luke Kunin
Yakov Trenin
Defense:
Defense is much more straight forward with Josi and Ellis being locks and the younger Fabbro the probable last one protected over an older Ekholm.
Projected Protected:
Roman Josi (Lock)
Ryan Ellis (Lock)
Dante Fabbro (Probable)
Goalie:
The goalie situation looks straight forward as well. Juuse Saros and Pekka Rinne shared the net last year with roughly a 50% split of games. Rinne is 38 and will probably serve as the back-up to the much younger Saros (25) this coming season. Meanwhile, a 23-year-old Connor Ingram will spend another season in the minors.
It is theoretically possible that Nashville protects Connor Ingram and exposes Juuse Saros since Nashville’s future goalie is Iaroslav Askarov, but he will not be available for at least two seasons as he completes his contractual obligations in Russia.
Projected Protected:
Juuse Saros
Nashville Expansion Draft Candidates
Forwards
Rocco Grimaldi
Colton Sissons
Anthony Richard
Rem Pitlick
Tanner Jeannot
Defense
Mattias Ekholm
Frederic Allard
Goalie
Connor Ingram
Seattle will have decent options at all posititons in Nashville. Jarnkrok/Grimaldi/Sissons can probably step right into a top-six role on an expansion team while Richard/Pitlick/Jeannot might be picks for the future and frankly might not pan out. Ekholm can step right into a top-four defense role while Allard might be a bet on the future. Connor Ingram at 23 would be a good option to be the Kraken’s back-up goalie in year one with a projection to be penciled in as the starting netminder in year two or three.
Nashville Side Deal Scenarios
At this point, any side deal with Nashville seems possible. They are facing some exposure of some decent players and with that exposure comes opportunity. There could be a scenario where Nashville offers a draft pick in compensation for Seattle not selecting Grimaldi or Ekholm.
You did it! You and three of your buddies landed two full-season ticket packages to split for the Seattle Kraken’s inaugural season. But have you thought about exactly how you’re going to split your coveted Kraken season tickets?
If you are like me, then you have literally dreamed of this moment. You think about having the opportunity of seeing Connor McDavid, your childhood team, or maybe just being there on Opening Night. You then realize that you only get 11 of the 44 home games and wonder how you are going to distribute the tickets among your group.
Picking games and tickets should be considered a fun exercise and an excuse to get the group together for a few college sodas before the 2021-22 season begins. There are several approaches and strategies for sharing tickets that I have thought about. Here are some of them.
Assumptions
I’ve created a scenario of my own here. Obviously, this will have to be altered depending on your situation and your own Kraken season tickets group.
You have four people in your group sharing two full-season ticket packages. Each person gets two tickets for 11 games and for simplicity, face value of the tickets costs $100 per seat per game. Three of the four people have a hometown team that up until the arrival of the Seattle Kraken was their favorite team. Financially, everyone is stable, but one person has more stability than the others.
Distribution/Allocation Style
Here’s where your options come in for splitting up your Kraken season tickets. I definitely recommend that no matter which route you take, treating this like a real NHL Draft, with a spokesperson who serves as “Commissioner,” a make-shift podium, and a physical draft board that will keep everyone abreast as to what games remain for selection. I would also recommend that all attendees consistently boo whichever individual serves as Commissioner to keep up the image of a real draft.
Conventional Draft
You could keep it very simple and treat it as a Conventional Draft.
This is a simple, straight-forward process, exactly as we know it. Draft order of people in your group would be selected by picking numbers out of a hat or a random number generator system of your choice. Once the order is set, then that is the order in which you will complete the draft. So #1 selects one game of their choice from any game of the season, #2 selects one game of their choice, then #3 and #4, and then back to #1 for the fifth selection, and so on.
Pros:Seems relatively fair and priority order is random. Simple to pull off and simple to manage.
Cons: Person who selects fourth might feel a bit cheated since they would pick fourth and eight, giving them limited options to pick the premium games (i.e. Original Six – if you are into that – contending teams, or opponents with the biggest superstars). This would also be the least fun approach to ticket selection.
