NHL mock expansion draft: Projecting the Seattle Kraken’s 30 picks

By Sean LeahyJul 20, 2021, 6:50 PM EDT

The 2021 Seattle Kraken NHL expansion draft will take place on Wednesday night. Over the weekend, NHL teams sent in their protected/exposed lists, so now Ron Francis and his staff can spend the next few days trying to construct the first roster in franchise history.

Francis and the Kraken will be afforded the same rules that the Golden Knights had in 2017. The Kraken will make 30 total selections made up of at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goalies. Twenty of those players must be under contract for the 2021-22 season. Also, the total salary cap hits must be between 60% and 100% of the $81.5 million cap ceiling.

Thanks to the wonderful Cap Friendly, the Pro Hockey Talk team picked our Kraken rosters following the reveal of the protected/exposed lists. It wasn’t easy as there are some notable names available and tough decisions ahead.

Sean Leahy, NHL writer

FORWARDS (18)
Jordan Eberle, Islanders
Yanni Gourde, Lightning
Joonas Donskoi, Avalanche
Paul Byron, Canadiens
Rocco Grimaldi, Predators
Dylan Gambrell, Sharks
Christian Fischer, Coyotes
Alexander Volkov, Ducks
Blake Lizotte, Kings
Morgan Geekie, Hurricanes
Tanner Kero, Stars
Colin Blackwell, Rangers
Matthew Highmore, Canucks
Zach Aston-Reese, Penguins (RFA)
Jujhar Khaira, Oilers (RFA)
Evgeny Svechnikov, Red Wings (RFA)
Adam Gaudette, Blackhawks (RFA)
Nick Merkley, Devils (RFA)

DEFENSEMEN (9)
Mark Giordano, Flames
Shayne Gostisbehere, Flyers
Brenden Dillon, Capitals
Dylan DeMelo, Jets
Dean Kukan, Blue Jackets
Travis Dermott, Maple Leafs
Connor Clifton, Bruins
William Borgen, Sabres (RFA)
Vince Dunn, Blues (RFA)

GOALIES (3)
Joey Daccord, Senators
Kaapo Kähkönen, Wild
Chris Driedger, Panthers (UFA)

Total salary cap hit: $57.9 million

It’s all about flexibility. Ron Francis’ job is to build a contender, one that can hopefully replicate Vegas’ success early on. You don’t need to be held back by weighty contracts for older players who are in the process of breaking. This is why Vladimir Tarasenko and Carey Price aren’t to be found on my list.

There will be enough cap space left over after signing Driedger and the RFAs to strengthen, especially up front where we could use a bit more scoring punch. The blue line is solid, led by Giordano, the first captain in Kraken history. It may only be for one season, but he’s a good one to have back there and in the room in the first season.

There’s lots of inexperience in goal for my Kraken, but you don’t need to overspend to get quality netminding in this league. Driedger was a breakout player for the Panthers this past season and Kähkönen shows positive signs in his rookie year in Minnesota. It’s an interesting tandem that could pay dividends with a split workload.

nhl expansion draft — Abbie Parr/Getty Images

James O’Brien, NHL writer

FORWARDS (18)
Jonathan Drouin, Canadiens
Yanni Gourde, Lightning
James van Riemsdyk, Flyers
Nino Niederreiter, Hurricanes
Jared McCann, Maple Leafs
Calle Jarnkrok, Predators
Alexander Volkov, Ducks
Christian Fischer, Coyotes
Carl Grundstrom, Kings
Ryan Carpenter, Blackhawks
Matthew Highmore, Canucks
Julien Gauthier, Rangers
Zach Aston-Reese, Penguins (RFA)
Tyler Benson, Oilers (RFA)
Nick Merkley, Devils (RFA)
Kieffer Bellows, Islanders (RFA)
Ryan Donato, Sharks (RFA)
Vitaly Abramov, Senators (RFA)

DEFENSEMEN (9)
Mark Giordano, Flames
Dylan DeMelo, Jets
Troy Stecher, Red Wings
Nick Jensen, Capitals
Dean Kukan, Blue Jackets
Jacob MacDonald, Avalanche
Jake McCabe, Sabres (UFA)
Mike Reilly, Bruins (UFA)
Vince Dunn, Blues (RFA)

GOALIES (3)
Ben Bishop, Stars
Kaapo Kähkönen, Wild
Chris Driedger, Panthers (UFA)

Total salary cap hit: $54.97 million

While it manifests itself in different ways, my entire plan was to strike at value. Ben Bishop’s injury issues worry me, but let’s face it: that’s been the case much of his career. When he’s played, he’s honestly been pretty incredible.

