Great news, Seattle hockey fans! It’s another week, and we have seven more action-packed days of NHL hockey ahead of us. This week at Games on the Radar headquarters we decided to mix things up a bit. Instead of focusing on teams we’re going to shift to players.
Which players are in action this week that could potentially be in the mix when the Kraken decide who they want to bring to Seattle at the Expansion Draft on July 21? You can pretend you’re in general manager Ron Francis’s war room and do some scouting, while also enjoying some fun hockey.
This week we’ll be keeping our radar focused on the Honda West Division which is top-heavy in the standings but does offer some intriguing Expansion picks.
Here are this week’s games on the radar:
Colorado Avalanche versus Los Angeles Kings
When: Friday 6 PM, ESPN+, NHL.tv
The Avalanche are not only an entertaining team, even with their unmatching blue pants, but their depth will lead to some interesting options for the Kraken at the Expansion Draft. Defense is where Seattle may strike gold and it could come in the form of Devon Toews. He’s in his first year with the Avalanche after coming over from the New York Islanders and would slide in as a top-pairing blueliner with the Kraken. At 27, he’s still relatively young and is routinely logging 25-plus minutes a night for Colorado. His possession numbers are strong, with a Corsi-for of 58 percent which would be hard to find elsewhere. He’s solid in his own end and is chipping in offensively with four goals in Colorado’s first 20 games this year.
Up front, an interesting option for Seattle at the Expansion Draft is Joonas Donskoi. The former San Jose Shark is off to what could be a career year. He has six goals so far and is shooting a scorching 28 percent, far and away his career-best. Donskoi is a glue player who may not be on the top line but can provide consistent minutes in a second- or third-line role.
The Wild are in the hunt out West. Yes, Minnesota is in the West which, well, doesn’t make a whole lot of sense but what does this year? They also have some tough choices to make with their protected list.
Minnesota has three defensemen with no-move clauses in their contracts which means the Wild may be forced to watch a player like Matt Dumba go to the Kraken in the Expansion Draft. Dumba would be a great haul for Seattle as he is a top-pairing defenseman with a solid track record in the NHL already. He can be physical as well as drive play. His underlying numbers are all positive and match his offensive output. Dumba, 27, is in his eighth season after playing junior in the WHL with the Red Deer Rebels and Portland Winterhawks. He’ll be on the Wild power play and when he does, watch for the bomb of a clapper he possesses.
Dumba is a big piece for a Wild club that is contending this year. They know he may be lost to the Kraken for nothing in the Expansion Draft and may attempt to assuage their losses by trading him at April’s trade deadline. If they don’t, Seattle will have to look elsewhere from Minnesota. So, when your eye is not trained on Dumba firing slap shots, watch fellow defenseman Carson Soucy. While not the offensive threat that Dumba is, Soucy is a solid player in his own end. He wouldn’t project as a top-pairing defenseman for Seattle, but the Kraken could use a guy like Soucy at the bottom of their rotation.
There are several NHL players with local ties that are possible draft picks for the upcoming NHL Expansion Draft, but I wanted to see if it was possible to build an entire team with connections to the Pacific Northwest. Against my better judgement, I went on an endeavor to create the most local expansion team possible that was still compliant within the rules of the upcoming Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft.
Rules of the Sound Of Hockey Mock Expansion Draft
The rules of the hyper-local Expansion Draft are the same as our other mock drafts that we have been completing at Sound Of Hockey over the past couple of weeks.
Protection Lists are based on latest updates on Sound Of Hockey (Central, East, West, North).
You are allowed one UFA-and-sign selection. Selection should pass the sniff test of being a legitimate option. (i.e. expecting to draft and sign Alex Ovechkin does not feel legitimate).
No side deals. Although we are aware that this will be a major part of the actual Expansion Draft, we don’t have good knowledge about what could be done here. So for the purposes of this mock draft, we’re keeping this off the table.
Rule addendums for the Hyper-Local Mock Expansion Draft
To make it hyper local, however, we have added a few additional stipulations.
Any available Washington State natives that are eligible for the NHL Expansion Draft must be drafted.
You must have a representative from each US Division WHL team.
You must draft one former BCHL player.
You must draft one Alaskan native.
You must draft one former Idaho Steelhead.
If there are no available players from Washington State or US WHL Division on an existing NHL team, then and only then can you select players from other WHL teams.
Washington State natives
This is the easiest part of the draft. We take Dylan Gambrell (SJS) from Bonney Lake, Derek Ryan (CGY) from Spokane, T.J. Oshie (WSH) from Mt. Vernon, and Tyler Johnson (TBL) from Spokane. Ryan is a pending free agent so he takes our UFA spot. That might put us in a bind later, but he is an obvious selection.
US Division WHL team
Spokane is covered with Ryan and Johnson so we need to make sure Seattle, Everett, Tri-City, and Portland have representation. We also need to make sure we have the positional requirement of 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goaltenders. I am going to prioritize goalies first since that is allegedly an important position (though I don’t really buy that).
Adin Hill (ARI) played for the Portland Winterhawks for two seasons and is probably one of the best goalies we can get right now.
