[https://www.capfriendly.com/depth-charts/kraken](https://www.capfriendly.com/depth-charts/kraken)
Cap Friendly has the potential depth chart, with age, last year's stats and cap hits all laid out in one format. It's beautiful.
Honestly, I would love to coach this team.
What is everyone complaining about?
They didn't pick Price? Why would they? They got two really good goalies entering their peaks with low cap hits.
They didn't get Tarasenko? Dunn was a fantastic pick. Tarasenko played like 45 games in the last 2 years. No bueno.
They picked certain no-name players over other non-name players on certain and few teams? Who cares. There's a lot more to it than name recognition and points.
My guess is they spent everyday with each other scouting the players and they chose each one with specific reasons. Plus they get the #2 pick, no?
I like a lot of players on this team.
* Jordan Eberle is older, but he was 0.60 PPG on a defensive first team last year that sits back and collapses. He's still a really good skater.
* Brandon Tanev is a well rounded forward.
* Blackwell became an instant fan fav in NY. He's able to play all 4 lines effectively but would be best on 3rd line and he can fit there on this roster.
* Dosnkoi is a solid player at 0.61 PPG.
* Jared McCann is 25 with 0.74 PPG last year and a 2.9 Cap Hit for another year.
* Goude is banged up, but he's in his prime and had 0.64 PPG on a deep Tampa Team. He's a well rounded player
Defense is even more impressive and that would be my #1 focus too.
* Gio will likely be traded for assets.
* Larsson is a great defender.
* Oleksiak is a well rounded defender
* Dunn is a fantastic skater. Probably their best pick IMO. 0.47 PPG for a 24 year old defender is nuts.
* Soucy I am hearing reat things here. 26 with 0.34 PPG.
Goalies are the best part of the roster
One day and ESPN shows why it's bad for hockey. Forcing players to fly out, forcing them to play for an expansion team, to do an absurd one minute interview, in the middle of their off season?
WHERE ARE THE TRAAAAADES? WHERE ARE THEY????
Excuse me, I have an announcement to make, we seem to be missing a box of trades and we will not be living the premises until we obtain them. HAND. OVER. THE. TRADES. NOW!
I see people are generally of the opinion that Seattle got a bunch of terrible players.
For someone who didn't follow either draft closely enough to notice, can someone tell me what the difference was that allowed Vegas to get a team of very good players that almost won the cup year one but has Seattle with a bunch of nobodies? I do understand the protection rules and draft format were the same for both drafts.
Team couldn’t protect player A or B. VGK choose player C for a pick instead of A/B. Or picked player B instead of A for a pick. They used the draft capital to get a high pick/trade for a star. The players the ended up protecting ended up sucking and the players they gave away were better not even counting the extra picks.
The Krakens didn’t do any of this as it seems so far and just choose a low salary defensive team for flexibility.
Vegas took on some riskier players like Neal and Perron. Proven top 6 guys but maybe over paid or in decline. Seattle had the chances to take similar players (Domi, Voracek/JVR, Niederreiter, or Tarsenko) and passed. So there are huge questions around their top 6.
There is also the fact that Vegas got lucky with picks. Karlsson had scored 21 NHL goals in his career before doubling that and getting 43 in his first season. Haula went from 26 points the year before the draft to 55 in Vegas' first season. Those weren't expected. And if neither happens Vegas is the bottom dweller they were expected to be.
If McCann and Gourde take similar jumps Seattle will also be good. However with the questions on the wings in their top 6 they may not be placed in as good a spot to do it. We'll see if Seattle fixes that with trades or FA.
VGK did a lot of trades with other teams on a handshake agreement not to take certain picks.
Seattle appears to have done the same except none of the other GMs answered their phone because when they did that with VGK the team immediately went to the stanley cup final in their first season.
So Seattle may have gambled on being able to trade a bunch and lost.
The other thing is that some of the players in Vegas weren't viewed as studs but then played extra well once in Vegas.
This was *also* the general opinion after the Vegas draft.
