Seattle Kraken: Early Free Agency Targets – Centers
The Seattle Kraken have quite a few needs to meet in the off-season. The first major issue to address is the center position.
The Seattle Kraken will be entering free agency in a difficult situation. Ron Francis has to address multiple positions, but one will certainly be a top-six center. Considering the Kraken are in the bottom third in goals against, goals for, and faceoff win percentage, this is a major need. Adding a player who can contribute to all three statistics will improve the team drastically.
While adding wingers and defensemen can help score goals or keep them out, neither is as important as the center. Jared McCann and Yanni Gourde are both great players, who have done their best to center Seattle’s top lines, but neither is an ideal first-line centerman under any circumstances.
Of the two, Gourde is a better fit down the middle than McCann. He has better faceoff numbers and is arguably stronger defensively. While Gourde’s career faceoff win rate is below 50 percent, it’s still much higher than McCann’s (42.3), and he has improved to 50.8 this season. Using one of them to fill in down the middle on an “as-needed basis” would be more ideal than having them play the pivot permanently.
Moving one or both to the wing allows them to have more offensive freedom. Additionally, Alexander Wenneberg, despite his three-year, $13.5M contact, isn’t the answer either. He’s never won more than 50 percent of his faceoffs in any season.
There are quite a few options available in the upcoming free agency that can fit into this role for the Kraken, assuming they don’t sign someplace else between now and the start of next season.
Jared McCann cleans Jeff Carter on the faceoff. Marcus Johansson pushes the puck back to Vince Dunn. Carter follows McCann briefly, the way all centers should after a lost draw, then releases him. McCann scores.
Evgeni Malkin's … on the bench.pic.twitter.com/AspcB0NaP9
— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) January 28, 2022