Seattle Kraken: Too early mock expansion draft version 3.0
Forwards
When Vegas played their inaugural season, they surprised the rest of the league with the quality of their forwards. The Knights scored goals in bunches and put opponents on their heels quickly. Seattle could come very close in that regard with a quality group of forwards as well.
The following are the forwards selected in this mock, along with their current team, age, and cap hit, beginning with the 2021–22 season.
Mikael Backlund – Calgary, 31, 3-years, $5.35M
Anders Bjork – Boston, 24, 2-years, $2.6M
Sammy Blais, St. Louis, 25, 1-year, $1.50M
Jason Dickinson – Dallas, 25, RFA (arbitration-eligible)
Jordan Eberle – NY Islanders, 30, 3-years, $5.50M
Robby Fabbri – Detroit, 25, 1-year, $2.95
Dylan Gambrell – San Jose, 24, RFA
Danton Heinen – Anaheim, 25, RFA (arbitration-eligible)
Brett Howden – NY Rangers, 22, RFA
Curtis Lazar – Buffalo, 23, 1-year, $800K
Jared McCann – Pittsburgh, 24, 1-year, $2.94M
T.J. Oshie – Washington, 33, 4-years, $5.75M
Brayden Point – Tampa Bay, 24, 1-year, $6.75M
Tyler Pitlick – Arizona, 29, 1-year, $1.75M
Antoine Roussel – Vancouver, 31, 1-year, $3.00M
Pavel Zacha – New Jersey, 23, 1-year, $2.25M
The more I do this, the more I look at the forwards. This is the area with the most value. The big get here is obviously local product T.J. Oshie. He should be a contributing member of the Seattle Kraken through the end of his contract. If Zacha can play anywhere near his pre-entry draft projections, he’d be a steal. He has a year to prove himself.
Lines
- Fabbri – Point – Oshie
- Heinen – Backlund – Eberle
- McCann – Dickinson – Roussel
- Pitlick – Zacha – Blais
Bjork serves as the 13th forward. Unless Howden, Lazar, or Gabmbrell beats out one of the above (which could happen), they will start in the minors.
The first line has the potential to be explosive. This is Point’s chance to get out of Steven Stamkos’ long shadow, and he can do it with Oshie as his wing-man. Line two might not have the same name value, but they are talented. It should be interesting to see Backlund used in a primarily offensive role.
Roussel is one of the league’s toughest men. Blais is another one that likes to hit. They’ll protect the younger players.
There is a little bit of everything among the forwards, scoring, playmaking, defense, grit, and potential.