Eric Comrie (WPG) will be our Tri-City Americans representative. He played 168 regular season games over four seasons for the Americans.
Calvin Pickard (played for Seattle) and Chris Driedger (played for Tri-City) are both pending UFAs. We cannot select them due to already using our UFA signing on Derek Ryan.
The only US Division goalie left is Landon Bow in Dallas. Bow played 23 regular season games for the Seattle Thunderbirds.
We still do not have the Everett Silvertips represented, but there are two available in Florida, Radko Gudas and Noah Juulsen. Neither is having a very strong year, but I am going to select Juulsen because he is young and has potential.
BCHL, Alaskan and Steelhead player requirements
Now that we have our US Division WHL players selected, let us identify our BCHL player, our Alaskan native, and our Idaho Steelhead.
For our BCHL player, we are going to select Troy Stecher (DET). Stecher played for the Penticton Vees for three seasons before playing collegiately in North Dakota. Coincidentally, Stecher could be the best player available from the Red Wings.
Alaska. This one is challenging. Right now there is only one NHL player from Alaska, former Seattle Thunderbird Nate Thompson. He would be perfect and would check multiple boxes. The issue is that he is a pending UFA and we already selected our UFA signing in Derek Ryan. We could go after Washington Capital Pheonix Copley, but we select T.J. Oshie from the Caps. Digging deeper, I also scoured the alumni from the University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Alaska Fairbanks with no luck. Colton Parayko played at University of Alaska Fairbanks, but we are projecting him to be protected and therefore cannot draft him. We thought we were out of luck, but in the eleventh hour, we appealed to the league and received a waiver for this rule under the condition we hire Scott Gomez as one of the first assistant coaches of the Seattle Kraken….or we hire him for our digital media team.
Sam Carrick of the Anaheim Ducks played most of his first pro season for the Idaho Steelheads. Carrick is a pending UFA so per the rules, he will not be re-signed and enter free agency.
Low-hanging fruit
We have met all the core requirements across geographies and leagues, so now we need to fill out the rest of the team. I will now need to focus on WHL US Division players that I know off the top of my head could be available. Matt Dumba (MIN/Portland), Jake Bean (CAR/Tri City), Caleb Jones (EDM/Portland), and Ryan Johansen (NSH/Portland) will fit in nicely with the hyper-local Kraken.
The rest of the squad
Anaheim has several WHL players that will be available but only one from the US Division. As a policy of the Hyper-Local Mock Expansion Draft, we must pick him. Chase De Leo is joining the Kraken.
This might be a deep cut but the Boston Bruin with the closest tie to the Pacific Northwest is Cameron Hughes. Hughes played two seasons with the Spruce Grove Saints of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL).
Buffalo has a few WHLers on its roster but only one US Division player. Dustin Tokarski will be joining the team as a fourth goalie.
In Chicago we are going to select 22-year-old left wing Brandon Hagel who played four years with the Red Deer Rebels.
Colorado has a few options, but we like the thought of former Penticton Vees center, Tyson Jost.
There aren’t a lot of options in Columbus, but Calvin Thurkauf played two years in Kelowna so we are picking him.
From Los Angeles, we will take former Seattle Thunderbird defenseman Austin Strand.
Shea Weber played 190 games for the Kelowna Rockets. He is our pick out of Montreal.
As much as I loved Thomas Hickey when he played with the Seattle Thunderbirds at Key Arena, I need to select Kieffer Bellows from the New York Islanders. Bellows played one year in Portland.
Pretty deep cut here as well, but the New York Rangers only have two WHL players that are projected to be exposed in the Expansion Draft. Mason Geertsen is our pick. He played with the Edmonton Oil Kings and Vancouver Giants, but has yet to play a game in the NHL. Rules are rules.
Derrick Pouliot played four seasons with the Portland Winterhawks and is our pick from the Philadelphia Flyers.
Colton Sceviour also played in Portland for two years and is our only option out of Pittsburgh. Sceviour is another pending UFA so he will not be re-signed and will enter free agency.
For the life of me, I could not find a WHL player on the Ottawa Senators that is exposed and not a pending UFA, so we are going to draft pending UFA and former Portland Winterhawk, Braydon Coburn with the expectation that he walks to free agency.
St. Louis does not have many players with northwest ties, but Tanner Kaspick played four seasons with the Brandon Wheat Kings and one season with the Victoria Royals. Kaspick has yet to play a game in the NHL but is only 23, so he still has a shot.
Toronto is another team with very few players with northwest ties, but we found one! 24-year-old forward Adam Brooks played five seasons with the Regina Pats.
Rounding out the roster is Vancouver Canucks prospect Kole Lind, who played three seasons with the Kelowna Rockets.
…and I am utterly exhausted from looking at literally hundreds of hockeydb.com player profile pages.
Let’s see how we did.
We seem to be a little heavy at the center position and a little light at left wing, but we’re hoping some of the centers we took can shift over.
Even with the constraints of the rule addendums for the Hyper-Local Mock Expansion Draft, there are some players that could be candidates for the Kraken. Hill, Bean, Jones, Stecher, Oshie, Gambrell, and Bellows are probably on a short-list at Kraken HQ.
