The 2021 Seattle Kraken NHL expansion draft will take place on Wednesday night. This weekend, teams (except Vegas, they’re exempt) must send their protected lists to the league. Those lists will be revealed on Sunday, so we’ll know exactly who general manager Ron Francis will be able to choose in building his inaugural roster.
Francis and his team will be afforded the same rules that the Golden Knights had in 2017. The Kraken will make 30 total selections made up of at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen, and three goalies. Twenty of those players must be under contract for the 2021-22 season. Also, the total salary cap hits must be between 60% and 100% of the $81.5 million cap ceiling.
Thanks to the wonderful Cap Friendly, the Pro Hockey Talk team did our own mock Kraken expansion drafts. We protected players from the 30 teams and then made our picks for what we think would be an ideal first roster for the Seattle franchise.
Read ahead before NHL GMs make more moves that change everything (Thanks, Joe Sakic!).
Sean Leahy, NHL writer
FORWARDS (17)
Jordan Eberle, Islanders
Yanni Gourde, Lightning
Teddy Blueger, Penguins
Sonny Milano, Ducks
Noel Acciari, Panthers
Austin Wagner, Kings
Ryan Carpenter, Blackhawks
Eric Robinson, Blue Jackets
Mason Appleton, Jets
Jonah Gadjovich, Canucks
Colin Blackwell, Rangers
Jujhar Khaira, Oilers
Jason Dickinson, Stars
Tyson Jost, Avalanche
Vitaly Abramov, Senators
Dylan Gambrell, Sharks
Nick Merkley, Devils
DEFENSEMEN (10)
Chris Tanev, Flames
Shayne Gostisbehere, Flyers
Jake Gardiner, Hurricanes
Carson Soucy, Wild
Troy Stecher, Red Wings
Travis Dermott, Maple Leafs
Connor Clifton, Bruins
Alexandre Carrier, Predators
William Borgen, Sabres
Vince Dunn, Blues
GOALIES (3)
Jake Allen, Canadiens
Vitek Vanacek, Capitals
Adin Hill, Coyotes
Total salary cap hit: $54.9 million (plus RFAs)
Going team-by-team and figuring out whether a 7-3-1 or 8-1 protection list was the best way to go was a difficult task. I do not envy several teams who will have some very tough decisions to make as to who to leave expose and risk losing.
In making my Kraken roster, I went with a mix of cheap, short-term contracts and taking advantage of said teams with difficult decisions ahead of them. That’s why we were able to pluck Eberle, Gourde, Tanev, Soucy, and Graves. You figure the Flyers are fine exposing Gostisbhere given his struggles, cap hit and previous relationship with Seattle head coach Dave Hakstol.
I wanted to go with a strong blue line, which I think I accomplished here. Goaltending wasn’t a difficult task. The toughest choice was debating whether to take Vanecek or Brenden Dillon from the Capitals.
Up front, we could use some more scoring punch. But with a little under $25 million in cap room, surely Ron Francis could lure some free agents or swing some deals (or side deals before the actual expansion draft) to bolster his forward group.
Marisa Ingemi, NHL writer
FORWARDS (15)
James van Riemsdyk, Flyers
Adam Henrique, Ducks
Jared McCann, Penguins
Joonas Donskoi, Avalanche
Calle Järnkrok, Predators
Garnet Hathaway, Capitals
Eric Robinson, Blue Jackets
Mason Appleton, Jets
Joel L’Esperance, Stars
Julien Gauthier, Rangers
Tyler Benson, Oilers
Kieffer Bellows, Islanders
Vitaly Abramov, Senators
Ryan Donato, Sharks
Adam Gaudette, Blackhawks
DEFENSEMEN (11)
P.K. Subban, Devils
Mark Giordano, Flames
Colin Miller, Sabres
Erik Cernak, Lightning
Radko Gudas, Panthers
Justin Holl, Maple Leafs
Troy Stecher, Red Wings
Connor Clifton, Bruins
Kale Clague, Kings
Jake Bean, Hurricanes
Vince Dunn, Blues
GOALIES (4)
Braden Holtby, Canucks
Jake Allen, Canadiens
Kaapo Kähkönen, Wild
Adin Hill, Coyotes
Total salary cap hit: $62.71 million (plus RFAs)
Obviously it’s impossible to predict side deals and there’s a good chance some guys like Vince Dunn aren’t even available when Seattle finally gets to pick. Using Vegas as kind of a blueprint here, whatever roster the Kraken end up with here very well might not reflect their Opening Night roster, especially with free agency coming up as an option too. One of the most interesting things Seattle can do is work as a broker for goalies or even defensemen with how many solid ones are available.
