Early winners, losers from Seattle Kraken expansion draft

By Jul 21, 2021, 9:51 PM EDT
Early winners, losers from Seattle Kraken expansion draft
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Whether you found out thanks to a stream of reports or during the NHL’s Seattle Kraken expansion draft show, the team’s 30 picks have been revealed.

To be clear, that doesn’t mean we now have a complete view of the Kraken’s opening-day roster. (Reports indicate we might know the 2021-22 schedule for the Kraken and other NHL teams by Thursday, though.)

For one thing, we could see side deals. The Kraken maintained salary cap throughout this expansion draft, so don’t be surprised to see “sweeteners” and other types of trades. That robust cap space also opens the door Kraken to be big players in 2021 NHL Free Agency. You know … if they want to.

So, take these early Seattle Kraken “winners” and “losers” with appropriate grains of salt. Things could change as far as the Kraken’s makeup, and also how the Kraken affect other NHL teams, in the days, months, and even years following this expansion draft.

But here are some early winners and losers nonetheless. Click here for the full roster reveal.

Seattle Kraken expansion draft: Early losers

Being that every other NHL team (except those lucky Golden Knights) needed to lose a player, why not start with “losers?”

Loser: the Kraken expansion draft reveal show itself

Love surprises? Did you want to drop your jaw as the Seattle Kraken announced their 30 expansion draft picks? *Cough* Well, hopefully you avoided social media/the Internet in general.

If you wanted the closest thing to suspense, you’d really need to stretch. According to Sportsnet’s Mark Spector, it merely took time for the Kraken to contact Dennis Cholowski as their Red Wings pick.

Plenty of reporters did great work (or annoying work, if you’re ESPN and/or hate spoilers). Daily Faceoff’s Frank Servalli chiseled out so many leaks, he became something of a meme magnet.

That said, the show did its best to make it fun. There were plenty of familiar faces, including other sports stars in Marshawn Lynch, Gary Payton, and Shawn Kemp. So, maybe you knew what gifts you were getting, but at least the wrapping paper was nice.

Losers: Lovers of splashy moves, pizzazz, chaos

Here’s a bold take: the Kraken, a mythical sea creature, likely splashed around a lot. During the expansion draft, we didn’t get many splashy moves from the Kraken, though.

Maybe that actually softens the blow of a lack of surprises? After all, a surprise can quickly downgrade to a disappointment. Just think of all of the times your younger self whined about getting socks as holiday gifts.

(As an old? Socks are pretty elite gifts, honestly.)

Instead of picking big names like Carey Price and Vladimir Tarasenko, the Kraken emphasized cap space, defense, and flexibility.

In the grand scheme of things, the Kraken might be smart in doing so. From a “sports are actually entertainment” perspective, those of us who crave chaos instead got socks. Sorry, socks.

Side deals

Could there be post-expansion draft trades? Something else that surfaces? We’ll see.

For now, it seems like NHL teams opted against side deals with the Kraken after making several before the Golden Knights’ expansion draft.

As much as it smarts for Flames fans to lose captain Mark Giordano, GM Brad Treliving said the price was simply too high to keep him. That may have been a trade. (Or teams just didn’t want a repeat of the Golden Knights heartache.)

Stay tuned at PHT for possible movement after the expansion draft, however.

Leaking Oilers

In time, maybe the Oilers will look like the smartest people in the room. Perhaps Duncan Keith will be so good as to prove critics wrong.

It sure doesn’t feel that way, though.

Losing Adam Larsson makes that Keith move look shakier, and only turns the knife in deeper about Edmonton possibly giving huge term to Zach Hyman. The Golden Knights likely made it more desirable to sign with an expansion team, but Larsson essentially picking the Kraken over the Oilers?

Ouch.

Blues, Flyers, generally anyone who wanted to save some money

Here’s where the “early” part is important in considering losers.

Following the expansion draft, the Kraken could still offer up their cap space to take on problem contracts — for a price. During the expansion draft announcements themselves, the Kraken weren’t exactly handing out a lot of “get out of salary cap jail for free” cards, though.