I hope you enjoyed a lighter look at the Expansion Draft.
The NHL’s condensed schedule will prove challenging for teams down the stretch, especially those impacted by COVID and play stoppages. For this week’s Data Dump Saturday, I look at just how the condensed schedule is impacting outcomes around the NHL.
Average rest days
To evaluate how the condensed schedules impact team performance, we will look at rest days between games. Rest days will be defined as the number of days a team does not play. For example, if a team plays on Thursday, then Saturday, then that team plays Saturday’s game with one rest day. Back-to-back games means zero rest days.
Here is a look at the average rest days between games by team (as of Friday’s games).
Teams hit by COVID outbreaks that resulted in play stoppages are the teams with the highest average rest days between games.
Of course, every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Here is how the remainder of the season looks as teams that were sidelined earlier in the campaign will make up those games in the second half.
Back-to-backs in the condensed NHL schedule
Obviously one way to condense a season is to play more back-to-back games. The original schedule had several back-to-backs littered through every team’s schedule with the goal of fitting 56 games for all teams without moving the end date of the regular season. Once the season began, however, the teams that were shut down temporarily due to COVID outbreaks subsequently required even more back-to-back games. Buffalo, Dallas, and Philadelphia are a couple of the teams with extended shutdowns.
Here is a look at how many back-to-back games have been played this season so far and how many remain on the second half of the schedule.
Conventional wisdom would have one believe that teams playing back-to-back games would be at a disadvantage when playing a team with at least one rest day due to energy levels of players. I looked at the data through Friday’s games to confirm this.
Conventional wisdom is correct. Teams on a back-to-back playing a team with at least one rest day since their last game have a slightly lower point percentage at .531. There are only 16 games where this scenario played out, so the sample size is a bit small to make any hard conclusions.
To wrap up, here is a bit of a heat map of the rest days by team by week. Blue indicates more rest days while red indicates fewer rest days.
It will be interesting to see if teams with fewer rest days will prove to underperform against teams with more rest days in the second half of the season. The other thing to keep an eye on is the impact of rest days heading into the Stanley Cup Playoffs and into the opening rounds.
Welcome back to another thrilling edition of Sound Of Hockey’s Weekly One-Timers, where your knowledge of current hockey events will surely be augmented every seven (or so) days. We’re happy to have you here. Let us start with the latest Seattle Kraken news, shall we?
Seattle Kraken news
A week of good deeds
It’s been a week of good deeds for our soon-to-be favorite team, as the Seattle Kraken put their weight behind the University of Alaska Anchorage’s “Save Seawolf Hockey” campaign. It is widely known that the UAA hockey program is on its last legs unless it can raise $3 million to convince the school’s Board of Regents to include the program in its budget moving forward.
The beloved @UAAHockey program at @uaanchorage is in danger of closing down, but with your help, we can help #SaveSeawolfHockey and help turn the Pacific Northwest into a college recruiting hotbed.
The Kraken pledged $200,000, but perhaps more importantly, launched a massive marketing campaign to bring awareness to the cause and to urge fans to donate.
$200K is a nice gesture, but really the main piece here is that it’s a brilliant marketing play by the Kraken, who have not been shy about wanting to include Alaska as part of their fanbase. This is an investment in the hockey community as a whole in Anchorage and beyond.
According to the Save Seawolf Hockey website, the organization has raised $1.8 million so far, but that has not been updated since Feb. 25.
The Kraken also announced that they will found an MBA program at Seattle University in partnership with the Mariners, Seahawks, Sounders, and Storm. The program focuses on helping persons of color and women gain high-ranking roles in the sports industry.
We're excited to partner with all the Seattle sports teams, @oakviewgroup & @ClimateArena to support @AlbersatSU’s new sport & entertainment MBA program which will focus on diversifying leadership within our industry.
We’ve known for quite some time that friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Everett Fitzhugh, will be the voice of the Kraken over the radio airwaves, but we have not known exactly which airwaves. That question was answered this week when Seattle announced 950 KJR as its flagship radio partner. Read all about it here.
The deal was not exactly a closely guarded secret, as we’ve seen plenty of hints over the last year or two indicating that KJR would ultimately land the rights, but this makes it official.
Sure, KJR has been known to poo-poo hockey in the past, with hosts disparaging the Key Arena renovation plan and going so far as to say they would refuse to talk about hockey on the air if the NHL were to expand to Seattle. But that’s all irrelevant now! RADIO PARTNER! WOO!
Ward out, Sutter (back) in
Darryl Sutter and his incredible facial expressions and press conferences are back!
After Geoff Ward’s Calgary Flames defeated the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, he sat before the media and said this:
"We just gotta stick with our process. … We've got to get ourselves ready again for another hard hockey game. … We're really not thinking about what's happened in the past, we're thinking about what we need to do to prepare ourselves [for] the next one."
Minutes later, the Flames announced that Ward was out as head coach and that Sutter had been hired to replace him, reportedly on a three-year contract.
This is Sutter’s fifth stint as a head coach in the NHL and second with Calgary, where he spent three seasons in the early 2000’s, including a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2003-2004. He won two Stanley Cups at the helm of the Los Angeles Kings and holds a career record of 634-467-101.