With Bishop and some of the other more costly players, my motto with risk-taking was simple: if these players don’t pan out, at least their contracts are short. Yanni Gourde (four years) and Dylan DeMelo (three) represent the longest contracts on the books, free agents pending. Not every pick is meant to be a long-term Kraken. Giordano, Drouin, Niederreiter, and others were selected as much for trade potential as anything they could do on the ice.

So, mix one part trade bait that could also translate to on-ice results. Then mix in some swipes at hopefully unearthing a promising young talent. Would someone like Tyler Benson and Carl Grundstrom become a difference-maker? Worth a low-risk shot, and sure beats … I mean, basically everything else available from Edmonton, for one. No doubt about it, there are a few “lesser evils” on this roster, too. (Sorry, Ryan Carpenter.)

Ideally, there could be some fair free-agent value from someone like Vince Dunn, Chris Driedger, and Mike Reilly. Or maybe their rights could fetch a little something in a trade? That last part cements a funny thing even about this exercise: we don’t totally know if there are side deals set up between the Kraken and someone else. There are plenty of “meh” options that could be replaced by bad (ideally short) contracts for a premium price of picks and/or prospects.

Overall, the goal should be clear. Find value wherever you can, while not boxing yourself into corners. The best moves the Kraken make might end up being the ones they don’t make.

Adam Gretz, NHL writer

FORWARDS (18)
Vladimir Tarasenko, Blues
James van Riemsdyk, Flyers
Jordan Eberle, Islanders
Yanni Gourde, Lightning
Joonas Donskoi, Avalanche
Jared McCann, Maple Leafs
Carl Hagelin, Capitals
Rocco Grimaldi, Predators
Christian Fischer, Coyotes
Ryan Carpenter, Blackhawks
Alexander Volkov, Ducks
Mason Appleton, Jets
Zack MacEwan, Canucks
Blake Lizotte, Kings
Colin Blackwell, Rangers
Zach Aston-Reese, Penguins (RFA)
Dominik Kahun, Oilers (RFA)
Ryan Donato, Sharks (RFA)

DEFENSE (9)
P.K. Subban, Devils
Mark Giordano, Flames
Colin Miller, Sabres
Brett Kulak, Canadiens
Troy Stecher, Red Wings
Dean Kukan, Blue Jackets
Joshua Brown, Senators
Jakub Zboril, Bruins
Jake Bean, Hurricanes (RFA)

GOALIES (3)
Ben Bishop, Stars
Kaapo Kähkönen, Wild
Chris Driedger, Panthers (UFA)

Total salary cap hit: $75.3 million

My goal here again was to limit long-term contracts as much as possible to keep my salary cap flexibility open for the future. So I resisted the urge to take too many of those big contracts that are sitting out there, so I avoided Carey Price, Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen and players like that. Any big money contract that I did take I tried to make sure it was short-term and tradeable. I figure Mark Giordano or P.K. Subban could be flipped with some salary retained to collect more assets.

Vladimir Tarasenko, James van Riemsdyk, and Jordan Eberle are the exceptions on the big money deals, but they were far too intriguing to pass on and could help me be competitive in year one, especially in that division.

In goal, I stuck with Ben Bishop because, well, I just think if he is healthy the upside there in the short-term is substantial, and with him, Driedger, and Kähkönen I should have a good collection of goalies to keep me in games.

Teravainen scores late, Hurricanes rally to beat Rangers 3-2

Associated PressMar 21, 2023, 11:34 PM EDT

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NEW YORK – Teuvo Teravainen scored the tiebreaking goal late in the third period, Frederik Andersen stopped 29 shots and the Carolina Hurricanes rallied to beat the New York Rangers 3-2.

Jalen Chatfield and Stefan Noesen also scored for the Metropolitan Division-leading Hurricanes, who won for the third time in four games.

With the comeback win, the Hurricanes became the second team – following Boston – to reach the 100-point mark this season as Carolina increased its Metropolitan Division-lead over second-place New Jersey to two points and the third-place Rangers to eight.

“That was a great effort. All 20 guys contributed and we got what we deserved,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “If we play like that, we’ll be in good shape. This time of year it gets tougher and tougher.”

Tyler Motte and Kaapo Kakko scored for the Rangers, who had won four straight were 6-0-1 in their last seven. Igor Shesterkin finished with 36 saves as the Rangers played their third game in four nights – the previous two shutout wins at home.