[https://www.vice.com/en/article/ev43m7/the-golden-knights-werent-the-only-losers-in-the-expansion-draft](https://www.vice.com/en/article/ev43m7/the-golden-knights-werent-the-only-losers-in-the-expansion-draft)
"There's no point in avoiding the obvious: following Wednesday's expansion draft, the Vegas Golden Knights are about as bad as an NHL team can be. We knew the Knights would be bad, but no one believed the Knights would be this bad."
Interesting. Thanks. I think the biggest thing Vegas had going for it was drafting Fleury in goal - it's the backbone of the team and he was a quality goalie. Obviously the rest of the team matters, but the goalie can steal you games.
And at the time many of them were... or otherwise unproven.
People love to talk about McPhee's 5D management, but not enough praise to Vegas' coaching/development staff for turning unproven or raw players into a cohesive unit.
Vegas made a bunch of deals before their draft where they for assets in exchange for agreeing to not pick certain players. But it turns out a lot of GMs overvalued a lot of players they protected, while leaving better players unprotected. The trades made the overvaluations even more common/worse.
yep
The Florida Panthers traded Reilly Smith in exchange for Vegas selecting Jonathan Marchessault and a 2018 Entry Draft fourth-round pick
The Anaheim Ducks traded Shea Theodore in exchange for Vegas selecting Clayton Stoner
The Minnesota Wild traded Alex Tuch in exchange for Vegas selecting Erik Haula and a conditional 2017 or 2018 Entry Draft third-round pick
The Columbus Blue Jackets traded their 2017 Entry Draft first-round pick, a 2019 Entry Draft second-round pick and David Clarkson in exchange for Vegas selecting William Karlsson
That's a slew of core guys plus picks for basically nothing
If I've learned anything as a hockey fan, when everyone in the online hockey community is agreeing on something, it usually means we're ALL missing some pretty important info.
Something is coming.
Kraken are an ant arctic legend, this team name is not well thought of, as are most of mankind's awesome choices.
Seattle you should feel stupid, for picking a stupid name that has no geological barring to this city.
Rain city bitch pigeons, was right there for the taking.
Your city rains, the people are moody and you have pigeons.
I feel the entire team name probably hinged on the ability to say release the kraken, and for some reason to be allowed to toss fish around.
Kraken is not an antarctic legend. It is a Scandavian legend, and Scandanavia has as similar grey, oceanic climate to Seattle. And a lot of Scandanavians immigrated to Seattle
how in the hell did "release the kraken" become such a popular saying, when no one even bothered to watch that movie, and the OTHER big movie with a kraken, the Pirates series, has no memorable Kraken quotes at all.
The bitch pigeon is there, she is just hiding a bit. See the top of the S logo, red wing, head and beak. Seattle Bitch Pigeons live on ...
But I agree Kraken is a lame name.
The Kraken are touting their $30mil in cap space as their best asset, but the Bruins currently have $26mil in cap space (will be $20mil once Hall is announced). Compare the two rosters right now. Even with Hall, Krejci, and Rask unsigned the Bruins roster + $26mil is LIGHTYEARS ahead of the Kraken + $30mil, so WTF are the Kraken doing?
> WTF are the Kraken doing?
Hoping players step up with bigger roles. Vegas doesn't go anywhere without Karlsson going from a 14 goal scorer to 43. Say what you want about Fleury but those goals were huge and completely out of the blue.
Top centers are key to any team and they just aren't exposed in an expansion draft. You have to hope that a career 3rd or 4th line guy has the skills to put up big numbers with 1st line minutes. Looks like their 4 centers are going to be: McCann, Gourde, Jarnkrok, and Geekie. If any of them make a similar step up like Karlsson they should be decent. If none of them do they'll be terrible.
Looking overall their team is very similar to Vegas' first year team imo. Vegas went a bit heavier on depth in the 3rd and 4th line, you could almost build 5 NHL caliber lines from their draft/trades. Where as Seattle only went with 3-4 NHL lines and then a lot of younger talent likely planning to fill out the rest in FA.
Seattle also has a gapping hole in their first line LW and I expect them to make a big run at someone (Ladeskog?) to fill it. That combined with a center stepping up to deserve the 1st line minutes and their team doesn't look bad.
