We’ll find out the bulk of the Seattle Kraken roster Wednesday night during the NHL expansion draft. In the meantime, general manager Ron Francis is making the most out of the exclusive window to speak to pending unrestricted free agents who were left unprotected by their teams.
According to several sources, Adam Larsson, Chris Driedger, and Jamie Oleksiak will be part of the initial Kraken roster.
Francis has two spots on his blue line taken with Larsson, who spent the past five seasons with the Oilers, on a four-year, $16M contract (per Darren Dreger), and Oleksiak, now a former member of the Stars (per Frank Seravalli).
We’ll see how the Kraken crease shapes up and if Francis does indeed take Carey Price, but in the meantime Chris Driedger will be a fine addition, according to Elliotte Friedman. The goaltender who broke out with the Panthers in 2020-21 is expected to sign a three-year, $10.5M deal.
All three players will count as selections for their former teams. Francis will need to create a roster featuring at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goalies.
The Kraken had a 10 a.m. ET Wednesday deadline to submit their 30 expansion draft selections ahead of the big reveal.
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Sean Leahy is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @Sean_Leahy.