Seattle Kraken mock expansion draft version 6.0 – pre-protected lists
There is less than a week until the Seattle Kraken expansion draft. Things have changed greatly.
Welcome to Pacific Northwest Sports’ sixth Seattle Kraken mock expansion draft. It’s been a little hectic in the NHL since Tampa won the Cup. With all the trades, signings, no movement waivers, and buyouts, the landscape is very different.
While there might be more trades among the other 30 beforehand, the picture of who will be available to Seattle is getting clearer. Kraken General Manager Ron Francis will have some quality players to choose from.
Dates
Before getting into the details, there are some important dates to keep in mind.
- Teams submit protected lists – July 17
- Exclusive Kraken negotiation window with free agents – July 18-20
- Expansion draft – July 21
- NHL free agency begins – July 28
Early Free Agency
The Kraken has an exclusive, two-day window to sign unrestricted free agents. If they sign a UFA before the expansion draft, he counts as the player Seattle drafted off his original team. For example, if Seattle signs Dougie Hamilton on July 19, he would count as the Kraken’s expansion selection from Carolina.
There are positives to signing early free agents. Kraken GM Ron Francis could land a few choice draft picks from teams who don’t want to lose key players. In this example, the Bruins don’t want to lose a promising young player like Ondrej Kase or Jakub Zboril. Boston could offer up a second-round pick if the Kraken sign UFA center Greg McKegg.
Free-agent signings
Here are some players the Kraken should sign before draft day.
I still think going all out for Colorado’s Gabriel Landeskog is the right move. The Avs, however, will do everything in their power to resign him.
Tyson Barrie – (Five years, $30M). Barrie is the elusive puck-handling, power-play quarterback every team needs. He had an excellent bounce-back year in Edmonton and earned his payday.
Zach Hyman – (5-years, $27M). It’s time for Hyman to step outside the shadow of his more prolific Maple Leaf teammates. The 29-year-old should be at the minimum a 50-point scorer over the next five seasons.
Luke Glendening – (2-years, $2.5M) – Glendening is the type of blood and guts, defense-oriented forward every team needs. Even better, he has a career 55 percent face-off winning percentage.