July 28: The Seattle Kraken saved cap space at seemingly every turn through the expansion draft, passing on several high-profile candidates. They’ve now decided to use that cap space in free agency, signing Vezina finalist Philipp Grubauer. Kevin Weekes of NHL Network first heard a deal could happen between Seattle and Grubauer, while Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports it will be a six-year contract with an average annual value of $5.9MM. The team has also officially announced a five-year contract for free agent forward Jaden Schwartz, which will carry an average annual value of $5.5MM.
It’s a huge swing for the expansion franchise, inking number four and nine from our Top 50 UFA List. Add in Alexander Wennberg, who signed earlier today for three years and $13.5MM and the Kraken have quickly used their cap space to improve the roster. Still, the Grubauer move in particular brings up several questions.
Seattle now has three NHL goaltenders on the roster between Grubauer, Chris Driedger and Vitek Vanecek. That will lead to a crunch before the start of the season given all three are waiver-eligible, meaning there could be a trade coming in the next few weeks. Friedman tweets that the Washington Capitals would be interested in re-acquiring Vanecek if possible, though it’s unclear what it would cost them at this point. Remember, the Kraken passed on selecting Brenden Dillon from the Capitals in expansion, only to watch Washington flip him for two second-round picks. If the return on Vanecek is any less than that, it will certainly raise some voices in criticism of GM Ron Francis.
For Grubauer specifically, he leaves one of the best teams in the league for a complete question mark. Colorado recently re-signed both Cale Makar and Gabriel Landeskog for huge cap hits, not leaving a lot of room to fit in their starting goaltender. The 29-year-old Grubauer could very well become the face of the franchise in Seattle after his outstanding 2020-21 performance, but he won’t have quite the same team in front of him.
The Avalanche now are left scrambling for a starting option, with not many left on the free agent market. Trade targets like Darcy Kuemper stand out as top options, though that also comes at a cost. Losing Grubauer is painful, but the team was going to be in a very tough financial situation if they tried to outbid a $5.9MM cap hit.
Schwartz meanwhile joins the Kraken as the team’s first big forward addition (apologies to Wennberg), signing a long-term deal. He will likely slot into the team’s top line, though there are now several wingers that could be interchangeable pieces in Seattle. After a down year with the St. Louis Blues, Schwartz still landed a slight raise on the $5.35MM cap hit he has carried over the last five seasons.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
This will be interesting. I think the Avs were right to walk away from this kind of contract.
Can Grubauer keep up those numbers on a non-elite team? I’m skeptical, but won’t rule it out.
@forwhomjoshbelltolled – Make that two of us. Some of the Avs D-core made him look a bit better. Girard being the exception, of course.
Actually think this was a terrible idea, considering the goalies they picked up in the expansion draft. If they don’t add someone like Dougie, then this was a missed opportunity. I also think scoring is a bigger issue than goaltending right now.
Good fro Grubauer though. Pretty big overpay though in years, imo.
I agree. Not saying I’m right because I haven’t seen him play enough, but nothing I’ve seen from Grubauer has looked like anything but an OK goalie to me.
And now paying 2 goalies that much bank will at best lead to the messy situation you had in Vegas.
Grubauer was 3rd in Vezina voting this season, with a GAA under 2.00 and 30 wins. I get that he may not get a ton of A+ defense playing in front of him with the Krakheads, but he’s far from just “OK.”
@fightcitymayor – That division was very weak, though. VGK was the best competition for the Avs, MIN was pretty good, the Blue were inexplicably inconsistent, and ARI, LAK, ANA, and SJS were, basically, awful. Unless Seattle reshapes their backend, I don’t see him shining between the pipes there.
@fightcitymayor way to pick the most team driven stats, that’s like choosing wins or RBIs to argue a baseball player is individually great.
wat
WHAT!
bet Driedger isn’t a very happy camper right now!
@azcm2511 – You kind of feel for the guy, don’t you? I was hoping to see what he could do on a bigger stage, too. Maybe he’ll be the first to ask for “Mutual contract termination” there!
his signing may be part of a bigger picture deal cooked up before the expansion draft….maybe he is traded to Colorado?
@azcm2511 – There’s an idea I like!
I wonder if Seattle sends him to Colorado now since the Avs are kind of over a barrel….?
Who do Colorado go with? Less and less names on the market now.
Fleury? Ullmark? Some decent options, just not a lot of them.
gotta find their next goalie via trade, the FA market is dried up. Keep an eye on a deal with Seattle for Driedger or with Dallas for Khudobin.
The early frontrunner to be the Kraken’s first buyout.
I dunno, seems like if Seattle wanted a 3rd NHL caliber goalie, they could’ve gotten that in the expansion draft. But they do need to spend some money, so there’s that.
Schwartz at 5 years, 5.5mil could be a HORRIBLE deal for Seattle.
Schwartz is a good player, but he’s a secondary player and there is no one in Seattle to drive his line. Same with Eberle.
Isn’t Driedger supposed to be a backup? Or did he sign to be a starter?
No he was signed from everything I heard to start. He was on the Mariners broadcast talking about how excited he was to be the #1 goalie with a lot of younger guys in front to grow with.
Who’s gonna play centre? Lot of pressure for the #2 pick
Big time overpay on Jaden Schwartz.
May the ‘Schwartz’ be with us!!(Better be…we paid for it!)