Snake Draft
The Snake Draft is similar to the Conventional Draft, but instead of the #1 draft person getting the fifth pick, the #4 would get the fourth pick and the fifth pick as the order is reversed every other round. The order of selecting your tickets would go #1 selects first, #2 selects second, #3 selects third, #4 selects fourth, #4 selects fifth, #3 selects sixth, #2 selects seventh, and so on.
Pros: Fairer than Conventional Draft. Still easy to manage.
Cons: Like the Conventional Draft, we can make this way more interesting and fun than this, especially when factoring in college sodas.
Ticket Auction
Now we’re starting to cook.
In the Ticket Auction, based on the Fantasy Auction model, different games have different values to people. It could be the matchup, the time of year, the day of week, etc. Why not allow everyone to bid on the games about which they care the most?
You could give everyone 1000 fictitious points/dollars to bid out on all 44 games. You could do this blind where everyone fills in a separate spreadsheet before selection night. They need to put at least one point on each game and a maximum of 957 bucks on any one game (1000 – 43 = 957 to factor in the minimum bid required on the other games). On selection night, you can get together and compile the results to determine who goes to each game, starting with the highest individual point bid.
Before selection night group member’s bids are consolidated by the Commissioner, who will again be booed relentlessly throughout the gathering.
On selection night the consolidated list is shared and the winner of each game is determined by the highest bidder.
Pros:Builds a system around how people value each game. It is more compelling and fun than a draft.
Cons:More complicated to organize. Tiebreakers may be needed. You would also need to ensure that each person still gets 11 games. Also, there is no going to the podium to announce your pick on this, rather the Commissioner going game-by-game through the schedule and announcing winners.
Hybrid Auction
This is a combination of a real money live auction and a draft of your Kraken season tickets.
First step would be to identify the priority games. The number of priority games has to match a multiple of the number of individuals in your group to ensure even distribution. For example, if you have four people, then the number of priority games can be 8, 12, 16, and so on. There is no doubt some games will be more coveted than others, such as Opening Night, Toronto Maple Leafs, Edmonton Oilers, Vancouver Canucks, Tampa Bay Lightning. You will have to do some work within your group to determine what are the priority games and how many there will be.
Second step would be to hold the live auction of the priority games. This would be with real money. Any funds collected above face value will then be redistributed to the people that did not win the auction for the tickets. For example, Jerry really wants Opening Night and he bids $300 over the face value of the ticket ($400/ticket X 2 tickets) which no one else in the group is able to beat. The $600 ($300 X 2 tickets) that is over the face value of the tickets means each other member of the group will get $200. With multiple people and multiple tickets, this could get a bit complicated. Someone with an eye for basic accounting or spreadsheet skills may be needed here.
Third step is to perform a draft (conventional or snake, as described earlier) for the remaining seats that were not part of the auction. If anyone won tickets in the auction, those tickets would apply to the 11 games each person is allowed to ensure an even distribution of games. Auction winners would sacrifice picks from the end of the draft once they’ve hit 11 total games.
Pros: It’s a fun and exciting event with your group to have over college sodas. Puts a dollar amount on the value of each game. Creates a fair market. People that lose out on games they want may get compensated.
Cons:Could create an unfair advantage for people who have more financial means to pay for the premium games. Complicated to manage.
Clauses, Rules, Considerations, and Guidelines
It is also important to set some guidelines and rules of the group that are considered and ratified before tickets are selected. These should be maintained and updated from season to season.
Commissioner– In addition to announcing picks or auction wins and getting booed, the Commissioner will have some additional responsibilities. The commissioner will pull all the feedback from people in your group, help the group decide on the methodology of how the tickets will be distributed, make sure that the rules agreed upon by the group are abided by, and then lead the execution of the methodology.
You can also divide these tasks up further where you have a “Judge” who is responsible for the rules and a “Commissioner” responsible for managing the methodology and execution.
