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Seattle Kraken Select Shane Wright Fourth Overall

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When the Seattle Kraken arrived in Montreal, they probably didn’t think they would be making this pick. Shane Wright is the fourth-overall selection and will join the NHL’s newest franchise.

Captain of the Kingston Frontenacs, Wright is coming off a season in which he scored 32 goals and 94 points in 63 games, an impressive total considering he started slow after missing the entire 2020-21 campaign when the OHL canceled the season because of COVID-19 restrictions.

It was in late 2018 that Wright applied for CHL exceptional status, which would allow him to enter the major junior league a year early. He wouldn’t turn 15 for another month, and wouldn’t be granted the status for another three, but there was already a momentum growing for the young center from Burlington, Ontario.

When he was just 13, top NHL player agents had lined up to advise him through the process, knowing that there was a potential star in the making. By the time he made his OHL debut in the 2019-20 season, he was already the odds-on favorite for the top spot in 2022, and he didn’t disappoint. As a rookie, he not only scored 39 goals in 58 games, snapping the puck past goaltenders from all angles but Wright was also named an alternate captain for Kingston, the youngest in team history.

The scene was set for him to follow in the footsteps of other exceptional players, including Connor McDavid, John Tavares, and Aaron Ekblad, who had all been taken at the top of their respective drafts as well. When he was granted the status, he was still comparing himself to Mathew Barzal, focusing on the offensive abilities of the New York Islanders star. Today, he says he would rather model his game after Patrice Bergeron, with defensive ability and the “details” of the game ranking just as importantly.

Having dropped to Seattle, general manager Ron Francis will happily snap up the top prospect and give him the chance to pair with Matty Beniers down the middle to prove those three teams wrong.

Coachella Valley Hires Jessica Campbell

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Campbell and Bylsma will take the reins of a new AHL franchise in its first year, one that still has plenty of spots to fill. Because they are so new to the league, the Seattle Kraken have yet to populate the system with many draft picks and actually have just 23 players signed to NHL contracts in the entire organization. That’s obviously not enough to give the Firebirds a fighting chance, meaning plenty of work will be needed by Ron Francis and company in the coming weeks and months.

Seattle Kraken Hire Steve Briere

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During the 2021-22 season there was no team with a worse save percentage than the Seattle Kraken. The team has made a move to try and address that though not with an on-ice change. Instead, the team has hired goaltending coach Steve Briere, who had previously parted ways with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Briere, 45, has spent the last seven seasons with Toronto, working most notably with Frederik Andersen during his time there. A disciple of famously successful goalie coach Mitch Korn, who is currently with the New York Islanders, Briere had an up-and-down tenure with the Maple Leafs, his first role in the NHL.

Notably, he goes to a situation in Seattle that should be relatively comfortable. Head coach Dave Hakstol worked alongside Briere in Toronto for a time, serving as an assistant on Mike Babcock’s staff. The two obviously have a good enough relationship to continue it with the Kraken, where they’ll try to improve on that .880 save percentage from year one.

Among the reasons why the Kraken didn’t perform up to many expectations was the goaltending issue, as a career-.920 netminder Philipp Grubauer posted a brutal .889 save percentage, and backup Chris Driedger failed to do much better. The system, the defense, or bad luck could be partly to blame but there is also a good amount of responsibility to be heaped on the goaltenders themselves, and the coaching staff that was tasked with preparing them.

Briere will try to change that next season, after a dreadful first campaign in Seattle.

Kraken Re-Sign Gustav Olofsson

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The Kraken have taken care of one of their pending free agents, announcing the re-signing of defenseman Gustav Olofsson to a one-year, two-way deal.  PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that the deal pays $750K in the NHL and $275K in the minors, a small raise from the $200K AHL salary he had this past season.

The 27-year-old signed with Seattle as a Group Six UFA last summer after spending the previous three seasons in Montreal’s system.  Olofsson was brought in to give the Kraken some recallable depth in case injuries arise although he was never called upon.  Instead, he played in 41 games with AHL Charlotte, picking up two goals and seven assists.

