With the light NHL schedule and upcoming turkey week, what better way to spend a Sunday than theory posting about potential roster moves as far away as June?
On a serious note, the Kraken will have major roster choices to make heading into the trade deadline and the offseason. Here are some of the things that I think are worth thinking about as this season progresses.
**Starting basics.** The Kraken have 14 current NHLers under contract next season with ~$27.8M in cap space to fill the remaining 9 spots. https://www.capfriendly.com/teams/kraken
**Big Name Pending UFAs.** The Kraken risk losing major pieces of their NHL roster to free agency with both Eberle and Wennberg on expiring contracts. Both are consistent top 6 players and have the 5th and 2nd, respectively, most playing time per game among forwards. Justin Schultz is also in his final contract season. Ron Francis must decide whether to re-sign them or explore replacements internally or externally.
**Let The Kids Play?** Shane Wright and Ryker Evans will have significant expectations to become full-time NHLers. Ryan Winterton and Jani Nyman (who has 16 points in 21 games in the top Finish men’s league) could also make pushes. If Wright appears fully ready, then I think that guarantees that Wennberg does not return and Wright gets consistent 2nd or 3rd line duties. Evans should be Schultz’s replacement as a puck-mover on the 3rd D pair, but he’s a LD compared to RD which makes a 1:1 swap a bit complicated.
**RFA Pay Bumps.** The Kraken have 3 NHL-roster RFAs led by Matty Beniers, who will probably command star play money in the neighborhood of $8M AAV. Tolvanen and Yamamoto are more uncertain and how they play this season will be big factors. Tolvanen feels like he’s solidifying a middle 6 scoring winger role which could cost in the $4M AAV neighborhood.
**Is It Time For a Major Trade?** The front office hasn’t moved a significant NHL roster player out in a trade since year 1. Bjorkstrand was brought in with only draft picks going out. Even if the Kraken don’t sell at the deadline, there may be pressure to move out a contract or 2 to make a big splash for a top impact player. We know Francis has been in on guys like Erik Karlsson before. Is this season when he swings for the fences?
**Free Agent Opportunities.** Francis’ big moves have come via free agency with both Grubauer and Burakovsky. Toronto’s William Nylander is near the top in NHL scoring with 25 points and hitting free agency at just 28. If Toronto cannot keep him, Seattle has the cap space to back the bank truck up for a top player like Nylander. However, [free agents often significantly underperform their contracts](https://cdn.theathletic.com/app/uploads/2020/06/15160340/Screen-Shot-2020-06-15-at-12.57.15-PM.png) [[article](https://theathletic.com/1874442/2020/06/18/by-the-numbers-why-the-value-of-signing-free-agents-is-much-lower-than-expected/)] so more value can typically be found via trades.
by SiccSemperTyrannis
4 Comments
Eberle has said he would like to retire in Seattle. I can see him getting resigned and Wennberg getting moved to make room Wright. Schultz is tough because of dumoulin’s contract. I would rather see Schultz stick around and dimoulin moved to open a spot of Evans but I don’t see that happening.
UFA – Schultz they will let walk, he is not part of the long term plans, so unless it is a team friendly deal he is replaceable. Ebs and Wennberg are harder to gauge. Both are having slow starts, but so is the team as a whole. Wennberg is worth more than people realize, but I doubt he will get the 4.5m he is making now anywhere else. I hope he likes it in Seattle and stays for less as he is only 29, so a 3 year deal is doable. Ebs at 33 is the big question mark, again if he likes Seattle and will take a team friendly deal I could see a 1-2 deal, but I am leaning towards they let him walk. This gives some kids a chance to make the lineup.
Let the kids play: I don’t think it is a guarantee Wennberg is gone if Wright makes the team. Gourde is capable of moving over to wing and Wright could also play wing. I love the kids are pushing to make the squad, but they have to prove that can make the squad first. The players you mentioned are all likely candidates.
RFA: Beniers as you call out is the big one. Tolvalen needs to prove it this year to consider getting a bump, but I don’t think it will be cap busting. If he gets to the 20 goal number he will be in the 2.5-4m bridge deal, unless they lock him up long term. Yammers is similar to Spring and Donato. I don’t think they will pay him alot, as he was just bought out of a 3.1m, so I doubt they go over that. They proved with the 4th line last year they are going to find bargains in the league to fill that role. Plus we need spots for the kids.
Is it time for a major trade? Nope. Unless it can be structured like the Bjorkstrand deal we would just have to give up too much to make any trade work. Being a 3 year old team, our draft assets are still too important until the pipeline is full and the kids are starting to make the Big Club.
Free Agents: Nylander is interesting as he is a two way player the Kraken would enjoy. I have not watched him close enough to know how talented he is. He has a lot of talent around him, so is he getting elevated based on their play or will he be able to elevate the Kraken team. I am unsure he would be able to get to the 80 point level on the Kraken. Looking at the UFA list there is not any name that jumps out at me as one the Kraken have to go after.
Edit: typos and formatting. You have my interest p̶e̶a̶k̶e̶d̶ piqued on Nylander, I will try to watch a few Toronto games with him in mind. I want to see how he back checks, controls play on the boards and if he is generating the offense or being a recipient of it.
Are Eberle and Weneberg really “big name” ufa’s? They won’t get anything close to their current contracts on the open market.
I want Wright to have space on the roster, but I also really want to keep Wennberg. We play to the boards so often and he’s so good on those board battles, and his shooting this season has been really great. He’s taking shots and making plays like he really *wants* to stay and I hope he gets to. I think this is a good system for him.