Seattle Kraken mock expansion draft version 7.0 – FINAL
Goalies
Casey DeSmith – Pittsburgh, 29, 1-year, $1.25M
Chris Driedger – Florida, 27, 3-years, $10.50M)
Braden Holtby – Vancouver, 31, 1-year, $4.3M
Kaapo Kahkonen – Minnesota, 24, 1-year, $725K
Keith Kinkaid – New York Rangers, 31, $825K
Vitek Vanecek – Washington, 25, 717K
As mentioned above, Driedger is Francis’ choice as the franchise’s first goalie. He should be able to flip Holtby, Kinkaid, and DeSmith for good returns. That leaves two excellent goalie prospects in Kahkonen and Vanecek. They can rotate between Driedgers backup and starting AHL games.
Defense
Josh Brown – Ottawa, 27, 1-year, $1.20M
Vince Dunn – St. Louis, 24, RFA
Haydn Fleury – Anaheim, 24, 1-year, $1.30M
Jake Gardiner – Carolina, 31, 2-years, $4.05M
Oliver Kylington – Calgary, 24, RFA
Adam Larsson – Edmonton, 28, 4-years, $4.00M
Jeremy Lauzon – Boston, 1-year, $850K
Colin Miller – Buffalo, 28, 1-year, $3.88M
Radim Simek – San Jose, 28, 3-years, $2.25M
Nikita Zadorov – Chicago, 26, RFA
Pairings
- Gardiner – Larsson
- Zadorov – Dunn
- Simek – Lauzon
Francis should have no problems moving Miller, Fleury, Brown, and, Kylington. If there is an opportunity to get a huge return on Gardiner, then the Kraken can deal him and keep Miller.
Dunn and Gardiner can both quarterback the power play. Lauzon is becoming a good stay-at-home defender. Newly signed Adam Larsson is just starting his prime and still has untapped potential. Zadorov is a steady defense partner for Dunn, while Simek should hold down third pair minutes.