Olofsson will need to pass through waivers to return to the minors next season where Seattle’s new AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, will debut.  Having cleared on the wire in each of the last four seasons, that should happen once again in training camp.  With 59 career NHL appearances under his belt between Montreal and Minnesota, Olofsson will be a useful depth piece once again.

Seattle Kraken Reportedly Seeking A "High-End Forward"

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The Seattle Kraken made moves last summer signaling their intention to be a competitive team right from their first-ever game, just as the Vegas Golden Knights were in their first season. They signed Philipp Grubauer, Jaden Schwartz, and others in free agency, all with the idea of potentially being in the mix for a playoff spot in what was seen as a weak Pacific division. That didn’t happen, though, and the Kraken finished third-to-last in the entire NHL with a 27-49-6 record. The team only scored 216 goals, which ranked them fourth from last in the NHL, and had only one player cross the 50-point mark, Jared McCann, who had 50 points exactly. Some have speculated that this poor season would set the Kraken on the path of a more traditional rebuild, seeing them bottom out in the standings, chasing young, high-end talent. That doesn’t appear to be their preferred route to contention, though.

TSN’s Chris Johnston reports that the Kraken were among the teams in the mix to acquire Minnesota Wild forward Kevin Fiala “right until the end,” and that they are interested in utilizing their cap space in search of a “high-end forward” or someone who can add to their scoring depth. Johnston adds that he expects the Kraken to come forward with “big offers” for some of the top free-agent forwards should they become available on July 13th. The two biggest names currently slated to hit free agency are Filip Forsberg and Johnny Gaudreau, play-driving wingers who have scored at above a point-per-game pace. If the Kraken want one of those two players, they will undoubtedly have to beat the offers of a multitude of other suitors. Beyond just Forsberg and Gaudreau they could also target other names such as Evander Kane, Andre Burakovsky, or Ryan Strome.

Kraken Won't Sign Ryan Winterton This Summer

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  • Kraken prospect Ryan Winterton played an important role for OHL Hamilton as they won the league title and have advanced to the Memorial Cup semifinals. Despite that, Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times reports that Seattle won’t be signing him to his entry-level deal this summer and instead will wait and see how 2022-23 goes.  The 18-year-old was a third-round pick in the 2021 draft and potted 20 goals while adding 26 assists in 37 games with the Bulldogs this season while averaging more than a point per game in the playoffs as well.

Dan Bylsma Named Head Coach Of Coachella Valley Firebirds

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The first head coach in the history of the Coachella Valley Firebirds has been announced, and he comes with quite a bit of NHL experience. Dan Bylsma— Stanley Cup and Jack Adams Award winner Dan Bylsma–will take over the new AHL franchise, which will serve as the Seattle Kraken AHL affiliate next season.

Firebirds president Steve Fraser released a short statement:

We are thrilled to welcome Dan Bylsma to the Firebirds family and look forward to his leadership in building a unified roster of players as well as creating a championship product on the ice. 

Bylsma had already been working with the Kraken organization as part of their player development staff and as an assistant with the Charlotte Checkers, already working with a number of prospects that will be with the Firebirds next season. The 2009 cup-winning coach has been behind the bench for 565 NHL games, posting an outstanding 320-190-55 record. Unfortunately, those numbers saw a significant downturn at his last stop, where he was put in charge of the struggling Buffalo Sabres and was unable to get them into the playoffs.

Since his time in Buffalo ended, he has been an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings and at the World Championships with Team USA. As far as minor league coaches go, his resume is exquisite, even if his last go-round in the NHL didn’t go so well.

For Coachella Valley, hiring an experienced coach will help them immediately get started as they try to build a new fanbase and support the Kraken’s NHL exploits. Seattle shared Charlotte this season as they didn’t have enough players to fill out their own AHL affiliate but now will be on their own to provide Bylsma with a competitive group.

Nashville Predators Extend Jeremy Lauzon

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A busy day of signings continues today. The Nashville Predators announced they’ve extended defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to a four-year contract worth $8MM in total, carrying an average annual value of $2MM.

