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Kraken name Mark Giordano first captain; add Barre-Boulet on waivers

Seattle Kraken

Abbie Parr/Getty Images

Getty Images

Busy day for the Seattle Kraken on Monday as they announced veteran defenseman Mark Giordano will be the first captain in franchise history, while they also added an interesting player on the waiver wire by claiming Alex Barre-Boulet from the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Let’s start with the Giordano news.

He seemed like an obvious choice to be captain given that he is the most veteran player on the team and had spent the past eight years serving as the captain of the Calgary Flames. Seattle selected Giordano from Calgary in the expansion draft to help lead their defense in their inaugural season. He has one year remaining on his current contract.

Along with being one of the league’s top defenseman for the past decade, Giordano is one of the great undrafted success stories in the NHL and quite literally worked his way up from the bottom to become a Norris Trophy winning player.

The interesting move on Monday, though, was the addition of Barre-Boulet on waivers.

He only has 15 games of NHL experience on his resume, but he figured to be a player that Tampa Bay might rely on this season to help replace some of their offseason departures on their depth chart. He fits the profile of Tampa Bay’s under-the-radar gems: Undrafted, undersized, skilled, and wildly productive at every level. Barre-Boulet dominated the AHL offensively over the past couple of seasons but simply lost out on a numbers game in Tampa Bay, unable to crack an already loaded lineup.

He should get the opportunity in Seattle.

The Lightning signed him to a three-year contract earlier this offseason with a salary cap hit of Just $785,333 per season.

If he can make an impact and become a contributor he would be an absolute steal for a Seattle team that needs to find as many hidden gems as it can as it builds its roster.