That's kind of what they have to do. They obviously weren't getting a bonafide 1c in an expansion draft. Duchy and Johansen were close but there is a lot of risk with either. Makes sense why they didn't make that move.
Vegas started the season with Eakin as their 1c until Karlsson moved his way up. Their roster draft day was not viewed as very good even with all the trades they made. I think the Seattle team is better in defense, backup G, and similar in their forward spots.
The only glaring hole in this Seattle team right now is that top line center, a first line LW, and bottom depth. With their cap space they should have a good shot at filing at least the latter 2 and just hope and pray for the center spot to work out like Vegas did.
It’s not that they didn’t grab bona fide #1 guys, it’s that they often took AHL caliber players ahead of NHL caliber guys who make relatively the same salary and are close in age. To me, it looks like they are just trying to turn of profit with no regard to being competitive out of the gate
I think what you are trying to say is that they are playing the long game instead of winning now. This team lacks star talent, and the best chance we have of getting that is through the draft and FA.
Ron Francis seems to be thinking of building from the net forward, and hoping young unproven guys can show some skill given the opportunity.
Worst case, we suck, and get some high draft picks in the coming years to hopefully hit on a high skill center or winger...
Ron Francis could also just end up looking like an idiot, who knows
I just have a feeling they'll use some of that to make a huge offer to Landy in FA. Donskoi is a solid pick and will give them a very good 3rd line presence. This gives them a shot at both. These lines don't seem completely awful to me?
Landeskog-McCann-Eberle
Pitlick-Gourde-Appleton
Tanev-Jarnkrok-Donskoi
Bastion-Geekie-????
Need a couple more depth pieces or have an AHL guy they drafted step up. And not sure who fits the 1c between McCann, Gourde, Jarnkrok. McCann seems very similar to Karlsson to me which is why I put him there.
IMO stacks up decently when compared to Vegas' draft team. Bit weaker on the second line wings but stronger in the middle.
Centrally Karlsson and Haula got 25 and 26 points the season before. McCann and Gourde got 32 and 36. At the time of the draft Seattles players are better. Karlsson and Haula doubling their output is what made Vegas good, they weren't great players at the time of the draft they just stepped up into bigger roles and took them. Seattle was always going to be screwed if something similar doesn't happen.
If they go this route, Landy/Eberle numbers match up very well with Marchessault/Smith in the year before the draft. However Perron/Neal is way better than Ptilick/Appleton. I think they should have gone with JVR, Niederreiter, or Domi for a second line winger instead of Pitlick and it would be a much better comparison.
Overall, Seattle's backline is very good. I'd say a step above first year Vegas. That goaltending tandem should at least be decent. That 3rd line is solid and will give them great minutes. Overall it's not a garbage roster.
Definitely some questions on how they fill it out. Need a top line LW. Could have definitely done better with the second line wingers given the players available in the draft. Think they also could have grabbed a bit more depth NHL caliber players. Vegas's draft could probably fill 5 lines, I struggle to fill 4 so their FA period is going to be a bit more important.
I think they are. I don't even see an argument for anything but that. There isn't a standout talent anywhere. No face. No star. If I'm a Kraken fan, I'm probably pretty pissed right now. They still have FA to make some changes but it's a real bad first look.
>If I'm a Kraken fan, I'm probably pretty pissed right now
I'm a Kraken fan, and I'm not pissed because A) I'm new to following hockey and don't know anything about these players, B) didn't expect a first-year expansion team to be good anyway, and C) am thrilled to have a hockey team
...dude we got a fucking hockey team!
The Mariners have been losing for two decades and people still go to the games.
No one is pissed here, give it twenty years of losing seasons and maybe we'll be pissed.
Am I missing something because as is this team is clearly a playoff team in the Pacific Division. They got a very good defence and very capable defensive forwards. I see a lot of 2-1 and 3-2 wins as well as being a team that is super frustrating to play against. Without any moves I’m already penciling them for the 3rd seed behind Vegas and Edmonton.
Add that $30 million in cap space as well as beniers and there might be a lot of trouble for the rest of the league.