Nashville acquired Lauzon at the Trade Deadline this season from the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a second-round pick (49th overall in the 2022 draft). He was Seattle’s expansion draft selection from the Boston Bruins.

Strictly a bottom-of-the-lineup player, Lauzon tallied two goals and seven points in 66 games combined between Seattle and Nashville this season. While he was in the lineup more consistently in Nashville, he often found himself as a healthy scratch with the Kraken. He averaged 17:40 of ice time per game this season, only a few seconds above his career average.

The veteran of 142 NHL games has some serious career stability now. He is decent defensively at even strength but has struggled on the penalty kill when used there, making more an ideal complementary player to a more high-end, offensively-inclined defenseman. If all goes well, he could end up being a good, cheap solution to partner with Roman Josi, but that’s assuming he maintains his solid defensive play post-trade. He’s known to be inconsistent at times, which raises a few red flags around the four-year term for this deal.

However, Lauzon is still just 25, and will still likely be in his prime at age 29 when the deal expires in 2026. It’s somewhat of a risky deal since the $2MM isn’t fully buriable in the minors, but it could just as well work out just fine. Lauzon was slated to become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights this offseason, and he’ll be an unrestricted free agent at the contract’s end.

Snapshots: Point, Mock Draft, Kassian

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As the Stanley Cup Final is set to commence in two days, the Tampa Bay Lightning and Colorado Avalanche will retake the ice today to practice ahead of their last four to seven games of the season. Of note from Tampa’s side of things is that injured star center Brayden Point continued to take part in practice today and took line rushes for the first time, centering a line between Nick Paul and Ross Colton, per The Athletic’s Joe Smith. However, assistant coach Jeff Halpern said after practice that “he didn’t know if you could read too much” into Point’s status, noting that it was a light session.

Tampa will be waiting anxiously to get an answer on when Point can return. Given the uncertain health of Nazem Kadri on the other side for Colorado, Tampa Bay having their full center depth available to them would give them a much greater chance at winning their third straight Stanley Cup.

  • With the 2022 NHL Draft now within a month, The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler, one of the top public prospect evaluators, released his 2022 NHL Mock Draft, taking team needs, consensus, and intel into account aside from just his own rankings. Although more and more doubt remains around the status of Kingston Frontenacs center Shane Wright as the Montreal Canadiens’ no. 1 overall pick, Wheeler still has Wright listed in the first spot. Rounding out the top five is winger Juraj Slafkovsky to the New Jersey Devils, center Logan Cooley to the Arizona Coyotes, defenseman Simon Nemec going first off the board among d-men to the Seattle Kraken, and defenseman David Jiricek headed to the Philadelphia Flyers.
  • The first buyout window of the offseason opens July 1, and Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli has Edmonton Oilers winger Zack Kassian at the top of his list of 10 buyout candidates for this summer. Kassian, who carries a cap hit of $3.2MM through 2024, mustered just 19 points in 58 games this season and averaged under nine minutes per game in the playoffs. With the 31-year-old forward only set to continue declining, Edmonton could take the buyout penalty to free up more space to improve their depth scoring. The buyout for Kassian is relatively benign, per CapFriendly, with a cap hit of $666,667 in 2022-23, $1,866,667 in 2023-24, and $966,667 in 2024-25 and 2025-26. It offers $2.5MM in savings upfront in 2022-23, an appealing number for general manager Ken Holland.

Free Agent Focus: Seattle Kraken

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Free agency is now less than six weeks away and many teams are already looking ahead to when it opens up.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in mid-July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  Next up is a look at the Kraken.

Key Restricted Free Agents:

F Ryan Donato – After bouncing around a bit the past few seasons, the once highly-touted prospect settled in for a quality first season with the Kraken, putting up 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points in 74 games. Donato’s 74 games played were the most in a season for his career, as were his 31 points, which ranked sixth on a struggling Kraken team. As Seattle looks to improve and draw closer to its first-ever playoff berth, they’ll look to bring in new talent, but also retain the pieces that seemed to work for them, which would presumably include the 26-year-old forward. After signing a two-year, $3.8MM contract prior to the 2019-20 season with Minnesota, Donato took a pay cut this season in Seattle at just $750K, but after his strong 2021-22 performance, he could be in line for a contract similar to the one he signed in 2019.