Seattle passed on the risk-reward decision of picking Vladimir Tarasenko. If the Flyers hoped to get James van Riemsdyk, Jakub Voracek, or even Shayne Gostisbehere off of the books, they were out of luck.

Deep down, the Predators probably didn’t expect the Kraken to rid themselves of $8M in one of Matt Duchene or Ryan Johansen. It sure would’ve been nice for a team already awkwardly handling its rebuild.

More often than not, the Kraken went with short contracts, and cheap ones.

The Lightning, to an extent

Look, this offseason could hurt the Lightning. (Yes, that “could” does some hard work. There’s a fool me once …,” vibe to assuming the salary cap will actually be a probably for Tampa Bay.)

For all the warnings about not overreacting to the expansion draft, part of me wonders if the Lightning should’ve tried to bribe the Kraken not to take Yanni Gourde. He’s really good.

But the Lightning need breathing room, and if they didn’t bribe Seattle to take Gourde, then maybe it could have been worse?

Lovers of goals

Yanni Gourde has 22 and 25-goal seasons on his resume. Chances are, Jordan Eberle will be a big catalyst for Seattle’s offense.

Overall, it’s fair to ask “where are the goals coming from?” This is another foible of picking winners and losers so soon after the Kraken expansion draft, though. Could they add more scoring punch via free agency or trades?

Maybe, but right now, it looks like the Kraken might score in a way you’d, well, normally expect from an expansion team.

Really, though, the goals might be tough to come by overall, which is a nice segue to the “winners” section.

Early winners from the Seattle Kraken expansion draft

Truthfully, the biggest wins might be difficult to detect. Maybe those happen via a trade or free-agent pickup. It could boil down to the Kraken finding their version of William Karlsson, too.

That said, here are some early guesses at winners.

Hakstol’s defensive sensibilities?

One would guess that, as a “hockey man,” Dave Hakstol probably covets defense. On paper, the Kraken figure to be a tenacious opponent — and not just from the blueline.

Naturally, it starts with Mark Giordano, a veteran not that far removed from a Norris Trophy win. Larsson is another defenseman who’s proven to be an asset, maybe an elite one in his end.

Between those veterans, some intriguing mid-range options like Vince Dunn, and a handful of late-stage prospects, the Kraken could ice a nice crew of defensemen. Fans of other teams might even feel a bit jealous.

Delightfully for Hakstol and the Kraken, that strong defensive play also extends to most of their forwards. Yanni Gourde can bring offense, but it’s his all-around play that makes him exciting. Overall impact may vary, but you can basically copy-paste “two-way player” for most of the forwards the Kraken picked during the expansion draft.

Chris Driedger

At 27 years old, Driedger has played in just 41 regular-season games, and made three playoff appearances. His numbers are absolutely sparkling in most of those contexts, so don’t blame the Kraken for taking a chance on him.

But it’s understandable that people compare Driedger receiving some term and cash to a signing that may still give Ron Francis nightmares. During his time as Hurricanes GM, Francis & Co. signed Scott Darling — a player who put up nice numbers, but not over a large sample size, at a somewhat advanced age.

Does that doom Driedger by default? No, not necessarily. (It could help to have a strong defense in front of him.)

Either way, though … nice hustle from Driedger. Maybe he could have received something similar on the free-agent market, yet who knows? Instead, Driedger receives the sort of stability he probably couldn’t have fathomed even a couple years ago. Good for him.

The Islanders — if they want to make some splashes

You know that bit about teams not wiggling out of salary-cap challenges? The Islanders rank as one of those exceptions.

Now, Jordan Eberle could be missed. Still, consider that he carried a $5.5M cap hit, while the Islanders moved similar money in trading away Nick Leddy and Andrew Ladd. (They even landed some futures for Leddy! Strong work.)

While Anthony Beauvilier figures to eat some of that space, Cap Friendly estimates the Islanders’ cap room at about $17.67 million.

