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Kraken Assign Cale Fleury To AHL

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Saturday: Fleury has been returned to AHL Coachella Valley, per a team announcement.

Friday: The Seattle Kraken have recalled defenseman Cale Fleury on an emergency loan (Twitter link). It’s Fleury’s third call up of April, with each prior recall being followed by an assignment on the subsequent day. The ring of trips to-and-from the minors has held Fleury to just one game since March 28th – an April 4th win in the AHL where Fleury recorded one assist.

Despite six recalls this season, Fleury has yet to play in the NHL this year. He’s instead spent all 61 games of his season with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, recording six goals, 33 points, 20 penalty minutes, and a +27. The scoring matches Fleury’s total from last season, though he played in three fewer games.

Fleury is now in his sixth professional season, making his debut with the Laval Rocket in the 2018-19 season, after Montreal selected him in the third round of the 2017 NHL Draft. He was Seattle’s selection from Montreal in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft, re-signing with the team in each of the last three summers. The two-year deal he signed this summer was his first multi-year contract since signing his entry-level contract in 2018.

Fleury will be competing with healthy scratch Justin Schultz and rookie Ryker Evans for Seattle’s final lineup spot. Evans has just eight points through 29 games this season, while Schultz has managed 22 in 63 games. And while Fleury likely sits outside of a lineup spot, the Kraken have just seven games left in their season and sit 16 points behind the Western Conference’s second Wild Card – setting up the perfect time for the team to test out young or inexperienced players like Fleury.

Kraken Sign Victor Ostman To Entry-Level Deal

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The Kraken have signed goaltender Victor Östman to a two-year, entry-level contract, per a team announcement Wednesday. It’s the maximum allowable ELC with a cap hit of $950K.

Östman, 23, was one of the top goaltenders on the college free-agent market. Undrafted out of the Swedish junior circuit in 2019, Östman came over to North America for his age-19 season and suited up in major junior play for the USHL’s Chicago Steel behind a stacked roster that included multiple current NHLers, namely Sabres defenseman Owen Power, Flames winger Matthew Coronato, and Golden Knights forward Brendan Brisson. He jumped to the collegiate ranks during the COVID pandemic, locking down the starters’ net during a shortened season at the University of Maine and never looking back. He’s been their go-to option in the crease ever since, posting a .905 SV%, 2.82 GAA, five shutouts, and a 35-38-7 record in 86 appearances.

Curiously, while the team in front of Östman vastly improved this season, his senior campaign was the worst of his collegiate tenure. Maine made the NCAA tournament for the first time in 12 years on the backs of brothers Bradly Nadeau (a Hurricanes first-round pick) and Josh Nadeau, but Östman struggled to the tune of a .892 SV%, his first season under .900 at any level in five years. He essentially split starts this season with countryman and freshman Albin Boija, who vastly outperformed him with a .916 SV%, 2.01 GAA, and two shutouts in 18 appearances.

The Swedish big man (6’4″, 205 lbs) will begin next season under contract with Seattle but could finish out 2023-24 on an ATO with AHL Coachella Valley. Both Kraken-contracted netminders in minors, Chris Driedger and Ales Stezka, are pending UFAs, while 2022 second-round pick Niklas Kokko is under contract and could come to North America after an exceptional campaign in the Finnish Liiga split between Kärpät and Pelicans. Östman’s step back this season suggests full-time AHL work may be a bit too much to ask out of the gate, and he could begin the season on assignment to ECHL Kansas City if one of Driedger or Stezka is brought back and Kokko is brought over from Finland.

Östman will be an RFA when his ELC expires in 2026.

Seattle Kraken Send Down Cale Fleury

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  • For the fourth time this season, defenseman Cale Fleury has been reassigned to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, as the Seattle Kraken announced the transaction earlier today. Unfortunately, Fleury has still not been able to register a game for the Kraken this season but has managed to score six goals and 32 points over 50 games for the Firebirds across the year.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Kraken Recall Cale Fleury

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  • The Kraken brought defenseman Cale Fleury back up from AHL Coachella Valley after sending him down yesterday, per a team announcement. Fleury has been summoned multiple times over the past few weeks for injury insurance while star blue-liner Vince Dunn remains sidelined with an upper-body injury. He hasn’t seen any game action, though, serving as a healthy scratch in the two games he’s been rostered for. On the farm, the 25-year-old has 32 points in 60 games, leading Coachella Valley defensemen. He signed a two-year, $1.6MM contract to remain in the Seattle organization last summer after reaching restricted free agency.

Kraken Recall Shane Wright

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The Kraken have recalled top forward prospect Shane Wright from AHL Coachella Valley, per a team announcement Sunday.

Wright’s recall gives Seattle a crowded roster up front. Another pair of youngsters, Logan Morrison and Ryan Winterton, were recalled from Coachella Valley last week and have both factored into the Kraken’s last three games. Seattle GM Ron Francis certainly seems intent on giving the future of his organization a chance in the majors down the stretch with playoff hockey no longer in the conversation, Wright included.

The 20-year-old Wright was the consensus top prospect in the 2022 draft class for quite some time, but a slightly underwhelming draft year and some impressive performances from his peers allowed him to slip to the Kraken, who held the fourth overall pick. His post-draft season was rocky, too. He made Seattle out of camp after signing his entry-level contract in 2022 but played sparingly over the first few weeks of the season. His consistent healthy scratches allowed Seattle to take advantage of a loophole in the NHL/CHL transfer agreement and give Wright his first taste of AHL hockey, assigning him to Coachella Valley on a conditioning loan for a two-week stretch. The Kraken then loaned him out to the Canadian national junior team, with whom he recorded seven points in seven games while serving as team captain en route to a gold medal, before returning him to OHL Windsor to close out the season in major junior play.

