Kraken expansion + amateur draft picks

[Sibelius Hindemith]

So should we be worried now that these guys will fuck up the 2nd over-all pick tomorrow? I mean, it's gotta be a no-brainer, right?

[XpertDBA]

If the Kraken don't sign 2 or 3 really big name free agents, I'm going to be extremely pissed with this draft.

[DavidGee24]

So no miracle in the amateur draft tonight, the Sabres take Power, which might well work out better for us since we got the top center in Beniers. Be interesting to see if he makes the opening night roster, not likely.

Now let's sign some good free agents and come out kicking ass.

[Sibelius Hindemith]

An upbeat take on their strategy...

Just as NHL general managers once had to adjust to the introduction of a hard salary cap in 2005, the industry is still coming to grips with the aftershocks that will be felt following the COVID event. The cap ceiling used to rise on a predictable schedule each year. Now it is locked flat because of the pandemic, guaranteeing that large contracts won’t age as gracefully as they were originally intended.

Birthed into that environment, the Kraken’s front office wisely recognized that their advantage was rooted in protecting cap space. They took on less than $55-million in total cap commitments, with Jordan Eberle ($5.5-million AAV) and Yanni Gourde ($5.166-million AAV) the only players with meaningful term and dollars claimed in expansion.

The real story of the expansion draft was what Francis chose not to do — looking past several proven performers while adding the likes of Gavin Bayreuther, Kurtis MacDermid, Kole Lind and Alex True.

He opened the wallet for Oleksiak, in particular, by signing him to a $23-million, five-year contract. But he also fought like hell to preserve the Kraken’s ability to pursue bargain free agents, add future assets as a potential go-between in retained salary transactions and remain nimble in an uncertain marketplace.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/era-cap-sp ... nd/sn-amp/

Less cheery take...

What Francis has done, and said he would, is preserve cap space. The terms on Larsson’s and Oleksiak’s new deals aren’t official yet, and Driedger needs to be signed too. But it is likely that the Kraken will come out of this with some $25-30 million in cap space now. They could potentially have $50 million or more in the summer of 2022, with the impending free agents he’s taken. The question is...for what?

The free agent class is not impressive. Taylor Hall looks certain to remain in Boston. Alex Ovechkin isn’t going to walk through that door. Dougie Hamilton? I guess? That’s about all the true difference makers on the market. The Kraken aren’t really in a position to swing a trade for a wantaway star like Jack Eichel because they haven’t even had a draft yet and none of the players taken today are going to spin excitement meters.

Next year’s free agent class isn’t much better either, unless Francis is planning an offer-sheet to Matthew Tkachuk or Brayden Point. Or throwing all the money at Sasha Barkov. But the Panthers would almost certainly never let Barkov leave, and offer sheets happen on a comet-like schedule in the NHL. If Francis were interested in making waves he could throw an offer-sheet at Elias Petterssen this summer and create an instant rivalry with the next-closest team in Vancouver. But should an expansion team be tossing picks overboard before playing a game? Evgeni Malkin at 36? That’s not a thing, as great as Malkin has been.

It’s easy to mock the Knights for borking their cap space in about seven minutes after coming into existence, which forced them at times this year to go with 15 or 16 skaters in games this season. But they did get a Stanley Cup final appearance, and two conference final appearances out of it, and with another bounce here or there who knows. Bang for their buck isn’t the problem.

Francis has taken the usual expansion route, which is to wait for the draft picks, and maybe get more picks by harvesting bad contracts from elsewhere that we know will come along. It’s hockey, so it can work pretty quickly, especially if Driedger turns out to be the real thing in net. It’s just not very sexy. I want my Carey Price to the Leafs rumors, goddammit!

https://deadspin.com/the-kraken-are-pre ... 338079/amp

[D-train]

So no miracle in the amateur draft tonight, the Sabres take Power, which might well work out better for us since we got the top center in Beniers. Be interesting to see if he makes the opening night roster, not likely.

Now let's sign some good free agents and come out kicking ass.

Interesting that you haven't lived in Seattle for so long but are still going to be a fan of this team. I honestly don't think I would be a Sonics fan even though I love hoops and its not because I hate the NBA its because I live in Boston now. Ok a little because I despise that shit league.

I do think I will be more of a Kraken fan than a Sounders fan though. Maybe a 3 instead of a 1.

[DavidGee24]

Interesting that you haven't lived in Seattle for so long but are still going to be a fan of this team. I honestly don't think I would be a Sonics fan even though I love hoops and its not because I hate the NBA its because I live in Boston now. Ok a little because I despise that shit league.

I do think I will be more of a Kraken fan than a Sounders fan though. Maybe a 3 instead of a 1.

Funny, yeah. I've been in CA for 33 years now but when I go up to Seattle I still feel like I'm home there. I have no intention of retiring there and I'm disappointed in how retarded the city has become, but it's still what I identify with and I've been waiting for the NHL since I was a kid. So, I'm dumping the Anaheim Ducks. Convenient too, because right now they're horrible.

[D-train]

By Geoff Baker
Seattle Times staff reporter
Kraken general manager Ron Francis didn’t take long Saturday to deliver his first big surprise of the NHL entry draft, taking Regina Pats defenseman Ryker Evans with his second-round selection.

The Kraken had the third choice of each of the draft’s final six rounds after using its No. 2 overall selection Friday on University of Michigan center Matty Beniers, a move most pundits saw coming. But few expected the 19-year-old Evans, a 5-foot-11, 181-pound left-handed shooter who led all Western Hockey League blue-liners with 25 assists in 24 games last season, to go anywhere near as high as 35th overall.

“It should be exciting to get started with this brand new franchise,” Evans said. “A beautiful city. Playing there against the Seattle Thunderbirds, they’ve got some of the best fans in the league. Just knowing that, I’m excited.”

On a day the Kraken announced previously reported free-agent deals for goalie Chris Driedger and defensemen Adam Larsson and Jamie Oleksiak, Francis completed the franchise’s first entry draft by adding three more forwards, two defenders and a netminder to the initial Beniers selection.

Francis said afterward that Evans, a strong-skating, puck-moving defender who went undrafted a year ago, could be ticketed for his team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Palm Springs, California, as early as 2022-23 if he progresses enough, or stay in the WHL an extra overage season. Despite generally underwhelming draft projections for Evans elsewhere, Francis said his staffers saw enough to worry he might be gone had they waited until the third round.

[D-train]

Francis seems like a JS/PC disciple when it comes to drafting guys...

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Yeah, looks like we have another gm that wants to prove he's the smartest guy in the room. So he drafts a midget defenseman to go along with the 175 lb forward he took in the 1st round. Conventional wisdom be damned. What is it with this fucking city?

[D-train]

Yeah, looks like we have another gm that wants to prove he's the smartest guy in the room. So he drafts a midget defenseman to go along with the 175 lb forward he took in the 1st round. Conventional wisdom be damned. What is it with this fucking city?

Did you see the 6'2" 169 pound Goal tender. LOL Not kidding.