Seattle Kraken: Too early mock expansion draft version 4.0
In four months from now, the Seattle Kraken will make their expansion draft selections. Here is our fourth “too early” mock expansion draft, with a twist.
Welcome to Pacific Northwest Sports’ fourth Seattle Kraken “too early” mock expansion draft. We dropped the “way” from “too early” because the 2020-21 NHL season is underway. Now it’s time to take a harder look at players from the 30 teams Seattle has to chose from.
Now that more players are reaching the games played threshold to be eligible for the draft, we get a clearer picture of who the other teams have to protect. Some enticing players could be available. That still doesn’t mean this is an easy task.
As far as our mock expansion draft goes, this one will be quite different from our previous versions. This time we consider free agents. Because that’s a factor, some of the players selected will be a bit on the odd side; as in why in the heck would Seattle want that guy.
Before getting into the details, there are some important dates to keep in mind.
Last possible day to award Stanley Cup – July 15.
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
Signing free agents early is a double-edged sword. On the one hand, if the Kraken signs a free agent before the expansion draft, he counts as the player would have drafted off the original team. For example, if Seattle signs Ryan Nugent-Hopkins on July 19, he would count as Edmonton’s expansion selection.
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 good young player like Ondrej Kase, or Jakub Zboril. Boston could offer up a second-round pick if the Kraken sign UFA defenseman Kevan Miller.
Trades
Without getting into specifics, Francis will make trades. It is tough to predict who or what, but we will assume Seattle gets draft pick compensation for choosing the following players:
Boston – Kevan Miller – UFA
Buffalo – Curtis Lazar (would have to be at least a second)
Columbus – Mikhail Grigorenko – UFA
New Jersey – Sami Vatanen – UFA
San Jose – Stefan Noesen – UFA
Tampa Bay – Patrick Maroon
Post Draft Free Agency
This is where Seattle can make a huge splash. By pre-negotiating big contracts, the Kraken set themselves up to have a great team. Here’s a look at how that situation plays out.
During the early negotiating sessions, Francis can say to a potential high ticket free agent. “Lots of teams will be hard-pressed to stay under the cap this summer, so the market might not be as strong as it was in previous seasons. We won’t have that problem; we might be almost $30M under the cap ceiling. There is someone we want to draft from your old organization. If you can be patient, the money is there.
Post-draft free agent signings
Gabriel Landeskog – Six-years, $57M ($9.5M AAV). Backup plan Taylor Hall or Ryan Nugent-Hopkins. This is a franchise cornerstone, money shouldn’t be an obstacle. Whichever one of these three Seattle signs wears the “C” as the first Kraken captain.
Jaden Schwartz – Four-years, $30M (7.5M AAV).
Adam Lowry – Five-years, $26M ($5.2M AAV).