Seattle Kraken: Too early mock expansion draft version 4.0
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.
Nicolas Aube-Kubel – Philadelphia, 1-year, $1.08M
Mikael Backlund – Calgary, 31, 3-years, $5.35M
J.T. Compher – Colorado, 25, 2-years, $3.50M
Christian Fischer – Arizona, 23, 1-year, $1.00M
Jordan Greenway – Minnesota, 24, 1-year, $2.10M
Mikhail Grigorenko – Columbus, 26, EST 1-year, $1.80M
Curtis Lazar – Buffalo, 23, 1-year, $800K
Patrick Maroon – Tampa Bay, 1-year, $900K
Tyler Motte – Vancouver, 1-year, $1.23M
Stefan Noesen – San Jose, 28, EST 1-year, $1.00M
T.J. Oshie – Washington, 33, 4-years, $5.75M
Robert Thomas – St. Louis, 21, Restricted free agent
Kyle Turris – Edmonton, 31, 1-year, $1.65M
Carter Verhaeghe – Florida, 23, 1-year, $1.00M
Austin Wagner – Los Angeles, 2-years, $1.13M
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.
Lines
- Landeskog – Lowry – Oshie
- Schwartz – Backlund – Greenway
- Verhaeghe – Turris – Thomas
- Maroon – Fischer – Motte
Lazar probably sticks around as the 13th forward unless one of the other forwards beats him out (which could happen). Otherwise, they start the season in the minors.
The first line has the potential to be explosive. Lowry gets his chance to shine, and he can do it with Landeskog and Oshie as his wing-men. 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. The third line can also put points on the board.
Thomas is an up and comer; Francis would be wise to get him signed long term. Fischer and Turris are good bottom-six pivots.
There is a little bit of everything among the forwards, scoring, playmaking, defense, grit, and potential.