Could they add that extra scoring talent to push them over the hump? Will they somehow add even more hitting? Get plenty of both by signing Gabriel Landeskog? Shock us all with Mathew Barzal? The possibilities were dizzying even before subtracting Eberle’s $5.5M via the Kraken expansion draft.

The Fleury family

Another expansion draft, another big night for people named “Fleury.”

The Kraken selected brothers (and defensemen) in Cale Fleury, 22, and Haydn Fleury, 25. Both bring interesting potential to the table.

But, really, even if they don’t (or only one does), moments like these are just cool.

More NHL news

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Jamie Benn suspended 2 games after captain-on-captain hit

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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.

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    Dellandrea scores twice in 3rd, Stars stay alive with 4-2 victory over Golden Knights

    Associated PressMay 28, 2023, 9:33 AM EDT
    Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
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    LAS VEGAS — With Dallas’ season on the line, the Stars got two critical goals from a player who was a healthy scratch the first two games of the Western Conference Final.

    Ty Dellandrea‘s goals came within a 1:27 span midway through the third period, and the Stars beat the Vegas Golden Knights 4-2 to keep alive their hopes of advancing to the Stanley Cup Final to face the Florida Panthers.

    “He’s one of the best guys I’ve ever played with,” said Stars goalie Jake Oettinger, who made 27 saves. “He deserves every opportunity he gets, and there’s no one happier for him than the guys in this room. It shows how special you are when you get taken out. He didn’t make it about him. He needed the opportunity to step up, and that’s what he did.”

    The Stars escaped elimination for the second game in a row and head to Dallas for Game 6 down 3-2. Dallas is attempting to become the fifth team in NHL history to win a series after being down 3-0.

    And look who’s back for the Stars? Captain Jamie Benn returns after a two-game suspension for his cross-check to the neck of Vegas captain Mark Stone in Game 3. That was the only game in this series that was decided early, and the Stars hadn’t even had a multigoal lead.

    “I know our group, and we weren’t happy about being in the hole we were in, and they decided to do something about it,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “And now we’re rolling.”

    The only problem for DeBoer was waiting two days to play Game 6.

    “Drop the puck,” he said.

    DeBoer said before the game if his team won, the pressure would shift to the Knights. Now it’s up to them to respond after twice being a period away from playing in the Stanley Cup Final and letting both opportunities slip away.

    “I don’t think we brought our best the last two games,” Stone said. “We were still in a good spot to win the game. We’ve got to bring a little bit better effort and start playing a little more desperate.”

    Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said “it’s a very good question” why his team didn’t play with more desperation, but he also wasn’t thrilled with the Knights’ execution.

    “We had 24 giveaways,” Cassidy said. “I’m not sure you’re beating the Arizona Coyotes in January with 24 giveaways. That’s no disrespect to Arizona, but it’s not the right way to play.”

    Dellandrea found the right way to play and put together the first multigoal playoff game of his career. Jason Robertson and Luke Glendening also scored, and Thomas Harley had two assists.

    Chandler Stephenson and Ivan Barbashev scored for the Knights, and Jonathan Marchessault had two assists to extend his points streak to four games. Adin Hill made 30 saves.

    Dellandrea scored from the right circle to put Dallas ahead, the puck deflecting off Vegas defenseman Alex Pietrangelo with 9:25 left for a 3-2 lead. Then, Dellandrea scored from the slot with 7:58 remaining.

    Dellandrea said the older players kept him motivated when he was temporarily sidelined.

    “There’s no denying it’s hard,” he said. “I’m thankful for a good group of character guys, and you’ve just got to stay ready.”

    The teams traded goals in the first two periods.

    Jack Eichel battled two Stars players for the puck in Vegas’ offensive zone, and then Barbashev swooped in and made a fantastic move to glide past Oettinger and score with 6:24 left in the first period. The Stars wasted little time in answering when Glendening scored on a deflection less than two minutes later.

