Seattle Kraken Trade Suitors Invade The Greenhouse
Is Philipp Grubauer on his way out of the Seattle Kraken crease? Is Giordano bailing shortly after his 1000th game? JW recaps the teams that have visited Climate Pledge Arena over the past two weeks as the NHL Trade deadline looms.
The NHL Trade Deadline is two weeks away on March 21st. And the Seattle Kraken should be mathematically eliminated from making the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs by then. We know players will be dealt, and there’s no chance of an expansion draft do-over. With around 25 games left in the regular season, here’s a rundown of 12 teams who have scouted games at The Greenhouse since February 23rd.
Built to win the Cup
Colorado Avalanche (85 points)
Leading the race for President’s Trophy (most points) right now, the Avs score a lot. But they give up almost three goals per game with a low save percentage. Colorado is penalty prone, and their kill is under 80 percent. Just for good measure, that also lost the most faceoffs so far.
If not Patrick Kane from the Hawks or a cleaner defenseman, could the Avalanche possibly want a Philipp Grubauer reunion to exorcise the demons of last year’s playoff run?
Tampa Bay Lightning (80 points)
If the back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions are going to complete a three-peat, they need to stay out of the box and block more shots. The Bolts are second in the league in shot percentage but are near the bottom in shots taken. Giving up few shots on goal, but also near the bottom with blocked shots, TBL is still trending a low save percentage between the pipes. Seattle’s Vince Dunn fits the bill with 88 shots and 53 blocked shots so far this season.
Pittsburgh Penguins (77 points)
Pittsburgh is a great team right now. No surprise about their winning streak before the all-star break with excellent penalty killing and goaltending. The Pens hit a lot but also stay out of the sin-bin while doing it. While they take many shots, their scoring percentage is low and could also use better power play numbers. Yanni Gourde is among the Seattle Kraken top five in both categories.
On this day in 1991, the Penguins acquired Ron Francis, Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson from the Whalers in trade for John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski #Hockey365 #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/4ozLlR9GJo
— Mike Commito (@mikecommito) March 4, 2022
Calgary Flames (75 points)
Mark Giordano‘s former team is truly on fire right now. They lead the league in fewest goals against (133) and fewest shots allowed. Their 10 shutouts are number one in the league. Maybe there is a need for players who take fewer penalties, but the team is also near the top in penalty killing and goaltending performance. Really there are no trade needs here besides the possible return of a reliable former captain.