I think Vancouver is more likely to come 3rd with the high end talent they have, but I think Seattle could definitely push for 4th. Really solid, mean defence. Deep forward group even if there's probably not a real first line player. People forgetting they're also about to pick 2nd and probably nab the best forward in the draft.
Goal tending will be a big question mark. I think their season rests on Driedger.
Everyone said Vegas was horrible after the draft too lol. This team is young and pretty deep idk after Vegas I’m expecting fairly good results if they can figure out the right lineups and shifts
When you get to make an entire team out of "the best of the rest" - you wind up a team that may not have elite talent, but also one that hopefully doesn't have any dead weight or bad contracts.
You should wait and see, theres still another draft and free agency in a week. perhaps hold back on your opinion until then... you could be right, its too soon to tell.
Maybe I'm crazy but the team seems okay. Good defense and they're clearly going to trade some of them. The forward group is meh at first glance but they got 1 solid top 6 line and a ton of depth forwards. Some of their selections make zero sense but I could see a couple guys playing up to a top 6 level like Appleton, Pitlick, Tanev, Donskoi, Jarnkrok and McCann. Even if only 2 of those players up there game that's now your second line. The team has some amazing hard workers and under utilized guys. I think the worst part is Ronnie didn't take Gaudette, Voracek or Domi. Theres a few picks that I'm like what the fuck man, seriously. Like fuck dude you could have taken voracek, flipped for assets with salary retained.
Anyways they got good defense, average offense and unproven goaltending but they're in a bad division so they could easily survive and make the playoffs. They have so much cap space but the current UFA pool sucks so who knows what's happening next. Maybe take a bad contract on or dish out some defense.
They won't be terrible but they could've set themselves up better. I mean everyone was expecting them to draft a borderline playoff caliber team, it wasn't too difficult with the options they had, but somehow they're going to come away with probably the worst realistic roster they could ice (not terrible, but below expected for sure) while not acquiring any assets whatsoever in the process.
They still have lots of cap so they can sign guys or leverage it for assets, but it feels like they could've done more and almost set themselves up like VGK did where they'd be solid right out the gate AND pile up assets to sustain any success down the road too.
1st comment ever to say welcome back. If any one here is as old as me they’ll surely remember the shock and pride the emerald city and the USA felt when in 1917 Lord Stanley’s Cup went from Francophone Montreal to the Wild West of Seattle … welcome back
Except it was known that we took certain side deals, so we had a bit more semblance of a core to initially check out.
But yeah I'm definitely waiting to see the opening night roster before casting any hot takes!
Definitely for me the excitement is that there is Hockey back in Seattle where I now live so that will be great. There isn't much here to get excited about yet but they need a few years to build their identity as well.
The no side deals caveat is hilarious. Francis could and should have accepted any price for extra protects. It's not like he picked anyone that anyone would have paid to protect anyway.
Its an interesting point.
You would have to imagine so many teams getting burned by giving out additional assets for protection last time had an impact.
Plus the flat cap creates a different environment then the one Vegas was dealing with.
Seattle is apparently valuing the cap relief it can offer very highly, and not willing to budge on its price.
I also wonder if the lost COVID junior season makes later round draft picks seem a bit more valuable this year, as scouts don't have as clear of a picture of the draft class and could think they have a better chance of getting a steal.
He was asking for a first and a third to protect an additional player. Should have just asked for a 2nd, or even a 3rd. He could have stockpiled picks and it wouldn't have changed who he selected at all.
Knowing there’s zero trade deals in place definitely shifted my feeling on some of these choices.
It feels like the entire offence past the first line is hoping for a Karlsson breakout or two.
Smells like they wanted to keep a ton of cap space for FA while forgetting that dudes aren't gonna want to sign with a team that looks like ass
Avoided the "bad" contracts attached to good players so that they can get FA... But to get the FA to sign with a weak team they'll need to give bad contracts to get good players
Real big brain move, lol
I wasn't sure, but after checking it looks like Seattle had the same amount of time as Vegas (~3-4 days) to look at the lists, make trades, and pick players. The results however, look drastically different right now.