Ward was named interim coach of the Flames after Bill Peters resigned in Nov., 2019, amidst a well-documented racism scandal. Ward’s interim tag was only removed in Sept., 2020, so he did not make it a full season as the full-time head coach. The Flames—who had high expectations after signing a bunch of former Canucks in the offseason—are 11-11-2.
I always enjoyed a good side-by-side of Sutter with Beaker from The Muppets.
This week, the Canadiens added goaltending coach Stéphane Waite to their list of recently axed employees. Waite has had a wildly successful career, winning two Stanley Cups with Chicago and spending eight seasons with the Habs, where he has guided Carey Price.
Montreal replaces Waite by promoting Sean Burke, who had been serving the team already as a goaltending consultant.
Could Waite be a candidate for the head goalie coaching job in Seattle? Absolutely. He will be a hot commodity, though, so if the Kraken want him, they will need to act quickly to get him into the fold.
Brent Seabrook retires hangs it up
Brent Seabrook, 35, has decided that his body just can’t take it anymore. After dealing with major hip and shoulder issues for years, and after battling so hard to get back to the level of play that made him central to Chicago’s three Stanley Cups, the veteran defenseman has decided it’s finally time.
In classic Blackhawk fashion, though, it’s not time for Seabrook to retire, but rather to announce he can no longer play because of injury, meaning Stan Bowman saves his cap space. But that’s neither here nor there.
Seabrook played 1,114 career games, all for the Blackhawks. He scored 103 goals and 361 assists. He unfairly became maligned in the last few years of his career for having too big of a contract, which certainly any Blackhawk fan would have rejected had they been offered such a lucrative deal.
The Blackhawks no longer have to protect Seabrook—who also had a no-movement clause in his contract—from the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft, so they will now likely add either Nikita Zadorov or Lucas Carlsson to their protected list.
Walter Gretzky passes away
The Great One announced that his beloved father passed away this week.
It’s always thrilling to include a bit of #Minnutiae in our Weekly One-Timers. The Wild have been surprisingly pretty good and had a sniff of first place in the Honda West Division before losing two straight to the division-leading Vegas Golden Knights. In the first of those two contests, Minnesota led late, with Marc-Andre Fleury pulled for an extra skater. Zach Parise extended his shift after what he called an attempt to help teammate Marcus Foligno get an empty-netter for his first career hat trick. The Wild failed to score, and with a tired Parise still on the ice, the Golden Knights tied the game. The VGK’s ultimately won in overtime, and Parise was widely blamed by Wild faithful for the loss.
The response by coach Dean Evason was to have Parise, 36, watch the second game of the series from the pressbox. Remember, Parise is on a 13-year, $98 million contract that pays him just north of $7.5 million AAV against the salary cap. He has never been scratched since signing that deal with Minnesota in 2012 and has racked up 391 points in 532 career games for Minnesota. He has been the face of the franchise for a long time. Evason has some serious cojones.
Alex Ovechkin was fined $5,000 for spearing potential Kraken Expansion Draft selection, Trent Frederic, where the sun doesn’t shine.
If you’re going to commit a fineable offense, you might as well get your money’s worth, and one could argue that Ovi got excellent value out of that vicious poke to the nether regions.
That said, we at Sound Of Hockey sincerely hope that Frederic was wearing a protective cup and that it had not shifted out of place, as those things tend to do under hockey equipment.
Seattle Carolina Slew
Brett Pesce pulled an obvious and very dirty slew foot on Robby Fabbri. Pesce was also fined $5,000—again, might as well get your money’s worth—for his actions, which we at SOH believe sets a bit of a dangerous precedent.
Brett Pesce with a blatant slew-foot on Robby Fabbri. A bad/dangerous play that led to the Wings taking a 2-1 lead on the power play. pic.twitter.com/B4znhCK2YS
The slew foot is one play that makes every hockey player particularly angry because of the potential serious damage it can cause. Fabbri was lucky to not get injured on this play.
Blichfeld suspended
Former Portland Winterhawk Joachim Blichfeld was given a match penalty Wednesday and was subsequently suspended two additional games for his hit to the head of Nathan MacKinnon.
This was just the fourth NHL game of Blichfeld’s career and first this season. Oopsy daisy. Sounds like MacKinnon is fine.
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.
Let’s get something out in the open right now: The Seattle Kraken’s Expansion Draft strategy is going to look a lot different from this mock version. You bet your bottom dollar that Kraken general manager Ron Francis is going to work the phones, especially with cap-strapped franchises, and see what they can land as sweeteners.
But hypothetically, if Seattle didn’t make any side deals, this is my closest guess on what might happen.
In addition to every pick, I’ll explain my thought process and offer a “confidence rating,” meaning how confident I am in this player being destined for Seattle.
Here goes nothing.
Rules of the Sound Of Hockey Mock Expansion Draft
Protection lists are based on latest updates on Sound Of Hockey (Central, East, West, North).
You are allowed one UFA-and-sign selection. Selection should pass the sniff test of being a legitimate option (i.e. expecting to draft and sign Alex Ovechkin does not feel legitimate).
