GM Tommy Barr’s mock expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken 2021-08-09 At the end of Saturday 14 August the Seattle Kraken will be stocked full of players and one step closer to their inaugural season. The EHE revealed the protected lists of all 31 teams – There weren’t many surprises but definitely some interesting choices for the Seattle Kraken GM Brandyn Errickson. In advance of Brandyn making his selections I thought I would go ahead and prepare a mock draft. This is based from my perspective and not based on who I think will actually be selected in the draft. By rule, Seattle is obliged to select three goaltenders, nine defensemen and 14 forwards. The other five openings are “at large,” meaning they could be at any position. Based on those rules, and without further ado here is the list … Anaheim Ducks Austin Wagner – LW Really not a lot of talent here to choose from. Went for a 24 year old depth NHLer. Will offer some bottom lineup depth. Arizona Coyotes Claude Giroux - LW / C No brainer here. Will happily select a top line LW with strong FO stats. Takes the first Kraken Franchise Tag and will lead the club for the next four years. Boston Bruins Jakub Zboril – D This was a tough choice and came down to Zboril of Zach Stanford. Stanford is useful depth forward but there are plenty of those to go around so decided to go with youth and potential here. Buffalo Sabres Danton Heinen – LW / RW One of those depth forwards we mentioned. Other than Varlamov there wasn’t too much that caught the eye. Calgary Flames Zach MacEwen – D Steve did a good job of moving Edmundson late in the day and didn’t leave much talent. Decided to go with MacEwen over Harkins and Stillman. Carolina Hurricanes Kaapo Kahkonen – G Mr Commish left us spoilt for choice here. Made sense to take the first goalie here. A guy with lots of potential. Likely starts as backup but hope he gets more starts with the Wild in real life and makes that next step. Chicago Blackhawks Kevin Rooney – C Have no idea what Mr Gidlow’s master plan is but he certainly went out with the intention to leave very little choice for the new expansion. Rooney was the easy choice here. Colorado Avalanche Justin Holl – D The three other guys that I considered (Savard, Marchessault & Palmieri) were all on short term contracts. Holl’s had a great year and happy to make this pick. Dallas Stars Jonathan Toews – C Mr Bacon was always going to leave something interesting here. I think Toews’ ratings will still be pretty good and think he’ll be well rested to bounce back. Will likely take the second Franchise Tag. Detroit Red Wings Lias Andersson – C / LW Slim pickings in Motor City. Went with the former first rounder with the hope that the potential is realised in Los Angeles. Edmonton Oilers Andreas Borgmann – D Came down to Cousins and Borgmann. Went with youth. Florida Panthers Tyler Myers – D Myers is bit expensive but cap shouldn’t be an issue. Had a decent year in real life and is liked by the sim stats. Solid D with PK responsibilities. Los Angeles Kings Nic Hague – D There was always going to be a good D available after the GM Max Kurtz resigned. Easy option to select Hague. Minnesota Wild Lucas Wallmark – C The land of the overpaid D men. Not much to choose from here. Aho was tempting but we have enough defence. Wallmark is a long shot but he doesn’t create any roster/waiver issues. Montreal Canadiens Victor Mete – D Really think he will get more of a chance with Ottawa. Was the only one of interest for me in the Canadiens list. Nashville Predators Ethan Bear – D Love this pick! New Jersey Devils Cal Foote – D Came down to Lundestrom, Blackwell and Foote. Went with the young D who did well in sheltered minutes with the Stanley Cup Champions TBL. New York Islanders Chris Tierney – C GM Tony Chiu has an embarrassment of riches with his young forward corps and there was always going to be a decent guy out there to select. Went with Tierney over Stephenson. New York Rangers Teddy Blueger – C I really like Blueger. Had a good year and should be solid middle six guy with PK role. Ottawa Senators Charlie Coyle – C / RW Coyle’s on a great contract. Was tempted to go with Mrazek but liked what Coyle offers. Philadelphia Flyers Travis Dermott – D Two interest options in Voracek and Ekholm were passed up in favour of Dermott. With Toews and Giroux in the mix there was no tag available for Voracek and Ekholm’s contract was too much to handle. Took the RFA D who can play a bottom pair role. Pittsburgh Penguins Logan O’Connor – RW Not much here. San Jose Sharks Evan Rodrigues – C / LW / RW As above St Louis Blues Mark Jankowski – C Preferred his contract and term to the Namestnikov. Tampa Bay Lightning Nick Ritchie – LW Had a good year with Boston. May put up decent numbers in Toronto and still RFA. Toronto Maple Leafs Matthew Highmore – LW / RW I was staying away from Leivo and Virtanen. Highmore was next best thing. Vancouver Canucks Michael Amadio - C Didn’t know where to go here. Will see if Amadio has any NHL potential. Vegas Golden Knights Antti Raanta – G Easy decision for me. Raanta comes in to be No.1 goalie for the Kraken’s first season. Washington Capitals Cedric Paquette – C / LW Had to pick someone J Winnipeg Jets Kevin Lankinen – G Lankinen had a great year in Chicago. Still RFA. Nice guy to have or flip later to a team requiring a useful backup with starter potential. Overall a strong squad of players. Focused mainly on players with term, primarily RFAs. All the best to Brandyn in his future draft.
