Seattle Kraken: Too early mock expansion draft version 4.0
Goalies
Going back to Vegas, the key to their entire Stanley Cup Finals run was goalie Marc-Andre-Fleury. If Seattle hockey fans are looking for hope of a hot start to the franchise, look no further than this cadre of backstops. Among them, there is starting material, backups, reliable third options, and future mainstays.
Jake Allen – Montreal, 30, 2-years, 2.88M
Jack Campbell – Toronto, 29, 1-year, $1.65M
Casey DeSmith – Pittsburgh, 29, 1-year, $1.25M
Filip Gustavsson – Ottawa, 22, RFA
Keith Kinkaid – New York Rangers, 31, $825K
Malcolm Subban – Chicago, 27, $850K
Outlook
I’m one of the people who thought it would be a good idea for the Kraken to pursue Carey Price from Montreal. Upon further consideration, it’s a bad plan. Not that Jake Allen is better, but Allen is 30, and Price, one of the best ever, will be 34 with five-years at $10.5M left on his contract.
Besides, Oshie is the ready-made face of the franchise. If the Seattle Kraken felt they needed a venerable veteran for the Marc-Andre Fleury role, they could always draft Jonathan Quick from Los Angeles for less money and a much shorter commitment than Price.
Allen and Campbell can handle the net until Gustavson is ready to take over. They might not even last that long. One of them could go for a high-round pick and a backup. Both DeSmith and Kinkaid will be flipped at or shortly after the draft. Subban serves as organizational depth.
Second straight @pepsi shutout for Jack Campbell! pic.twitter.com/gOvf2YZ2GY
— NHL (@NHL) March 21, 2021
One other thing to watch for, in the future, is how much value does the organization place on players who grew up in the area or played for the WHL’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Vegas did very well with Deryk Engelland as their captain. He played for the Las Vegas Wranglers in the ECHL at the outset of his career, so local hockey fans were familiar with him.