This roster keeps the cap space relatively low with room to extend some of the players not yet under contract. It also allows them to have some minor league depth with players like Tyler Benson and Vitaly Abramov. They also have room to make some splashes; P.K. Subban could be a face of the franchise, even with his cost. James van Riemsdyk gives them a power play option early in franchise history.
James O’Brien, NHL writer
FORWARDS (18)
Jonathan Drouin, Canadiens
Gustav Nyquist, Blue Jackets
Yanni Gourde, Lightning
Joonas Donskoi, Avalanche
Jared McCann, Penguins
Calle Jarnkrok, Predators
Sonny Milano, Ducks
Mason Appleton, Jets
Devin Shore, Oilers
Nathan Bastian, Devils
Blake Lizotte, Kings
Jonah Gadjovich, Canucks
Colin Blackwell, Rangers
Warren Foegele, Hurricanes
Jason Dickinson, Stars
Kieffer Bellows, Islanders
Ryan Donato, Sharks
Vitaly Abramov, Senators
DEFENSEMEN (9)
Mark Giordano, Flames
Shayne Gostisbehere, Flyers
Carson Soucy, Wild
Troy Stecher, Red Wings
Travis Dermott, Maple Leafs
Riley Stillman, Blackhawks
Jake McCabe, Sabres
Mike Reilly, Bruins
Vince Dunn, Blues
GOALIES (3)
Vitek Vanecek, Capitals
Chris Driedger, Panthers
Adin Hill, Coyotes
Total salary cap hit: $50.857 million (plus RFAs)
One strategy that’s difficult to express in an exercise like this: side deals. The construction of my (rinky dink) Kraken team could be very different if a team greased the wheels to make my (rinky dink) Kraken take on bad contracts for the price of futures. Even without that clarity, trades are the name of the game. My goal would be to pump-and-dump the likes of Giordano, Nyquist, and perhaps my biggest gamble: Drouin. By the way, one sneaky challenge when you’re putting together your team at Cap Friendly: you need 20 2021-22 contracts. Getting to 20 was a strain, at times, for me, and explains why Devin Shore would rank among my forwards.
Considering how many buyouts are flying around, the Kraken could be dealing with changes up until Saturday’s deadline to submit protected players lists. Can’t say I envy Ron Francis & Co.
Adam Gretz, NHL writer
FORWARDS (16)
James van Riemsdyk, Flyers
Yanni Gourde, Lightning
Joonas Donskoi, Avalanche
Chris Tierney, Senators
Richard Panik, Red Wings
Rocco Grimaldi, Predators
Josh Archibald, Oilers
Ryan Carpenter, Blackhawks
Matt Nieto, Sharks
Blake Lizotte, Kings
Colin Blackwell, Rangers
Daniel Sprong, Capitals
Zach Aston-Reese, Penguins
Kieffer Bellows, Islanders
Rasmus Asplund, Sabres
Alexander Volkov, Ducks
DEFENSE (11)
P.K. Subban, Devils
Mark Giordano, Flames
Matt Dumba, Wild
Justin Holl, Maple Leafs
Brett Kulak, Canadiens
Dean Kukan, Blue Jackets
Nathan Beaulieu, Jets
Jakub Zboril, Bruins
Jake Bean, Hurricanes
Vince Dunn, Blues
GOALIES (3)
Chris Driedger, Panthers
Ben Bishop, Stars
Adin Hill, Coyotes
Total salary cap hit: $63 million (plus RFAs)
My goal here is to make sure I do not saddle myself with long-term contracts, because pretty much any player that will be unprotected with term is going to be a player that is probably not worth that long-term salary cap number (Jeff Skinner, Matt Duchene for example). The players with the longest term remaining on my team are Yanni Gourde and Matt Dumba, and I think they are probably fairly safe investments that will maintain some value. Beyond that, I looked for players that only have one or two years remaining and could be tradable assets. That might especially work in my favor on defense with P.K. Subban and Mark Giordano.
I also tried to load up on goaltending because, well, that is what is going to give me a chance. I would take advantage of the negotiation window and try to work out a deal with Chris Driedger from Florida and get him in the mix, and I am willing to roll the dice on Ben Bishop because if he is recovered from missing the entire 2020-21 season he can still be a game-changer and one of the best goalies in the league. Driedger and Adin Hill give me some good backup options if he can not.
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NHL mock expansion draft: Projecting the Seattle Kraken’s 30 picks originally appeared on NBCSports.com