No side deals. Although we are aware that this will be a major part of the actual Expansion Draft, we don’t have enough insider knowledge about what could be done here or what the Kraken would actually try to pull off. So for the purposes of this mock draft, we’re keeping this off the table.
The Expansion Draft picks
Anaheim: Josh Mahura — I love the idea of Mahura and the 22-year-old puck-moving blueliner is worth a look here. Confidence Level (CL): 8 out of 10
Arizona: Adin Hill — Hill is a trendy choice and for good reason. Young and capable goaltenders are hard to find and Hill has been terrific in his two starts this season for the Coyotes, who don’t boast the most inspiring potential exposure list. CL: 9
Boston: Jeremy Lauzon — I’m really bullish on Lauzon’s potential. At just 23 years old, he’s worth a sniff for Seattle, even with the Bruins’ pretty healthy list of potential players. (CL): 7
Buffalo: Henri Jokiharju — The former Portland Winterhawk star hasn’t broken out quite yet, but there’s still plenty more time for the 21-year-old to develop. His offensive upside is worth a peek. CL: 8.
Calgary: Sam Bennett — Bennett’s 2020-21 season has been nothing short of a disaster, but for now, his pedigree is worth a look. With reported trade requests, there’s a strong chance Bennett isn’t in the Flames organization by the Expansion Draft. CL: 6.
Carolina: Jake Bean — Bean is a Sound Of Hockey favorite and I’m firmly on the bandwagon. The former Tri-City American rearguard is playing regular minutes as a 22-year-old and he’s someone you could build the defensive corps around. CL: 9.
Columbus: Kevin Stenlund — To me, it’s between Stenlund and defensemen Gabriel Carlsson or Dean Kukan, but Stenlund’s progression this season is too encouraging to pass up. His ability to play center is a huge plus, too. There is a chance, however, that he’s playing his way into protection with seven points in 13 games. CL: 7.
Colorado: Devon Toews — Toews is a slam dunk choice for the Kraken. However, I doubt the Avalanche will let one of their best blueliners go for nothing. Colorado screams side deal. CL: 7.
Chicago: Nikita Zadorov — Zadorov is a rather large defenseman who’s a good plug-and-play option on Seattle’s blueline. CL: 7.
Dallas: Julius Honka — Honka’s professional career hasn’t gone well, but maybe the first-round pick in 2014 still has more to give. CL: 5.
Detroit: Troy Stetcher — Stetcher is the best player available from Detroit, and even though there are a lot of great options for defensemen in the Expansion Draft, nabbing Stetcher who can contribute from the get-go is a good proposition for Seattle. He’s also a good candidate to be flipped. CL: 6.
Edmonton: Tyler Benson — Quite frankly, there aren’t a ton of great options in our Edmonton projection and Benson is a good depth option with some upside. CL: 6.
Florida: Chris Driedger — Is Driedger the Kraken’s goalie of the future? Driedger, 26, never broke through with Ottawa, but he’s been nothing short of fantastic for Florida this season, with a .818 quality starts percentage. We’ll see how that number changes when the sample size grows, but I love taking a stab at someone like Driedger, who even posted good numbers last season. His contract is up after this season, so this would be my one UFA signing, as allowable by the SOH rules. CL: 7.
Los Angeles: Trevor Moore — The 25-year-old would be a good depth piece for the Kraken with room to grow. CL: 7.
Minnesota: Matt Dumba — I’m skeptical that Dumba will be left exposed. But he is a great selection if he’s available as an instant impact option on the blueline with star potential. CL: 6.
Montreal: Jake Allen — I’ve been infatuated with the idea of bringing Jake Allen in a goalie tandem for quite some time. With good periphery numbers with Montreal thus far, Allen and Driedger are the product of that vision. CL: 9.
Nashville: Matt Duchene — Sure, Duchene may be on the second half of his prime and carries a bloated $8 million average annual value (AAV), but finding a potential No. 1 center is too good to pass up. I’m not sold Duchene will be available, though, with trade rumors swirling around the Predators since a slow start. CL: 7.
New Jersey: Miles Wood — For a rebuilding team, New Jersey boasts some interesting options. Yegor Sharangovich and Janne Kuokkanen have both played decently high roles for the Devils this year, but Wood, who is tied with former Spokane phenom Ty Smith for the team scoring lead with 11 points, plays a rugged game and could be an identity-type player with the potential to produce offensively. CL: 8.
New York Islanders: Nick Leddy — Leddy is someone I’ve always enjoyed while watching the Islanders play and I love the idea of his smooth skating and offensive upside playing on a second- or third-pairing role in my hypothetical Kraken squad. What’s more, you’d think a Barry Trotz-coached defenseman has good defensive habits drilled into him, right? CL: 8.5.
New York Rangers: Brett Howden — With plenty of hockey left ahead of him and the ability to play center, Howden is a relatively easy choice from the Rangers, who are bereft of many exciting options. CL: 9.
Ottawa: Nicholas Paul — Paul is the choice here because he’s relatively young and has been decently productive for the Senators this season. CL: 9.