    Dallas was robbed of what looked like a sure goal when Hill snagged a point-blank shot from Roope Hintz, who then threw his back in disbelief.

    Like in the first period, the Knights had a goal in the second quickly answered by one from the Stars. Stephenson scored from the left circle at 16:40 of the period, and Robertson knocked his own rebounds 2:09 later to make it 2-2. Stephenson tied the Knights’ record with his eight playoff goal this year, and Robertson had his fifth of the series.

    Sabres sign Minnesota defenseman Ryan Johnston to 2-year rookie contract

    Associated PressMay 27, 2023, 12:17 PM EDT
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    BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres ended a lengthy wait by signing Ryan Johnston to a two-year, entry level contract more than a month after the defenseman completed his senior college season at Minnesota.

    Johnston will report immediately to the Sabres’ American Hockey League affiliate in Rochester, whose best-of-seven Eastern Conference final playoff series against Hershey is tied at 1.

    From Southern California, Johnston is listed at 6-feet and 170 pounds and was selected 31st in 2019 draft.

    His puck-moving skills fit Buffalo’s style of play, Johnston finished his college career with nine goals and 59 points in 143 career games, including four goals and 18 points in 40 games this year. He reached the NCAA’s Frozen Four in each of his final two seasons, with the Gophers losing in the semifinals last year, followed by a 3-2 overtime loss to Quinnipiac in the championship game last month.

    He also had a goal and three assists in seven games representing the U.S. team that won gold at the 2021 world junior championships.

    Johnston, who turns 22 in July, had the option to wait until August when he would’ve become an unrestricted free agent and eligible to sign with any team. Because Johnston was first-round pick, the Sabres would’ve been compensated with a 2024 second-round selection had he signed elsewhere.

    Both sides are banking on the player’s age and college experience to enable Johnston to make the jump to the NHL within the next two seasons. The Sabres will still control Johnston’s rights as a restricted free agent once his entry-level contract expires.

    Joe Pavelski scores on OT power play, Stars beat Golden Knights 3-2 to avoid West sweep

    Associated PressMay 25, 2023, 11:52 PM EDT
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    Jerome Miron/USA TODAY Sports
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    DALLAS — Joe Pavelski admits that he probably appreciates the big playoff goals more the later he gets in his career. But they all still feel just as good, and his latest kept the season alive for the Dallas Stars.

    “Just really living in the moment,” Pavelski said. “A tremendous feeling for sure, and glad we could play another game, and go from there and try to extend it.”

    The 38-year-old Pavelski scored on a power play at 3:18 of overtime – a one-timer from the middle of the left circle to the far post – and the Stars avoided a sweep in the Western Conference Final with a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights.

    Jason Robertson scored twice for his first career multigoal playoff game for Dallas, which played without suspended captain Jamie Benn.

    “We’re looking for goals and that’s kind of my responsibility I put on myself,” Robertson said. “I know these playoffs have been tough. … I was able to get the bounces that we needed tonight.”

    Jake Oettinger had 37 saves, two nights after the 24-year-old Stars goalie was pulled 7:10 into Game 3 after allowing three goals on five shots.

    The Stars had the man advantage in overtime after Brayden McNabb‘s high-sticking penalty on Ty Dellandrea. Fifty seconds into the power play, Pavelski scored on a pass from Miro Heiskanen. They won for the first time in their five OT games this postseason – Vegas won the first two games of this series past regulation.

    It was only the second Vegas penalty of the game, both high-sticking calls against McNabb. His penalty on Pavelski late in the first period set up the power play when Robertson scored his first goal with some nifty stickwork.

    Pavelski, in his 15th NHL season and still looking for his first Stanley Cup, scored his ninth goal in 12 games this postseason, but his first in five games. He has 73 career postseason goals – the most for U.S.-born players and the most among all active players.

    “He’s ageless. … I’ve seen that movie over and over again. Never gets old,” Stars coach Pete DeBoer said. “He lives for those moments and he wants to be in those situations. Always has, and delivers almost every time.”