While Wright would have been ineligible for full-time AHL assignment this season as well, as his 20th birthday fell after Jan. 1, he was awarded an exception by the CHL and reported to Coachella Valley to kick off the 2023-24 season. That’s where he’s remained outside of two brief recalls to Seattle in November and December, ranking fifth among a deep offense with 20 goals, 23 assists and 43 points in 56 games. It’s been a solid but not overly impressive showing for the former OHL rookie of the year, who was also held without a point in three games of major league action with the Kraken earlier this season.

It’s unclear if the Kraken intend on keeping Wright in the NHL for the remainder of the stretch run, although there’s nothing stopping them with ample cap space and no roster limit. He’s still in the first season of his entry-level contract, which didn’t take effect last season because he played less than 10 NHL games. That could repeat again this year if he fails to hit the double-digit mark, something the Kraken would like to do to extend his value. Thus, don’t expect him to play more than six of Seattle’s nine remaining games. If his ELC defers again, he’ll reach restricted free agency in 2027.

Seattle Kraken Recall Cale Fleury, Reassign Gustav Olofsson

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In a minor tweak to their blue line, the Seattle Kraken have made a change at the bottom of their defensive core. The organization announced they have recalled defenseman Cale Fleury on an emergency basis, and have reassigned Gustav Olofsson to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds.

For the second year in a row, Olofsson has spent much of the season at the AHL level, receiving his first call-up of the year on March 26th. Managing three games for the Kraken last year, Olofsson has only suited up in one for Seattle this season, registering zero points in 14:57 of ice time.

At the AHL level, Olofsson has not been much of an offensive threat either, only scoring 14 points in 61 games for the Firebirds since joining the Kraken organization. Fleury, on the other hand, has been much more productive at Coachella Valley, scoring six goals and 32 points over 60 games this year alone.

Nevertheless, Fleury has not played for the Kraken yet this season after tallying one assist in 12 games for the team last year. Now, the former 87th overall pick of the 2017 NHL Draft will have the opportunity to play bottom-pairing minutes for Seattle moving forward.

Kraken Sign Lukas Dragicevic To Entry-Level Contract

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The Seattle Kraken have signed top defense prospect Lukas Dragicevic to his entry-level contract (Twitter link). The deal will carry a $950K annual-average-value (AAV). Seattle drafted Dragicevic in the second-round of the 2023 NHL Draft, using a pick acquired in the trade that sent Mark Giordano to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s the 12th player from the second-round to sign a pro deal.

Kraken Sign Forward Lleyton Roed

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The Seattle Kraken have joined in on the NCAA free agent market, signing forward Lleyton Roed out of Bemidji State University. The team has confirmed the deal as a two-year, entry-level contract with a $950K average-annual value (Twitter link – corrected to a two-year deal by CapFriendly). The deal was first reported by FloHockey’s Chris Peters.

Roed is turning pro after his sophomore season with Bemidji. He’s been the team’s top scorer in both seasons, totaling 61 points across 74 appearances. In fact, his career 0.82 points per game marks the highest rate a Bemidji player has scored since Owen Sillinger in 2022 – and Matt Read in 2011 before him.

Roed, 21, joined Bemidji after just one season in juniors hockey, scoring 41 points in 60 games with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm. He’d otherwise primarily played in Minnesota high school hockey and went undrafted through his eligibility in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 drafts. He moved to college in the subsequent season and has been performing well ever since, flaunting fantastic play when the puck is on his stick. Roed has great agility and is able to control the puck and his skating to work out of awkward positions and find his teammates. It makes him a great set-up man, though his eye for plays often lands him in a scoring position as well. While his game could afford more explosivity off of the puck, Roed has adapted well to the harder-hitting and defensive-minded NCAA. That could help him a lot as he now moves to the AHL, though he’ll still need to adjust to the pace of a pro game.

Seattle Kraken Recall Defenseman Gustav Olofsson

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The Seattle Kraken have recalled defenseman Gustav Olofsson from the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL on an emergency basis. The 29-year-old has yet to dress this season for the Kraken but did get into three contests for the team last season in which he was held scoreless.

After earning two NHL recalls last year, Olofsson signed a two-year two-way extension with the Kraken last June and has spent the entirety of this season in the AHL dressing in 41 contests registering a goal and seven assists while posting a +15.

A native of Boras, Sweden, Olofsson was originally drafted in the second round of the 2013 NHL entry draft by the Minnesota Wild. He spent five seasons in the Wild organization dressing in 56 NHL games before spending three seasons in the Montreal Canadiens system and then eventually signing with the Kraken in 2021-22.

Since signing with Seattle, Olofsson has seen limited NHL action but has been a key component to the Firebirds AHL success, including dressing in 26 playoff games as Coachella Valley came within a goal of winning the Calder Cup last season.

If Olofsson can see NHL action during his recall he will still be in search of his first NHL goal as he has 11 career assists in 62 career NHL games.

Ryker Evans Out Day-To-Day

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  • The Kraken lost big-time last night, 5-1 to the Canadiens, but that wasn’t the only downside of the game. Promising rookie blue-liner Ryker Evans sustained a lower-body injury in the first period and is out on a day-to-day basis, head coach Dave Hakstol told Scott Malone of ROOT Sports NW. The 22-year-old has formed one of the better depth pairings in the league this year when used with veteran Brian Dumoulin, as they’ve controlled 61.4% of expected goals through 142 minutes of action, according to MoneyPuck. That’s 10th in the league among pairings with at least 100 minutes together this season. Through 25 contests, Evans has eight points while logging 18:30 per game and has remained on the roster since being called up on deadline day.

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