Philadelphia: James van Riemsdyk — Similar to Duchene, van Riemsdyk’s instant impact is too significant to pass up. CL: 8.5.
Pittsburgh: Teddy Blueger — While Blueger isn’t a sexy choice, centers are not easy to find. CL: 7.5.
San Jose: Dylan Gambrell — Gambrell is the choice because he’s ready immediately to contribute in a bottom-six role. The Bonney Lake, Wash. native’s local angle is a nice plus. CL 9.
St. Louis: Oscar Sundqvist — Ivan Barbashev and Sammy Blais are decent choices as well, and so is veteran defenseman Justin Faulk, but this theoretical exercise’s quest to acquire center depth favors Sundqvist. CL: 7.
Tampa Bay: Mathieu Joseph — The Lightning offer a robust group of players for selection, but when are productive 24-year-old forwards with upside available without giving something up in return? One could envision Joseph blossoming into a top-nine consistent contributor from his fourth-line role in Tampa. CL: 7.
Toronto: Denis Malgin — Malgin might be a bit of an off-the-wall pick, considering he’s playing this season in Switzerland. He’s still just 24 years old and three years removed from a 22-point season. CL: 4
Vancouver: Kole Lind — Lind is a great organizational depth pick with the upside to turn into more. CL: 8 .
Washington: TJ Oshie — No, I’m not taking Oshie because he’s Seattle’s preeminent local hockey connection. I’m taking him because he’s still damn good at hockey. And also because the Kraken will need to get to the salary floor and his $5.75 million AAV salary will help with that.
Winnipeg: Sami Niku — I went back and forth between Niku and Mason Appleton, but young rearguards’ upside couldn’t be ignored with this choice. Plus, he’s slowly earning more playing time. Winnipeg might be ripe for a side deal in order to keep players like Appleton and Niku. CL: 8.
Overall thoughts
As we see it, there are going to be terrific options to build a really exciting blueline. While the forwards aren’t super inspiring, and Jake Allen and Chris Driedger are a bit of a gamble as a goalie pairing, this team could be decent from the jump.
But, as we’ve discussed: Keep an eye on side deals.
Sound Of Hockey will have additional versions of the Mock Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft in the coming weeks, so be sure to check back regularly!
Josh Horton is a freelance writer, former newspaper journalist, and former Western Hockey League writer for the Everett Herald and The Spokesman-Review (Spokane). He is NOT a juggler, nor is he a former professional baseball player. Follow him on Twitter @byjoshhorton.
SEATTLE – Hockey fans in the Puget Sound area can begin to program their car radios as the Seattle Kraken have found a radio home. The Kraken announced Wednesday afternoon that the team has partnered with 950 KJR AM as its live radio broadcast partner.
KJR is part of the iHeart Radio network which is one of the largest broadcasters in the nation with over 850 radio stations and 250,000 podcasts.
“I couldn’t be prouder to join forces with Seattle Kraken,” said Mark Glynn, Market President for iHeartMedia Seattle via a press release. “This alliance not only encompasses Sports Radio 950 KJR as the flagship radio station but also strategically aligns our brands with Climate Pledge Arena in a groundbreaking agreement. Seattle Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke and Kraken COO Victor de Bonis and their team have been incredible to work with in creating this partnership.”
With the iHeart Radio app and affiliate networks, the Kraken will be able to reach a wide regional audience for their broadcasts. The team also indicated that select games would be available on KJAQ-JACK-FM (96.5). Along with the Kraken, KJR carries University of Washington Huskies sports and previously was the radio flagship station of the Seattle Supersonics. The Seattle Thunderbirds games are carried on KJR’s sister station at 1090 AM.
“Since our ticket drive in 2018, iHeartMedia Seattle and KJR have been with us every step of the way,” Tod Leiweke, CEO of Seattle Kraken said in the release. “With hosts that are entertaining and informative, we have found the perfect home for our fans to listen to Kraken games, wherever they are.”
Everett Fitzhugh will handle the radio play-by-play for the Kraken. He was hired by Seattle in August after calling games in the ECHL. With the announcement, the Kraken now have their radio and television broadcast partners set. At the end of January, they announced that ROOT Sports would carry the television broadcast with veteran announcer John Forslund leading the call.
The Kraken inaugural season is scheduled to begin in October of 2021 with an NHL Expansion Draft, where the team will select its initial roster, on the books for July 21st.
“We are extremely excited to bring Seattle’s newest professional franchise to the airwaves,” Rich Moore, Senior Vice President of Programming for iHeartMedia Seattle added via release. “It will be beyond fun helping build up this great fan base from the start, offering additional content and unique access on multiple platforms. Sports Radio 950 KJR and its entire team are proud to be the home of the Kraken!”
Things get off the rails pretty quickly on this one, as the guys discuss Jordan Binnington’s bizarre display this past week against the San Jose Sharks. They then move on to Kraken news, specifically the announcement that the team is pitching in to save the University of Alaska Anchorage hockey program.
Full sequence here. Binnington went after 3 guys. Received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty pic.twitter.com/18a20idIcS
You’ll also get a pretty robust WHL Update from WHL correspondent Andy Eide and a recap of the PWHPA Dream Gap game. That recap leads to a rare Get Off My Lawn segment led by John.
