Seattle Kraken at midseason: Part 2 – Deadline, Who Might Go, and The MVP
After 42 games of their 82 game schedule, the Seattle Kraken are at the halfway point. PNWS takes a deep look at the team’s first few months and what’s ahead for them.
The Seattle Kraken are halfway through their inaugural season. At the 42 game mark, Seattle has a record of 13-25-4, good for 30 points. That puts them last in the Pacific Division, and they have the fourth-lowest point total in the league. Now is a good time to review what’s happened so far and look forward to what’s ahead. We will do it roundtable style.
If you missed Part 1 – Click HERE.
Pacific Northwest Sports contributors Jonathan West and Ciara Durant join me for this discussion. We also have a special guest RJ Eskanos.
RJ joins us as the Content & Media Manager for Emerald City Hockey, independently covering the Seattle Kraken. He founded ECH with Dylan Travers in the summer of 2020 with the goal of providing high-quality, interactive coverage of the team through its website, social media, YouTube channel, and podcast. RJ is a local member of the Seattle Kraken media.
It’s a little bit early, but what strategy do you think Seattle should have going into the 2022 trade deadline? Buyers? Sellers?
Jonathan West
Gotta sell now since the Kraken are not playoff contenders, but also in the first year, they need to retain ticket holders. Use those fine analytics and dip more than toes into free agency! It’s going to be a very delicate balance if Ron Francis does it right.
Ciara Durant
The Seattle Kraken need to be sellers at the trade deadline. It’s never too early to start thinking about a strategy when it comes to the trade deadline, especially when you are in the position to sell and add assets to your arsenal.
Ed Stein
As my last answer shows, the Kraken should be sellers, almost to the point of moving out whatever isn’t nailed down. No one on the current roster is untouchable (although I’d like to hold on to Jared McCann and Brandon Tanev). Organization-wide, Matty Beniers isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.
If Francis has to take on a big contract to get a high pick or top prospect, he should do it. As long as it isn’t a long-term commitment.
RJ Eskanos
The Kraken should be sellers. The unfortunate reality is this team isn’t making the playoffs, which means that players on expiring contracts come more into focus at the trade deadline. Seattle has five pending unrestricted free agents (UFAs) and eight pending restricted free agents (RFAs).
They’ll need to decide which of those players they view as part of the longer-term core and take offers on the rest. Anyone with an expiring deal besides McCann, Geekie, and Donato should be available in the right deal.