Seattle Finishes Their Expansion Draft

TAMPA, Flor. – Halfway through the 2021 EHE expansion draft, the new Seattle Kraken franchise had fulfilled 5 of the required 9 defensemen, 8 of the required 14 forwards and 2 of the required 3 goaltenders. The active contract count was at 9 of 20 and the total active salary was a paltry $12,892,500. In today’s part 2 of the Seattle Kraken’s expansion, GM Brandyn Errickson (still from his satellite office in Tampa, Florida), selects the final 16 players of the inaugural Kraken roster.

The Boston Bruins were the next team up and from which Seattle chose another goaltender, Filip Gustavsson. Gustavsson showed flashes of brilliance during his 9 games with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators last season, but don’t expect him to be with the Kraken’s pro squad for at least another couple of seasons as he will spend some time with the AHL club first.

Fulfilling their required 3 goaltenders, would another be selected out of the final 15 picks? Not from the New York Islanders were Seattle chose to take their 8^th forward in Chandler Stephenson. Playing mostly a 4^th line role for the Islanders Chandler only managed 12 points in 82 games, but with his recent NHL season he should come to the Kraken with a renewed confidence and look to move up to at least the 3^rd line. Signed for 3 more season at a very affordable $2,000,000, this pick might go down as one of the better of the draft.

From the Minnesota Wild, GM Errickson chose another forward in Mattias Janmark. Janmark played mostly 3^rd line for the Wild last season and amassed 23 points in 82 games. Janmark will probably play a similar role for the Kraken with possibly a bit more PK time.

Teddy Blueger (aka Teodors Blugers), was Seattle’s pick from the New York Rangers. Blueger found his way into the Rangers lineup 66 times last season and he was good for only 8 points. With his NHL play ticking up the Kraken hope Teddy can be a solid contributor going forward.

Up next were the Chicago Blackhawks, who were one of the few teams to make a pre-draft trade with the Seattle GM. In exchange for not selecting Kevin Rooney or Mason Marchment, Seattle received Vancouver’s 4^th round selection in the 2021 draft and then proceeded to select another forward in Drake Caggiula. Caggiula had his best EHE season last year with Chicago where he chipped in 13 goals and 22 assists for 35 points and a +9 rating in just about 12 minutes of ice time a game. If he can replicate those results in Seattle the team would be ecstatic.

Making it 5 forwards in a row, the Kraken selected Nick Ritchie from the Tampa Bay Lightning. While he hasn’t been able to duplicate his 2017-2018 season where he totaled 35 points, Ritchie figures to be a solid 4^th line guy that can contribute offensively at times.

Up next was GM Errickson’s former team, the Los Angeles Kings. Knowing that team a bit better than most, Seattle’s GM knew who would be available and wasted no time in selecting defenseman Nic Hague. In his 3 AHL seasons, Nic has eclipsed 30+ points each year and most recently saw his ice time go over 22:20 a game. While it’s not certain he starts the season in Seattle, we fully expect he will be on the pro squad pretty quickly.

From the Vegas Golden Knights, the Kraken went somewhat off the board by choosing another defenseman in Brennen Menell. Menell found some success with Vegas’ AHL club last season to the tune of 5 goals, 32 assists, 37 points and a +7 rating. Seattle will look for Menell to fill a similar role with their AHL squad in the upcoming season.

Danton Heinen from Buffalo would start another run of forwards taken by the Kraken. While not the flashiest player, Heinen had his best season in the EHE last year with Buffalo where he had 13 goals, 18 assists for 31 points. Each of his first full 3 season in the EHE he’s beat the year before total points by at least 3 points so the Kraken will be looking to keep that streak going this upcoming season.

The Colorado Avalanche then looked to have supplied Seattle with their top line right winger in Kyle Palmeiri. The 30-year-old forward is coming off his most productive in the EHE where he managed to score 31 goals, 33 assists, 64 points and a +11 rating. There’s little doubt that Palmeiri will be on the Kraken’s top line come opening night.

Seattle followed up their top line right winger by taking another right winger from Florida, Jesper Fast. Another pick who had a career year in the EHE, Fast put together 12 goals, 14 assist, 26 points and a +11 rating over 82 games last season. While he most likely won’t see the same amount of ice time that Florida gave him, Seattle hopes he can build on last season and possibly eclipse the 30 point mark this upcoming season.

Up next were the Arizona Coyotes and they through the Kraken their first curveball of the draft by removing their franchise player tag from long time Coyote, Claude Giroux. This made the selection process a bit easier for GM Errickson as they not only chose Giroux, but also used their first ever franchise player tag on him. Giroux had back-to-back 106 point season for the Coyotes and increased his +/- from +34 to +36 this past season. Seattle fully expects that Giroux will combine with Palmeiri as 2/3 of the Kraken’s top line on opening night.

The Nashville Predators were another one of the few teams to swing a pre-draft deal with Seattle in which they sent their 2021 4^th round selection in exchange for GM Errickson bypassing Ethan Bear in the draft. While GM Errickson has since come out and stated this wasn’t the best move looking back at it, Seattle still walks away with a good defenseman in Torey Krug. Krug is one of the few players not coming off a career year, rather he’s coming off quite a disappointing season in which he only tallied 28 points after 3 consecutive 60+ point seasons and he paired those 28 points with a -10 rating. Seattle will be hoping they can get more out of Torey this upcoming season before having to make a decision on his future with the team.

With the 3^rd to last selection in their expansion draft, Seattle chose their 4^th goaltender of the draft, Petr Mrazek, from the Ottawa Senators. For the Senators last season, Mrazek had 21 wins to just 6 loses to go along with a 2.47GAA and a .912 save %. Petr figures to draw the opening night nod in net for the Kraken this upcoming season.

With just the two Stanley Cup final teams remaining, the Kraken have selected 4 goaltenders, 17 forwards and 8 defensemen of which 18 of them are signed to contracts totaling $36,602,250. Which puts the team 1 defenseman, 2 contracts and almost $12,000,000 short of their requirements. Buckle up ladies and gentleman, these last two picks should be doozies.

And doozies they were, from the Stanley Cup champion, Philadelphia Flyers, the Kraken chose their top defenseman in Mattias Ekholm and his $9,500,000 salary. While Ekholm didn’t quite have his EHE career year last season he did still have 51 points and a +3 rating while captaining the Flyers team to the championship. Should he stay in Seattle, the Kraken will no doubt be leaning on him for his experience in leadership in the locker room.

From the 2019-2020 Stanley Cup champions and 2020-2021 runners up, the Seattle Kraken selected 3-time EHE all-star, former Selke, Hart and Rocket Richard trophy winner, Jonathan Toews. While this was a somewhat controversial pick, the Seattle brass were elated to be able to make this selection. Toews does come off a bit of a down year for him compared to his insane 2019-2020 season where he scored 100+ points, but that is not of any worry for the Kraken. The only worry right now is his health. While he suited up every game for the Stars last season, the same probably won’t be said for this upcoming season with the Kraken. While rumors say he’s getting back in hockey shape and could even return for opening night, the franchise center is currently on IR with no definitive as to when he will return.

In the end the Kraken selected 18 forwards, 9 defenseman and 4 goaltenders good for exactly 20 active contracts with a total salary of $52,574,750. While some of the players selected have already been moved and there’s surely more to head out before opening night, the selections made will live on in EHE history.