The guys also discuss John’s Mock Expansion Draft, Claude Julien’s firing by the Canadiens, and much more.
Bits this week include Three Stars. Segments include Goalie Gear Corner, Weekly One-Timers, and Tweets of the Week.
The latest Sound Of Hockey Podcast is here, and John is fed up with the Central Time Zone.
Things get off the rails pretty quickly on this one, as the guys discuss Jordan Binnington’s bizarre display this past week against the San Jose Sharks. They then move on to Kraken news, specifically the announcement that the team is pitching in to save the University of Alaska Anchorage hockey program.
You’ll also get a pretty robust WHL Update from WHL correspondent Andy Eide and a recap of the PWHPA Dream Gap game. That recap leads to a rare Get Off My Lawn segment led by John.
The guys also discuss John’s Mock Expansion Draft, Claude Julien’s firing by the Canadiens, and much more.
Bits this week include Three Stars. Segments include Goalie Gear Corner, Weekly One-Timers, and Tweets of the Week.
It didn’t take Dylan Guenther long to make up for lost time. In fact, it took less than two minutes. At the 1:47 mark of the Edmonton Oil Kings’ season opener Friday, the 2021 NHL Draft prospect banged home a power-play goal.
He was just getting started.
With the Western Hockey League back on the ice after nearly a year-long hiatus, Guenther’s hot start is solidifying him as one of the top prospects for July’s draft. He may be a player the Seattle Kraken have circled to be their first pick ever.
Guenther followed the early marker with an assist 45 seconds later and would finish the game with a pair of scores and two assists. The next night he matched those totals to earn the season’s first WHL Player of the Week award with eight points in two games.
If you talked to him 24 hours before the season opener you wouldn’t be surprised.
“Everyone is super excited to play and we have a lot of adrenaline,” he said the night before. “The guys will be buzzing on the first couple of shifts.”
The WHL is playing a shortened 24-game season focused on player development. Winning games is still important – and the Oil Kings started 2-0 – but so is being seen by NHL scouts for a guy like Guenther.
Waiting around to play has been stressful for everyone involved. It’s Guenther’s draft year, he needed to be seen by scouts, needed them to see the step he has taken after an impressive rookie campaign where he scored 26 goals.
“The whole uncertainty of the year was leaning on my shoulders a bit,” Guenther, 17, admitted. “I felt that, but I think I took that time to better myself and better my game and I’m excited about that.”
Dylan Guenther by the numbers
Playing in the WHL at 16-years-old is tough.
The jump from minor hockey to playing with NHL prospects can be a monumental one, but it’s one that Guenther made with ease last year. It helped that the 6-foot-1 winger had a brief call-up at the end of the previous season. He not only got his feet wet but produced by scoring three goals – including a game-winner – in eight games.
Last year he exploded. Along with the 26 goals he piled up 33 assists for 59 points in 58 games on the way to winning the league’s Rookie of the Year award. He chipped in on the power play as well, scoring eight times with nine assists.
Being considered for the top of a draft is not a new experience for the Edmonton native. The Oil Kings selected him with the first overall pick in the WHL’s Bantam Draft in 2018.
“Going into the Western League draft I just tried to play my game to the best of my ability,” Guenther said. “Just blocking out the outside attention is important. This is obviously a much bigger scale, but I think if I play my game and play the right way everything will fall into place at the end.”
What kind of player is he?
Speed, skill, with a scoring touch are attributes that describe Guenther’s game. He sees the ice well and can distribute the puck.
He has played on the wing with the Oil Kings but says that he can, and is comfortable, playing as a center.
“I’m a guy who plays with speed and I see the ice well,” Guenther said about his game. “I think my hockey IQ is the strongest part of my game, whether its finding open ice to jump into or creating space myself to score goals. I’m an offensive player. I have to work on my strength, with that will be my play along the boards.
“Skating is something I’m always looking to get better at. The game is always getting faster so that’s something I’m always looking to improve on.”
He’s the kind of player that puts pressure on the defense and attracts defenders to him.
That was on display Friday night with the play below. His teammate, St. Louis Blues prospect Jake Neighbours, takes a hit to get the puck to Guenther along the boards. Three defenders skate towards Guenther which leaves a teammate wide open in the slot.
Guenther easily flips the puck across ice, past the defenders for his mate to score an easy goal. Pick your poison with this guy.
The old adage "take a hit to make a play" has never rung more true for Jake Neighbours. But it pays off for the @EdmOilKings. pic.twitter.com/OII8UtmXhd
“I really like Dylan,” one NHL scout says. “He plays with really good speed and loves to attack the net off the rush. Along with that he plays a responsible three-zone game.”
The Kraken are promised a pick in the top six of the upcoming NHL Draft, depending on how the lottery balls bounce.
A lot of scrutiny and pressure comes with being a top prospect and he heard from 15 to 20 teams over the offseason. He’s playing with a couple of players, such as Neighbours who was selected by the Blues in the first round of last year’s draft, which will make it easier.