    Benn was suspended two games by the NHL on Wednesday for his cross-check with his stick landing near the neck of Vegas captain Mark Stone in the first two minutes of Game 3 on Tuesday night. Benn also will miss Game 5 on Saturday night in Las Vegas.

    William Karlsson and Jonathan Marchessault scored for Vegas. Adin Hill had his five-game winning streak snapped. He made 39 saves, including a game-saver with his extended left leg without about two minutes left in regulation on rookie Fredrik Olofsson’s swiping try in his first career playoff game.

    “Our effort wasn’t good enough. Closing a series is probably the hardest game in a series, right, so it just wasn’t good enough from our group,” Marchessault said. “It was still a one-goal game in overtime. It was right there for us.”

    Karlsson and Marchessault are among six of the original Vegas players still on the team from the inaugural 2017-18 season that ended with the Knights playing for the Stanley Cup, though they lost in five games to the Washington Capitals after winning the first game.

    Vegas missed a chance to complete a sweep, a night after the Florida Panthers finished off a sweep of the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eastern Conference Final.

    Vegas took a 2-1 lead midway through the second period when Marchessault, after whacking his stick on the back of Ryan Suter in front of the net, scored on a pass between the Stars defenseman’s legs from McNabb, another original Golden Knight.

    Robertson’s tying goal late in that period came on a ricochet off the back board just seconds after he had another shot hit the post. That was the fourth goal of this series, and sixth in the playoffs, after this regular season becoming the first Dallas player with a 100-point season.

    On his first goal late in the first that tied it 1-1, Robertson deflected Heiskanen’s shot from just inside the blue line up into the air. As Hill was trying to secure the puck into his glove, Robertson knocked it free and then reached around and swiped the puck into the net with his stick parallel to the ice.

    With former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson and wrestling great Ric Flair both in the building wearing Stars jerseys Dallas was avoided being swept in the playoffs for the first time since 2001 against St. Louis in the second round. This was the Stars’ 21st playoff series since then.

    The Golden Knights scored first again – though not like those three quick goals in Game 3 that led to the earliest exit ever for Oettinger.

    Karlsson pushed the puck up and skated to the front of the net after passing to Nicolas Roy, whose pass through traffic went off a Dallas stick before Reilly Smith got it just inside the right circle and took a shot. Karlsson’s deflection past Oettinger only 4:17 into the game was his eighth goal this postseason.

    “There were a lot of rush chances,” said Smith, also with Vegas since the beginning. “I don’t think we did a good enough job of making it difficult on them. So we get another opportunity in two days.”

    Tkachuk sends Panthers to Stanley Cup Final, after topping Hurricanes 4-3 for sweep

    Associated PressMay 24, 2023, 11:27 PM EDT
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    Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports
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    SUNRISE, Fla. — Matthew Tkachuk delivered for Florida, again. Sergei Bobrovsky denied Carolina, again.

    The wait is over: After 27 years, the Florida Panthers – a hockey punchline no more – are again going to play for the game’s grandest prize.

    Tkachuk got his second goal of the game with 4.9 seconds left, lifting the Panthers past the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3 and into the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996 after sweeping the Eastern Conference final.

    The Panthers will play either Vegas or Dallas for the Stanley Cup starting sometime next week; Vegas currently leads the Western Conference title series 3-0.

    “This was pure joy,” Panthers coach Paul Maurice said.

    Bobrovsky stopped 36 shots to cap his stellar series – four games, four one-goal wins, three of them basically in sudden death, a .966 save percentage after stopping 174 of the 180 shots he faced. The first two wins were in overtime, and this one may as well have been.

    The Panthers scored 10 goals in the series, and Bobrovsky ensured those were all they needed. They were the No. 8 seed, the last team in, the longest of long shots – which is consistent with their history, after not winning a single playoff series in 26 years, a drought that ended last season.

    And now, beasts of the East. Tkachuk arrived last summer saying he wanted to bring Florida a Cup. He’s four wins away.

