Soon, the Kraken will come to life.
The Seattle Kraken, that is, as the NHL’s newest franchise, will officially add the first players in its history on Wednesday as part of the league’s expansion draft.
It looks like the first team member is already established, with a report coming out that florida panthers goalie chris dredger will sign in Seattle.
There are already rumors about how good the Kraken could be when they first take to the ice in October. The NHL’s newest expansion team, the Las Vegas Golden Knights, showed how quickly a winning team can be built when they reached the Stanley Cup Final in their first season (2017-18). Vegas has been a championship contender every season since.
The Golden Knights took advantage of favorable expansion rules that restrict the number of players other NHL franchises can protect, thus exposing better and more experienced talent than in previous expansion eras. He the same rules are in play for the Kraken draft.
Can Seattle replicate the success of Las Vegas and field a Cup-caliber team from the start? That’s just one of the questions Kraken will face in the coming months. But first, let’s take a look at how this team will come together.
How will the expansion draft work?
The Kraken will select 30 players, one from each of the other franchises except Vegas (which also doesn’t get a piece of Seattle’s $650 million league gate fee). They must sign at least 14 forwards, nine defenders and three goalies, and the total contract value of the players they select must add up to between 60 and 100% of last season’s salary cap ($81.5 million).
Seattle’s picks will be announced Wednesday at 8 pm ET during a special televised on ESPN2 in the United States. The event will feature appearances by various Seattle sports luminaries.
While the Kraken roster will be revealed during that time, there is no particular order in which players will be selected.
What players are available for the Kraken?
The other NHL franchises (excluding the Golden Knights) submitted their protected rosters to the league on Saturday and they were made public on Sunday. Some interesting names were exposed, including star players with big contracts and veterans with championship pedigrees.
Among the high-profile players available for the Kraken:
Forward: Vladimir Tarasenko, st louis; ryan johansen and matt duchene, Nashville; jeff skinner, Buffalo; Max Domi, Colon; jason zucker, pittsburgh; Alex Killorn and tyler johnson, tampa bay; Jakub Voracek and James van Riemsdyk, Philadelphia
Defenders: Subban PK, New Jersey; Shayne GostisbeherePhiladelphia; justin schultz and Brenden Dillon, Washington; Mark Giordano, Calgary
Goalkeepers: hawksbill price, Montreal; ben bishop, dallas; fast jonathan, the Angels; branden holtby, vancouver
What’s happening alex ovechkin?
Yes, the NHL’s active leading scorer was left unprotected by the Capitals, the only team he’s ever played for.
But Ovechkin, like some other exposed players, is an unrestricted free agent. The Kraken can pick those players (it would count as his pick from the players’ previous teams), but he can’t officially sign them until the free agency window opens for everyone.
So unless the two sides come to an agreement beforehand, as is apparently happening with Driedger, who is also a UFA, Seattle risks a wasted pick if a player selected later signs elsewhere.
Ovechkin has made clear his desire to remain in Washingtonso don’t expect the Kraken to select it.
Why would teams leave so many stars unprotected?
There are a variety of factors at play here. First, it appears that many teams have tweaked their strategy since the Las Vegas expansion draft, for which several clubs made side deals to prevent the Golden Knights from drafting certain players, and ended up infusing the Las Vegas roster with even more talent. and assets through prospects. and draft picks.
This time around, more teams seem to have accepted that they will lose a key player and are content to let the chips fall where they may.
Additionally, the salary cap, which will remain unchanged from last season, is pushing teams to the limit in roster management, with many hoping for cap relief.
The question then becomes: What inflated contracts will Seattle be willing to take on? Is Price’s sure star value, what would the splash guy do? Marc-André Fleury did when he was drafted by Las Vegas, with a salary cap of $10.5 million over five seasons? That’s for Kraken GM Ron Francis to figure out.
The Canadiens likely left Price unprotected because they believe the price is too high for Seattle, a bet several teams clearly made by finalizing their protected lists.
Can the Kraken be competitive right away?
Absolutely, on paper, depending on the caliber of players available. The success of the Golden Knights raised the bar of expectations for expansion teams, or at least for those entering under the current rules.
But of course, star power alone doesn’t win the Cup. The Kraken will have to team up quickly with coach Dave Hakstol.
How will this compare to previous expansion drafts around sports?
The only real comparison between the Kraken and previous expansion drafts is with the Golden Knights’ entry in 2017. Before that, the most recent expansion draft in all four major American sports leagues occurred in 2004, when the Charlotte Bobcats ( now hornets) entered the NBA.
The NHL, NBA, NFL, and Major League Baseball all held multiple expansion drafts between 1991 and 2004, but the general expectation at the time was that new teams would need a few years to amass talent and find success.
Considering the Golden Knights’ ability to quickly establish a strong fan base in a market that previously had no major professional sports, the NHL model is likely to be copied in the future. It will be interesting to see if MLB and the NBA, both of which are rumored to be considering expanding in the next few years, follow the trend.
What well-known players have been selected by the expansion teams?
Here are some notable names that have been selected in previous expansion drafts:
MLB: Trevor Hoffman (florida billfish1992), Joe Girardi (colorado rocky mountains1992), Bobby Abreu (Tampa Bay Devil Rays1997)
nba: B.J. Armstrong (toronto raptors1995), Greg Anthony (Vancouver grizzlies1995), Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Bobcats, 2004)
NFL: Desmond Howard (Jacksonville Jaguars1995), Doug Pederson (carolina panthers1995), Tony Boselli (houston texans2002)
NHL: John Vanbiesbrouck (Florida Panthers, 1993), Mike Sullivan (Nashville Predators, 1998), Marc-Andre Fleury (Vegas Golden Knights, 2017)
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