“It helps having a couple guys go through it before you,” Guenther said. “Just the way they handle themselves both on and off the ice. They conduct themselves like pros and that’s something I like to do and something I learned off them.”
These 24-games will be big for Guenther’s future.
He’ll finally be seen by scouts after waiting a year. He probably won’t continue at a four-point-per-game pace, but his skill will be on display and Edmonton is poised to win a lot of games.
How high he goes remains to be determined and he has no preference as to which team selects him. That team could be Seattle, which would make Guenther a part of Kraken history as the first-ever pick by the league’s newest franchise.
“The thought of that is crazy,” Guenther said. “An expansion team, I remember when they got announced. It’s super exciting. I remember their whole process. They have a logo and I really like the logo. It’s cool. I’ve never been to Seattle, but I’ve heard it’s a nice city. That would be pretty cool.”
The NHL has turned the corner on the quarter pole and now our eyes are focusing on the blurry division races as the trade deadline looms. Trades this year could – and most likely will – have an impact on the Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft projections as well.
Key players being targeted may find themselves moved and that will change their protection status. Whether teams buy or sell will be determined over this next stretch of the season. Will contenders add? Will hot starts fade and those teams decide to sell?
While we watch that pan out, here are games to catch this week:
Boston Bruins versus Washington Capitals
When: Wednesday, 4 PM on NBCSN and Friday, 4 PM on NHL Network
Washington and Boston continue to plow along and play good hockey. It’s surprising that these games are going to be indoors since NBC seems to plug one or both of these teams into its stadium games on the regular – Wednesday’s game will be on NBCSN albeit inside. The national programming is not without merit.
Coming into this week, the two clubs are separated by two points at the top of the MassMutual East Division with the Capitals on top, but with the Bruins holding a pair of games in hand. Boston has a chance this week to take over the lead and take a big step in the race. The games should be good as it features two veteran-laden teams who have raised the Cup and know how to win. These teams aren’t young, but they are good. Look for terms like ‘crafty’ and ‘wily’ to be uttered a lot by the television crews.
Players to watch
Zdeno Chara will be playing against his former club in his former home arena – the one he is most remembered for – which adds a fun element. The Bruins will throw out Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, and Patrice Bergeron a ton in these games. Making up one of the best lines in the NHL, the trio are also the top three Boston scorers this season. Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo played his Junior hockey for the Tri-City Americans if you’re looking for a local angle. Jake DeBrusk was almost traded to the Seattle Thunderbirds once but that’s a story for another day.
For the Capitals, pay attention to their power play. Alex Ovechkin will probably find himself in the left faceoff circle looking for a one-timer. The Bruins know that but he’ll still get a couple of good looks from there. Nicklas Backstrom is looking true to form and leading the Capitals in scoring and if you like puck-moving, scoring defensemen then John Carlson is your guy. He’s been doing it a long time and is off to another strong start.
The Seattle Kraken watchlist
Boston has come interesting players to keep an eye on. Up front, Nick Ritchie is close to equaling his season totals from last season. On the back end, scout up on Jeremy Lauzon.
The Capitals feature Seattle Kraken message board favorite T.J. Oshie as well as former Thunderbird Brenden Dillon. Both are likely to be exposed and would obviously be interesting Kraken picks. But the Capitals have other players who could end up in Seattle, including goalie Vitek Vanecek, who has been a pleasant surprise in Washington.
Carolina Hurricanes versus Florida Panthers
When: Sunday, 2 P.M. NHLTV
The Discover Central continues to entertain. This is a division that is the definition of topsy-turvy. Seemingly every day brings a new top team and entering this week it’s the Florida Panthers who continue to surprise. Carolina is not far behind, just one point out heading into the week, tied for second with a little outfit known as the Tampa Bay Lightning.
But this isn’t about the defending champs, its about the Hurricanes and Panthers who will serve up a fun Sunday afternoon matinee. While this is a big game, it feels like this race is going to come down to the wire in the spring.
Players to watch
Jonathan Huberdeau, Aleksander Barkov, and Carter Verhaeghe aren’t household names outside of hockey fans – because the Panthers don’t get the national airtime other teams do – but are having impact seasons. They’ve been good for a while but now are on a team that is winning and leading a division. Goalie Chris Driedger, who played 22 games for the Tri-City Americans once, continues to outplay the expensive Sergei Bobrovsky and is a big reason for the Panthers’ success this season.
Carolina is fun. The Hurricanes have depth and youth which is a great combination. Andrei Svechnikov, Sebastian Aho, and Martin Necas are all high-end entertaining players that will stand out to you. It’s not just youth for the Hurricanes, however. Their young roster is littered with veterans like Vincent Trochek, Jordan Staal, and defenseman Dougie Hamilton who are all producing. This is a team that is almost always must-watch.
Vegas Golden Knights versus San Jose Sharks: Friday, 7:30 P.M. NHLTV. This was an intense rivalry just a season ago. It hasn’t had the same juice this season but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a spark. Fans of the Seattle Thunderbirds may enjoy it as former players Shea Theodore, Keegan Kolesar, Patrick Marleau, and Alexander True are all in the mix.