“Igor kept us in there as long as he could and we just didn’t have enough in the tank,” Rangers captain Jacob Trouba said. ”They won more battles and played a hard game.”

Teravainen scored his 11th goal with 2:33 left on a pass from defenseman Brent Burns, redirecting the puck past Shesterkin. The Hurricanes, who trailed 1-0 and 2-1.

“Somehow they left me open in the back side, great pass by him,” Teravainen said of the winning-goal pass to him in the slot. “We knew this would be a tough night. They have a good team. We knew we had to battle to win this game.”

The Rangers led 1-0 entering the third and were vying for their third-straight shutout before Chatfield tied the score at 9:49 – the first goal the Rangers allowed in more than eight periods. New York was coming off a 6-0 win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night with Shesterkin in goal and a 7-0 triumph over Nashville behind Jaroslav Halak on Sunday.

Kakko then put New York back ahead 31 seconds later with his 13th goal, only to have Noesen answer right back 18 seconds later to tie it 2-2.

Motte opened the scoring at the 17-minute mark of the first, knocking the puck past Andersen for his third goal in four games and sixth of the season overall.

The Rangers hadn’t lost in regulation since a 4-2 defeat on March 4 at Boston.

“Tonight we didn’t play near well enough to beat that team,” Rangers coach Gerard Gallant said. ”Honestly, the whole game they outplayed us. They were a lot quicker. They managed the puck real well … We didn’t play our game.”

MILESTONE

Hurricanes captain Jordan Staal played his 729th game with Carolina on Tuesday, tying defenseman Glen Wesley for the second-most games played in franchise history since relocation from Hartford in 1997. Staal, 34, trails only his brother Eric, who played 909 games for the Hurricanes from 2003-16.

UP NEXT

Hurricanes: Host the Rangers on Thursday night to finish the home-and-home set in the opener of a four-game homestand.

Rangers: At Carolina on Thursday night to open a two-game trip.

Ullmark’s 40 saves carries Bruins past Senators, 2-1

Associated PressMar 21, 2023, 11:31 PM EDT

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BOSTON – Linus Ullmark made 40 saves, Jake DeBrusk had the go-ahead goal and the NHL-best Boston Bruins continued their pursuit of the league’s record for regular-season victories with a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators.

“I thought he was outstanding and he needed to be,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery said of Ullmark. “Unfortunately we gave up a lot of good looks, a lot of odd-man rushes because of our puck management and he bailed us out like he has all year.”

David Krejci added a power-play goal for Boston, which won its fourth straight.

Dylan Gambrell scored for the Senators and Mads Sogaard made 33 stops.

“We had a shooters’ mentality for two periods,” Ottawa coach D.J. Smith said. “The third period, they’ve won 54 games now, they’re not going to give you an odd-man rush, they’re not going to give you anything. You’re going to have to earn it.”

The Bruins posted their 54th win and with 12 games left are on pace to break the mark of 62, set by the Detroit Red Wings in 1995-96 and matched by the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2018-19.

Chasing the Eastern Conference’s eighth and final playoff spot, Ottawa has lost six of seven following a season-high, five-game winning streak.

Coming off a 3-2 road trip where they won the last three games by a combined score of 15-2 that included two shutouts by backup Jeremy Swayman, the Bruins converted on a two-man, power-play advantage to tie the game at 1 midway into the opening period when Krejci poked in a rebound from the edge of the crease.

DeBrusk completed a nifty play with Brad Marchand when he collected a pass cutting down the slot at full speed, shifted and tucked a rebound past Sogaard at 15:52 of the first period for his 23rd goal.

“It was ‘all world.’ I saw him and he fed it through a lot of guys for a breakaway,” DeBrusk said of the pass. “It was one of those passes where I didn’t know what to do. I was going to point at him (after) but I was going too fast.”

Gambrell’s wraparound score gave Ottawa a 1-0 edge.

“I thought I played a good game today,” Sogaard said. “I just battled and stayed with it the entire way. … These ones are tough because we were so close.”

HEAVY WORKLOAD

Ullmark stopped 22 shots in the second period with at least a dozen of them high-quality chances. During an Ottawa PP, he jumped from a crouch to make a right-shoulder stop on Alex DeBrincat’s bid from in close.

“We talked about it,” defenseman Hampus Lindholm said of the second period. “We know we’re a good team in the third and wanted to tighten it up for him. … They got a lot of chances that were our own fault in the second.”