    “It’s amazing,” Bobrovsky said. “We showed the resilience … and we’re lucky to have Chucky on our side. He knows how to score big goals.”

    NHL Senior Vice President Brian Jennings was the one tasked with presenting the Prince of Wales Trophy. After some photos, Aleksander Barkov – the captain who had two assists, one of them on the game-winner – grabbed it, and skated it away. Some teams touch it. Some don’t. A few of the Panthers did, but Barkov didn’t pass it around.

    That’ll wait for the big prize.

    “It’s hard to explain right now. Everything just happened so quick,” Barkov said. “It means a lot. It definitely does. … It hasn’t been easy and nobody said it’s going to be easy.”

    Added Tkachuk: “We earned that thing, and definitely didn’t do it the easy way. We earned it.”

    Ryan Lomberg and Anthony Duclair had the other goals for Florida, which swept a series for the first time in franchise history.

    Jordan Staal – his brothers Eric and Marc play for the Panthers – took a tripping penalty with 57 seconds left in regulation, setting up the power-play that Tkachuk finished off after getting into the slot and beating Frederik Andersen to set off a wild celebration.

    “Eastern Conference champions,” Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad said. “It’s really cool. No doubt about it. But you know, at the end of the day, we have our eyes on something different.”

    Toy rats – the Panthers’ tradition, a nod to the unwanted locker room guests from Florida’s old arena in 1996 – sailed down from the stands, and the goal needed to survive an official review. But the rats were picked up, the goal was deemed good, and 27 years of waiting was officially over 4.9 seconds later.

    Jesper Fast seemed like he might have saved the season for Carolina, getting a tying goal with 3:22 left in regulation. Paul Stastny and Teuvo Teravainen had the first two goals of the night for the Hurricanes, while Brady Skjei and Jordan Martinook each had two assists. Andersen stopped 21 shots.

    “Everyone’s going to say, ‘You got swept.’ That’s not what happened,” Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said. “I watched the game. I’m there. I’m cutting the games. We’re in the game. We didn’t lose four games. We got beat, but we were right there. This could have went the other way. It could have been four games the other way.”

    That wasn’t sour grapes. He was right. A bounce here, a bounce there, a Bobrovsky not here, a Bobrovsky not there, and this series could have gone much differently.

    But Bob was his best. Tkachuk was clutch, over and over. And Florida is as close to a Cup as it has ever been; the Panthers were swept by Colorado in the 1996 final.

    Towels waved, strobe lights flashed, and the fans wasted no time letting the Panthers know that they were ready to a clincher.

    Tkachuk made it 2-0 on the power play midway through the first. Carolina – a 113-point, division-championship-winning team in the regular season – made it 2-1 later in the first on Stastny’s goal, and Teravainen tied it early in the second.

    Lomberg’s goal midway through the second gave Florida the lead again. It stayed that way until Fast got the equalizer with 3:22 left, and then Tkachuk finished it off – getting the Panthers to the title round in his first season.

    “It’s been unbelievable since July since I got here,” Tkachuk said. “And hopefully we can cap off this amazing year.”

    AROUND THE RINK

    Panthers general manager Bill Zito was announced earlier Wednesday as a finalist for NHL GM of the year. … Tkachuk’s two goals gave him 21 points in the playoffs – extending his Florida single-season postseason record, which was 17 by Dave Lowry in 1996. … Slavin was quickly ruled out for the remainder of the game after Bennett’s hit, with what the Hurricanes said was “an upper-body injury.” Slavin wobbled as he tried to get to his feet. … Miami Dolphins coach Mike McDaniel – who has also been a regular at Miami Heat games during their playoff run this spring – banged the drum before the game. When done, without a mic to drop, he simply dropped the mallet instead.

    TWO-GOAL EDGE

    Tkachuk’s goal midway through the opening period put Florida up 2-0 – and marked the first time, in nearly 14 periods of play to that point, that a team had a two-goal lead in this series. Every bit of action came with the score tied or someone up by one in the first 272 minutes (including all the overtimes) of the series.