Seattle Kraken mock expansion draft version 6.0 – pre-protected lists
Forwards
Since the draft was announced, local product T.J. Oshie was a favorite to be the face of the Seattle Kraken franchise. Unfortunately, the shootout ace has other plans. He wants to stay in Washington and asked the Caps to protect him.
It’s just one of the reasons why there is so much change from recent mocks. The recent buyouts of Zach Parise and Ryan Suter in Minnesota, as well as several players waiving NMCs, made a huge difference.
Mason Appleton, RW – Winnipeg, 25, 1-year, $900K
Lawson Crouse, LW – Arizona, 24, 1-year, 1.53M
Matt Duchene, C – Nashville, 30, 5-years, $8.00M
Luke Glendening, C – Detroit, 31, (proposed 2-years, $2.5M, $1.25M AAV)
Zach Hyman, LW, RW – Toronto, 29, (proposed 5-years, $27M, $5.4M AAV)
Nazem Kadri, C – Colorado, 30, 1-year, $4.00M
Tanner Kero, LW – Dallas, 28, 2-years, $750K
Kevin Labanc, RW, LW – San Jose, 25, 3-years, $4.28M
Blake Lizotte, C – Los Angeles, 23, 1-year, $800K
Zack MacEwen, C, RW – Vancouver, 25, 1-year, $825K
Matt Martin, RW – New York Islanders, 3-years, $1.50M
Kevin Stenlund, RW – Columbus, 24, 1-year, 1.05M
Nico Sturm, C – Minnesota, 26, 1-year, $725K
James van Riemsdyk, LW – Philadelphia, 32, 2-years, $7M
Lines
- Van Riemsdyk – Duchene – Hyman
- Labanc – Kadri – Appleton/ Stenlund
- Crouse – Glendening – MacEwen
- Kero – Lizotte – Martin
Without any other roster moves, Appleton and Stenlund can fight it out for playing time on Kadri’s flank. The loser can either move to the third line or be the 13th forward. Nico Sturm faces an uphill battle to make the final roster.
Duchene will wear the “C” as the first Seattle Kraken captain. His linemates, van Riemsdyk and Hyman, are more dynamic than what he had in Nashville, which should snap the veteran pivot out of his recent scoring malaise.
The third and fourth lines are filled with plenty of grit. With Martin and MacEwen joining Gudas, it will be very hard for opponents to get away with any shenanigans.
One area that will need to be addressed in post-draft free agency is secondary scoring. The second line might need a boost.
Related Story: Top 5 players Kraken could take second overall in Entry Draft
We’ll have one more mock before the Seattle Kraken announce their expansion picks.