WOMEN IN SPORTS NIGHT

The Bruins highlighted women who work and compete in the sports community, having Olympic gold medalist and Boston Pride defender Kali Flanagan accompany Bruins players during pregame walk-ins along with local high school scholastic award winners. In addition, in-arena host Michaela Johnson handled the PA for the night and they also left yellow roses at the seats of female reporters.

NOTES: The Senators entered the game as the only team holding an advantage in their series against the Bruins this season, winning twice in three games. … Montgomery said after the morning skate that defenseman Derek Forbort would likely be sidelined with a lower-body injury at least through the rest of the regular season. … DeBrusk, playing on the top line most of the season, is four off his career-high goal total, set in 2018-19.

UP NEXT

Senators: Host Tampa Bay on Thursday.

Bruins: Host longtime rival Montreal in an Original Six matchup Thursday.

Boldy’s goal with 1.3 left in OT lifts Wild over Devils

Associated PressMar 21, 2023, 11:24 PM EDT

Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

NEWARK, N.J. – Matt Boldy scored with 1.3 seconds left in overtime and Filip Gustavsson made a career-high 47 saves to give the Minnesota Wild a 2-1 victory over the New Jersey Devils.

The game was a chippy, defensive struggle. After two scoreless periods, the Devils were outshooting the Wild 22-19.

Minnesota finally broke through 6:41 into the third when Mason Shaw scored his seventh goal of the season on a wraparound.

Timo Meier answered for the Devils five minutes later with his 35th goal of the season on a wraparound of his own.

New Jersey was unable to convert on a late power play, and the teams went to overtime.

It was a back-and-forth five minutes of extra hockey, with both goaltenders making good saves. After Jack Hughes hit the post for the Devils, the puck caromed off a post to Boldy and he beat the buzzer with his 23rd goal of the season.

Vitek Vanecek stopped 27 shots for New Jersey.

NOTES: The Devils are 10-4 in overtime, while the Wild improved to 4-5.

UP NEXT

Wild: Play at Philadelphia on Thursday night.

Devils: Play at Buffalo on Friday night.

Avalanche coach Jared Bednar signs extension through 2026-27

Associated PressMar 21, 2023, 11:22 PM EDT

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DENVER — Colorado Avalanche coach Jared Bednar has signed a three-year extension that will keep him in charge of the reigning Stanley Cup champions through the 2026-27 season.

The new deal for the winningest head coach in club history kicks in once the current contract runs out after the 2023-24 season.

Bednar, 51, is the only person to win championships in the ECHL, AHL and NHL as head coach. He directed the Avalanche to their third Stanley Cup title in team history last season by beating Tampa Bay, the two-time defending champions.

This season, the Avalanche have dealt with an array of injuries, which include missing captain Gabriel Landeskog all year after he underwent knee surgery in October. But they’re starting to creep closer to being healthy – and working their way up the standings. Colorado is riding a six-game winning streak to remain in a tight race with Dallas and Minnesota for the Central Division crown. The top spot in the Western Conference is in play, too.

“Jared has done a tremendous job behind the bench and certainly deserves this extension and to continue as the leader of our team,” Joe Sakic, the team’s president of hockey operations, said in a statement.

It wasn’t the prettiest of starts for Bednar in his inaugural season for Colorado. In 2016-17, his team amassed only 48 points (22-56-4) to finish last in the league. Since then, it’s been full steam ahead for Bednar and the Avalanche. They became the first NHL squad to go from worst to first in a span of four seasons or less since the 1970-71 Bruins, according to research by the team.

In addition, Bednar has led the Avalanche to five straight playoff appearances – and is closing in on a sixth – to become the first Avalanche coach to accomplish the feat. His 40 postseason wins are the second-most in team history, trailing only Bob Hartley (49).

“His strength as a communicator, his relationship with the players, the way he prepares each and every day is a huge reason our team has been so successful,” general manager Chris MacFarland said. “He is an exceptional leader.”

Bednar is currently the third-longest tenured coach in the league, behind only Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper (March 2013) and Pittsburgh’s Mike Sullivan (December 2015).

“Being able to lead this team over the last seven years has been a privilege,” said Bednar, whose team faces the Penguins on Wednesday. “I am grateful and excited to have the opportunity to continue building on what we’ve accomplished so far.”

Bednar captured a Kelly Cup (ECHL) with the South Carolina Stingrays in 2009, along with a Calder Cup (AHL) with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2016.

Sean Leahy, NHL writer

Total salary cap hit: $57.9 million

More NHL news

James O’Brien, NHL writer

Total salary cap hit: $54.97 million

Adam Gretz, NHL writer

Total salary cap hit: $75.3 million