Hometown Rule– Some people will undoubtedly have a favorite team that they want to see. You could create a “hometown rule” where people can claim their hometown team games. The group needs to consider how this is handled for people that might not have a hometown team or if multiple people have the same hometown team. In a draft scenario, you might be able to set the rule that no hometown teams can be selected by those other than the hometown claimant until round four and later. That way, the people with hometown teams can select their hometown teams in the first three rounds, otherwise they risk someone else taking their team.
Resell– How does your group want to handle reselling of your Kraken season tickets? Is it wide open where people can sell their tickets to anyone at any time? Maybe people inside the group have the first right of refusal at face value or highest bidder? Should resell be allowed for Opening Night tickets? Is there profit distribution if the tickets are sold to someone outside of the group?
Playoffs – How should the order be considered for playoffs? Maybe reverse order of regular season draft should be considered. Selection should be which game in the series. What happens when a series ends shorter than what was selected i.e. series ends at 4 games? What happens to those that selected games 5, 6, or 7 in the series? If the Kraken moves onto the next series, then maybe the previous series defines the draft order of the games in the next series. If the Kraken did not move on, then it should define how next season’s draft should be ordered. Should resell be allowed for playoff tickets?
Preseason Games– Three games of the season ticket package will be preseason games which creates a little bit of an unfair distribution. You can create some rules around the preseason games. i.e. in a draft scenario, the person who picked last, gets 11 regular season games, where the other three get ten regular season plus one preseason game.
What Do You Think?
Those are just a few of my ideas and considerations to make when figuring out distribution of your season tickets among groups, and I am sure there will be plenty of other ideas and considerations I am not thinking about.
What are your ideas and considerations when allocating Kraken season tickets?
The New York Rangers were swept out of the NHL’s play-in round this summer. While that loss felt like a setback at the time the Rangers ended up big winners by winning the Draft Lottery that followed. New York jump-started its rebuild by taking a franchise-type player in Alexis Lafreniere. How will this all impact the Rangers in the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft?
With a good mix of young stars, the Rangers rebuild is in full swing and New York general manager Jeff Gorton is going to protect his core from the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.
Gorton has obvious players he’s going to protect but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some tough decisions to be made.
He isn’t hampered by the salary cap heading into the 2021-2022 season and while his star players will be protected, Seattle will get to choose between some talented, albeit young, players. Like many teams preparing for the Seattle Expansion Draft, performances in the upcoming season will determine which of those players Kraken general manager Ron Francis will have available to him.
Assumptions
New York has just under $5 million in cap space and should be good enough to fight for a playoff spot this coming season. Could they be buyers at the trade deadline? Even with the flat cap hindering teams, the Rangers could conceivably swing a deal and add some salary at the deadline. What they give up will have an impact on who they end up protecting.
There is also the possibility that New York could sell at the deadline and try to offload higher salaried players like Ryan Strome or Jacob Trouba. Both players are over $4.5 million dollar guys and would be attractive pieces for contenders. Will the flat cap limit the number of buyers though? It’s another of the many questions that will affect the Expansion Draft for Seattle. For this exercise, we’ll assume that neither player is moved at the deadline.
Roster Wildcards
Defenseman Brendan Smith is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent after this season. The veteran of 478 games is a solid, left defenseman but he’s unlikely to be attractive to Seattle either before the Seattle Expansion Draft or after.
Many of New York’s exciting young players are exempt from the draft. That list includes Lafreniere, Kaapo Kakko, Adam Fox, and K’Andre Miller.
Protected List
Forwards
Artemi Panerin (NMC)
Chris Kreider (NMC)
Mika Zibanejad (NMC)
Pavel Buchnevich
Filip Chytil
Ryan Strome
Julian Gauthier
The Rangers have to protect Artemi Panerin, Chris Kreider, and Mika Zibanejad due to all three having no-move clauses on their contracts. These players would be protected without the clauses so there is no surprise here.
It gets interesting for the Rangers when you look at the sixth or seventh forward they protect.
One veteran player to watch is Ryan Strome. The 27-year-old will be entering his second full season with the Rangers and has two more years left on his $4.5 million contract. If he is not in New York’s long-term plans it wouldn’t be a shock to see him exposed and dangled in front of the Kraken who would only be on the hook for one season.
