It’s December of 2022, and I begin this by explaining that the Seattle Kraken has figured out how to win, and its recipes almost seem apparent. Seattle stuck to their philosophy that desired cap space flexibility. Seattle had great little trade pieces to acquire draft picks to build through the draft. Indeed trades like the Toronto Maple Leafs got Mark Giordano and Colin Blackwell for draft picks. These headlines are just scratching the surface, and it comes down to Cap flexibility, draft picks turning into franchise players, and signing culture-altering players with championship pedigree. Let’s dive in!
Cap Flexibility and the Expansion Draft
Ron Francis clearly had success with the Carolina Hurricanes. Undoubtedly Francis had around three years to take a look at what their initial roster would look like. Seattle got three draft picks from three separate teams that wanted the players Seattle drafted. Jump-starting their farm system with a large injection of potential rookies.
The Washington Capitals traded the Winnepeg Jets’ 2023 second-round draft pick for Vitek Vanecek, who was a part of the Capitals for 2021. The Calgary Flames acquired Tyler Pitlick, Arizona’s expansion pick, via Seattle. The Kraken received a 2022 4th-round pick that turned into Tucker Robertson, who is currently playing in the OHL. The third trade was Colorado acquiring Kurtis MacDermid for their 2023 4th-round pick being sent to Seattle.
Seattle had $9 million in cap space available to sign free agents or acquire different assets and players. Seattle executed in the long run with teams working on short financial leashes via the salary cap. Currently, teams with $5+ million in cap space are 40-68-14 this season. The teams are Arizona, Buffalo, Anaheim, and Chicago.
Free Agency and Trades and Draft
Ron Francis also had a press conference with Head Coach Dave Hakstol at the end of Seattle’s first inaugural season. Francis mentioned a few things, needing additional goal scorers. Additional goal-scoring came with the signing of Stanley Cup winner André Burakovsky from the Colorado Avalanche. The Kraken traded a third and fourth-round pick for Oliver Bjorkstrand from the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Seattle undoubtedly has a young core that features Matthew Beniers and Shane Wright, who were top-five NHL draft picks. Seattle got their future stars in the making with an excellent support cast with names like Jared McCann and Brandon Tanev.
Overall, Seattle has built itself a nice chest full of assets and future all-stars that are waiting to show the NHL that the Seattle Kraken is here to dominate the Pacific. Overall with an excellent Expansion draft, everyone is slowly falling in love with the Seattle Kraken. Make sure to check the Kraken as they take the ice and suffocate anyone who comes into Climate Pledge Arena.
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