F Morgan Geekie – Geekie was selected from the Carolina hurricanes in the Expansion Draft and settled into his first regular role in the NHL, playing in registering 22 points in 73 games for the Kraken, both career-highs. Not the flashiest player, Geekie makes a living as a hard-working, gritty forward which should serve him well as he he looks to continue his career and play regular minutes on a Kraken team that’s also looking to improve. When his ELC expired last offseason, Geekie signed a one-year, $750K contract with Seattle, a deal which seemed to work out well for both player and team. This offseason, Geekie will likely find a modest raise as well as the opportunity to show that he is part of the long-term plan in Seattle.

F Daniel Sprong – A deadline-day deal saw Sprong come from the Washington Capitals as part of the return for forward Marcus Johansson, Sprong continued his quiet-but-effective play with Seattle, scoring six goals in 16 games. Sprong is an interesting player, having been traded three times already in his young career, he’s never had a true chance to settle in with a team. The forward has never had eye-popping numbers at the NHL level, but he has shown the ability to score goals with relative ease. As Seattle looks to find players to build around without a long-settled foundation, Sprong has shown in his brief tenure with Seattle that he was capable of scoring goals, his six in 16 equivalent to a 30 goal pace in an 82 game stretch. He may not find much of a raise over his previous $725K cap hit, but his age (25) and his ability to put pucks in the net could see him getting a real, consistent NHL look with Seattle in 2022-23.

F Karson Kuhlman, F Kole Lind, F Alexander True, F Carsen Twarynski, D Haydn Fleury, D Dennis Cholowski, D Cale Fleury

Key Unrestricted Free Agents:

F Victor Rask – Rask’s case is interesting, coming off a six-year, $24MM contract he signed with the Carolina Hurricanes prior to the 2016-17 season. The forward would see himself struggle for Carolina and was eventually dealt to the Minnesota Wild in January of 2019, struggling there as well. Rask would actually rebound to an extent in 2021-22, putting up 13 points in 29 games for the Wild, however salary cap issues forced the organization to bury him in the AHL. As a result, the Wild dealt Rask to Seattle in a salary cap trade at the 2022 deadline, Rask continuing his bounce-back with eight points in 18 games for the Kraken. Where Rask winds up is of course unknown, and he surely won’t see another $24MM contract this offseason, however he has used his 2021-22 very nicely, especially in the face of adversity, to re-establish his value as an NHLer.

F Riley Sheahan – After spending his entire career with the Detroit Red Wings organization, an October, 2017 trade set Sheahan off on a stretch of six teams in five seasons, culminating in a 2021-22 season with the NHL’s newest team. Sheahan turned in a typical-for-him 17 points in 69 games this season, playing his usual 200-foot game as a responsible bottom-six center. The 30-year-old should be useful to a number of teams in different situations, including a building Kraken, a playoff-bound team, or somewhere in between. Having had three straight seasons with salaries under $1MM, most recently $850K this season, Sheahan would presumably wind up with something in that neighborhood once again.

D Derrick Pouliot, D Connor Carrick, D Gustav Olofsson, G Antoine Bibeau

Projected Cap Space:

Seattle projects to have $22.885MM in available cap space this offseason from which to work with. This of course will be enough to retain their pending RFAs and UFAs if they want to, the most expensive of these likely being Donato and Rask, who would probably not go much north of $3MM each per season, if that high. The key consideration for Seattle will be getting better, the team finishing 27-49-6 in their inaugural season. Their available cap space will provide plenty of options to improve and work the free agent and trade markets, but as far as their impending free agents are concerned, the decision may be less about affordability as it is with other teams, and more about what kind of talent they can find to play there. Even if they can retain all of their free agents and find a few to bring in from the outside while staying under the salary cap ceiling, it doesn’t change the fact that they cannot have more than 50 contracts in the organization and 18 skaters dressed each night. On that note, Seattle currently sits with 22 out of a maximum 50 contracts allowed, plenty of room to work.

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