Strome is a productive player. He had a career-best 59 points last season with the Rangers and is a decent possession player.
Outside of Strome, New York’s decision on protecting forwards will come down to some young players who all show some promise – which is good news for the Kraken.
One of Julian Gauthier, Brendan Lemieux, or Brett Howden will be left unprotected. Gauthier was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes and Ron Francis in the first round of the 2016 NHL Draft. The Rangers picked him up in a trade deadline move this past season. He’s 23-years-old and coming off of productive AHL seasons with the Charlotte Checkers.
Lemieux, 24, is another young guy who hasn’t had the offensive output yet and is still trying to find his footing after starting his career with the Jets. Howden has two seasons of NHL hockey under his belt with New York and was a prolific scorer in junior with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the WHL. So far in the NHL, the 22-year-old has shown some scoring touch but has been a liability in his own end. Last season at five-on-five he was a 40-percent Corsi-For player and that poor possession game most likely means he’ll be exposed here.
Any of these three can play their way into protection by producing this season. A couple of months before the start of the season Gauthier has the most upside on paper. But he also has the least amount of NHL track record so he’ll still need to prove it.
Defense:
Jacob Trouba (NMC)
Anthony Deangelo
Ryan Lindgren
The Rangers defense is less complicated in terms of protection. Jacob Trouba has a no-move clause in his contract and therefore will have to be protected. Anthony Deangelo just turned in a career-best 53-point season so the 25-year-old will also be protected. Ryan Lindgren, 22, is coming off a strong rookie campaign and will round out the protection list for New York.
Goalie
Alexandar Georgiev
The Rangers had too many goalies last year, but with Henrik Lundqvist now in Washington, their decision here will be a no-brainer. Alexandar Georgiev will take over the number one spot in net and will be protected.
Igor Shesterken has not played enough to be eligible for the Seattle Expansion Draft so he will be exempt, and no protection will be needed. New York has to have a qualified goalie to expose and they signed veteran Keith Kinkaid to meet that requirement.
Top Candidates for Seattle Expansion Draft
Forwards
Brendan Lemiuex
Brett Howden
Tim Gettinger
Defense
Libor Hajek
Anthony Bitetto
Goalie
Keith Kinkaid
Thoughts
Seattle should look at one of the forwards exposed by the Rangers. If New York ends up leaving Strome off the protected list, he would be a good choice. Strome is still productive and would only have one year left on his contract. His $4.5 million salary would help the Kraken get to the required cap floor along with providing the always important veteran presence.
Gauthier would also be a strong pick if he’s available. Francis has already drafted him once and the only real question is if he can replicate what he’s done at the AHL level in the NHL. It feels more likely that the Rangers will protect a young asset like Gauthier but it may end up being a matter of how well the other forwards play.
It’s definitely possible that it will come down to a choice between Lemieux or Howden for the Kraken. It’s hard to see either as a top-six forward but both have some NHL experience and that could be key. Howden probably has the better offensive upside but will have to clean up the play in his own end and become the cliché 200-foot player.
Side Deal Scenarios
There aren’t any obvious side deal targets on the Rangers roster. Gorton played it straight during the Vegas Expansion Draft and he’ll do the same here. Heading into the coming year the Rangers have cap space and don’t have any crushing contracts that they’ll be dying to get rid of.
It feels like a lifetime – because time has become a flat circle – but in reality, it was just two December 4th’s ago when hundreds of hockey fans packed into Henry’s Tavern in South Lake Union neighborhood of Seattle. It was early in the morning and it was cold, but the excitement and free “Return to Hockey” beanies kept everyone warm.
December 4th, 2018 was the date that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman made it official. Seattle was getting an NHL franchise.
It was a while before the team would be named the Kraken, but on that day, the NHL Seattle organization announced itself to the broader sporting world, and Seattle indicated that it was ready to become a hockey city.
