Seattle Kraken center ice at Climate Pledge Arena.
Seattle Kraken General Manager Ron Francis.
Welcome to Pacific Northwest Sports’ second Seattle Kraken “Way Too Early” mock expansion draft. Because the NHL won’t start its next season until approximately New Year’s day, the originally scheduled June 2021 time frame for the expansion draft is highly unlikely.
Until the new season is in full swing and teams make further adjustments to their rosters, drafting a team is exceedingly difficult. That’s why we call it way too early. However difficult it may be for us, it’s likely tripled for Kraken GM Ron Francis and his staff. Per the set expansion draft rules, there are many perimeters existing teams must follow when submitting their protected lists.
Here is a brief recap of the rules in place when the Seattle Kraken make their selections in the Expansion Draft. They are the same rules Las Vegas had in place in 2019. In their inaugural season, the Golden Knights made it all the way to the Stanley Cup finals.
As contracts are signed, players moved via free agency or trade, and the rumored amnesty buyouts go forward, we will get a better picture of who will be available. Additionally, there is no way to account for trades Francis makes or backroom deals he puts together before and during the draft.
For now, with the help of Capfriendly.com’s Expansion Draft Simulator, this is our preliminary team.
James Neal, Nashville Predators (Photo by Michael Miller, via Wikimedia).
When Vegas played the inaugural season, they surprised the rest of the league with the quality of their forwards. The Knights were able to score goals in bunches, which 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.
Noel Acciari – Florida, 28, 1-year, $1.67M
Mikael Backlund – Calgary, 31, 3-years, $5.35M
Anthony Cirelli – Tampa Bay, 23, RFA
J.T. Compher – Colorado, 25, 2-year, $3.50M
Jordan Eberle – NY Islanders, 30, 3-years, $5.50M
Pierre Engvall – Toronto, 24, 1-year, $1.25M
Conor Garland – Arizona, 24, RFA (arbitration-eligible)
Max Jones – Anaheim, 22, RFA
David Kampf – Chicago, 25, RFA (arbitration-eligible)
Casey Mittelstadt – Buffalo, 23, RFA
James Neal – Edmonton Oilers, 33, 2-years, $5.75M
T.J. Oshie – Washington, 33, 4-years, $5.75M
Jack Roslovic – Winnipeg, RFA
Colton Sissons – Nashville, 5-year, $2.86M
Pavel Zacha – New Jersey, 1-year, $2.25M
This group of forwards is more experienced than the ones in our previous version. The big get 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. The same goes for Roslovic.
Engvall serves as the 13th forward. Unless Kampf or Jones beats out one of the above (which could happen), they will start in the minors.
The first line has the potential to be explosive, but two of them are over 33-years-old. While line two might not have the same name value, they are “sneaky” good players. Seattle’s bottom six in this scenario has plenty of talent. Watch out for the fourth line because all three of them have chips on their shoulder.
There is a little bit of everything among the forwards, scoring, playmaking, defense, and potential. What this team lacks is a “policeman” to protect the younger players. On should be easy to find in free agency.
Matt Grzelcyk, Boston Bruins.
The way to build a good hockey team is from the net out. There is a premium in the NHL put on playing solid defense, especially in the playoffs. Overall, this group is steady, but there is some offensive upside.
The defensemen aren’t going to lose games for the team, but they aren’t likely to win many, either. There is good news; none of the group are over 26; they can grow as a unit. Additionally, there is a good mix of left and right-handed d-men.
Matt Grzelcyk – Boston, 26, 3-years, 3.69M
Libor Hajek – NY Rangers, 22, RFA
Scott Harrington – Columbus, 1-year, $1.63M
Julius Honka – Dallas, 24, RFA
Kurtis MacDermid – Los Angeles, 23, 1-year, $875K
Nicolas Meloche – San Jose, 23, RFA
Brett Pesce – Carolina, 25, 3-years, $4.03M
Troy Stecher – Detroit, 26, 1-year, $1.75M
Christian Wolanin – Ottawa, 25, RFA (arbitration-eligible)
Some of these defensemen will be dealt before the season starts. There will be a good market for Harrington, Grzelcyk, and Pesce. Any of them could all bring back a return of solid prospects for long-term development. Then again, on a unit short on experience, they might be more valuable to keep.
The seventh defenseman will be MacDermid, while Wolanin and Meloche head to the AHL.
Again, a fair-to-average group of d-men. No one really stands out as an impact player. The Seattle Kraken can make a splash by drafting someone older and more expensive, such as Brent Burns (35, four-years, $8M). But why would Francis want to tie himself down for so long to an aging player? It will be much more beneficial to wait until after the draft to see who is still available in free agency.
Pesce will need to take a more offensive role and be more like the guy who scored 35 points for the Canes in 2018–19. Seattle’s penalty kill will be fine with Grzlcyk, Harrington, Stetcher, and Hajek.
The power play quarterback is Honka. He has excellent puck-handling and skating skills, but his slight frame (5-10, 175-pounds) makes him somewhat of a defensive liability. That’s what hurt him in Dallas and, to some extent, in Finland last season. If Honka can play in a system where he could use his quickness, speed, and intelligence instead of power, he becomes an offensive weapon.
Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals (Photo by Keith Allison, via Wikimedia).
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
Braden Holtby – Vancouver, 1-year, $4.3M
Casey DeSmith – Pittsburgh, 28, 1-year, $1.25M
Ville Husso – St. Louis, 25, 1-year, $750K
Felix Sandstrom – Philadelphia, RFA
Alex Stalock – Minnesota, 33, 1-year, 750K
I’m one of the people who thought it would be a good idea to pursue Carey Price from Montreal. Upon further consideration, I can’t see it happening. Oshie is the ready-made face of the franchise. If the Seattle Kraken felt they needed a venerable veteran in the Marc-Andre Fleury role, they could have Jonathan Quick for less money and a much shorter commitment than Price.
There are too many teams that need quality goalies for the Seattle Kraken to keep all six. As a matter of fact, it would be a mild surprise if more than four of them were part of the organization on Opening Day 2021.
Unless Vancouver makes Ron Francis an offer he can’t refuse to avoid Holtby, the 31-year-old netminder will be drafted and flipped for a high draft pick. Either DeSmith or Stalock (possibly both) gets traded as well.
This is likely Allen’s team. Husso will be his backup. Keep an eye on the talented Finn though; he has enough talent to win the starting job.
One other thing to watch for, going forward, 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.