The Seattle Kraken organization celebrated its second birthday Friday by officially changing its Twitter handle from the awkward @NHLSeattle_ to the more natural @SeattleKraken. Oh, and they got one of those cakes that doesn’t look like a cake until somebody cuts into it.
🎉 HBD to us! 🎉
this year we gave ourselves the best gift we could think of – a new twitter handle. so go ahead and @ us with those bday messages. 🥳 pic.twitter.com/PvqfSvaQi6
The change in Twitter handle wasn’t the only new moniker visible in Krakenworld this week.
On Saturday, two guys apparently named Scott and Doug were busy airlifting new Climate Pledge Arena signage to the apex of the historic roof of the Seattle Center venue.
After the hockey world collectively freaked out over the NHL and NHLPA allegedly not talking to each other during [checks notes] Thanksgiving week, it appears things are looking up on a return to play plan. Earlier this week, Elliotte Friedman broke down what he was hearing on the latest movement on the NHL’s plan.
.@FriedgeHNIC with the latest on talks between the #NHL and its players, including how he's hearing January 15th is a possible season start date.
Players could report to NHL Training Camps in late December or early January
Estimated return to play ~January 15th
Season should be somewhere in the range of 52 to 56 games
Playoffs would begin early May and roll through early July
As the saying goes, Keep Calm and Carry On.
The less we hear about this the better because it would indicate that both sides are talking with each other instead of trying to negotiate in public. Signs are indicating that there could be a deal in the next week.
World Junior Championship Updates
Prior to the abbreviated NHL season, we are expecting to see the World Junior Championship played in an Edmonton bubble beginning on Christmas Day and running through January 5th.
With the delay to the season, many in the hockey world were hoping to see some of the NHL players that are still young enough for the WJC take part in the tournament. Chicago’s Kirby Dach, for example, participated in Canada’s selection camp, and is expected to play a huge role for his country. Dach looked like a man amongst boys in Red/White scrimmages.
Check out Kirby Dach with a spectacular kick pass at Hockey Canada World Junior Camp! pic.twitter.com/orbhQNyQYY
On the flip side, 2019’s No. 1 overall Draft pick, Jack Hughes, will not be released by the New Jersey Devils to play for Team USA, and the New York Rangers also announced this week that they will not allow Alexis Lafreniere to take part. Nick Robertson will be allowed by the Toronto Maple Leafs to participate if NHL Training Camps have not yet started.
Here’s an interesting item to keep an eye on over the next few days, as per Best Friend of the Pod, Chris Peters:
Hoping for the best for William Eklund after positive test. He would have been a key offensive threat for Sweden. Meanwhile, this is a reminder that this week is the most critical for teams preparing for WJC as they open their camps. Positive tests now prevent entry to Canada.
Greg Wyshynski from ESPN+ (paywall) had a great column on the Angry Beaver’s roller coaster ride and the dire straits the bar is in now.
Seattle Women’s Hockey Club (a wonderful organization that has been growing and fostering hockey for a long time in the region) launched their annual fundraiser auction with plenty of items for hockey fans (pssst…there are deals to be had here).
Beyond the Sound
NCHC started back up this week in an Omaha-based bubble, and Friday’s game featuring #1-ranked North Dakota vs #4 Denver was a real barnburner. The back-and-forth battle ended with this banger of a game winner by UND’s Jordan Kawaguchi.
Finally, a strange tale played out very quickly on #HockeyTwitter Friday.
The Vancouver Sun published a story that long-time Canucks anthem singer, Mark Donnelly, was planning to sing O Canada at a rally against Covid-19 restrictions.
Canucks owner, Francesco Aquilini, quickly made it clear that he did not agree with Donnelly’s decision to support such an event. Aquilini apparently canned the tenor via social media with a single re-tweet of the Vancouver Sun’s story.
While we certainly don’t agree with Donnelly’s stance on wearing masks (or… apparently… not wearing masks), we will forever be grateful to him for giving us one of the funniest hockey videos of all time.
Fare thee well, Mark Donnelly. Please watch where you’re skating.
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.
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.