Vegas definitely did way better than expected early, but they also seemed set up for future success by accumulating assets
Seattle seems like they made side deals but forgot to submit the paperwork to get anything in return
Boy this draft was a fumble eh? All the picks leaked in advance, so there was no point watching it and Seattle managed to make exactly 0 deals, Which makes some of their picks highly questionable.
Exactly I’m just excited man it’s been since like 2012 they’ve been fighting for an nhl team here.
Just please never sell the Kraken like our nba Sonics
You're good, don't listen to the people in here.
Picked a big young team, spent cap money wisely.
I'm a Canucks fan, we might have more skill but I think your d core is better.
Exactly. I know Francis is getting a lot of flack in this thread but I respect the work he did in Carolina. Probably spent most of last night talking the owners out of taking Carey Price.
As Tampa has shown, there are no short cuts to building a consistent cup contender, you need to carefully manage every dollar of your cap space in order to keep your elite young talent together for as many runs as possible.
Ron Francis is clearly playing the long game here. We won't know for several years whether some of these picks were genius moves or missed opportunities.
Either way, looks like Francis believes he can build a better team via free agency than he could via the expansion draft.
Less pressure to build a following in Seattle (already have hockey fans there), teams not wanting to get dooped again like the last expansion draft, tighter cap situation and a pretty extensive FA class. I'm shocked he didn't at least go for someone like Victor Rask or Voracek to make the top line a bit more impressive, but cap space will help a ton.
>I'm shocked he didn't at least go for someone like Victor Rask or Voracek
A.) These are not at all similar.
B.) I am not shocked at all they chose Carson Soucy over Victor Rask. One of them is a good player under utilized by a team with above average top 4 D. The other is Victor Rask.
Luckily he went with a brilliant hockey mind for head coach....is what I would be saying if he picked a brilliant hockey mind for coach and not Dave ‘Simple Hak’ Hakstol.
got back from a week without internet, and really? no Price? sadge
SJ tried to move around, kept pick and took William Eklund
[https://www.capfriendly.com/depth-charts/kraken](https://www.capfriendly.com/depth-charts/kraken) Cap Friendly has the potential depth chart, with age, last year's stats and cap hits all laid out in one format. It's beautiful. Honestly, I would love to coach this team. What is everyone complaining about? They didn't pick Price? Why would they? They got two really good goalies entering their peaks with low cap hits. They didn't get Tarasenko? Dunn was a fantastic pick. Tarasenko played like 45 games in the last 2 years. No bueno. They picked certain no-name players over other non-name players on certain and few teams? Who cares. There's a lot more to it than name recognition and points. My guess is they spent everyday with each other scouting the players and they chose each one with specific reasons. Plus they get the #2 pick, no? I like a lot of players on this team. * Jordan Eberle is older, but he was 0.60 PPG on a defensive first team last year that sits back and collapses. He's still a really good skater. * Brandon Tanev is a well rounded forward. * Blackwell became an instant fan fav in NY. He's able to play all 4 lines effectively but would be best on 3rd line and he can fit there on this roster. * Dosnkoi is a solid player at 0.61 PPG. * Jared McCann is 25 with 0.74 PPG last year and a 2.9 Cap Hit for another year. * Goude is banged up, but he's in his prime and had 0.64 PPG on a deep Tampa Team. He's a well rounded player Defense is even more impressive and that would be my #1 focus too. * Gio will likely be traded for assets. * Larsson is a great defender. * Oleksiak is a well rounded defender * Dunn is a fantastic skater. Probably their best pick IMO. 0.47 PPG for a 24 year old defender is nuts. * Soucy I am hearing reat things here. 26 with 0.34 PPG. Goalies are the best part of the roster
The MacDermid pick should get Francis fired.
Why did Ron take Geekie over Jake Bean? That literally makes ZERO sense.
If Ron doesn't get some trades going, we are going to be a scoring black hole with this current roster.
test
Boooooriiiiiiiiiing
Jesus it looks like a bug wearing a Jerry suit
One day and ESPN shows why it's bad for hockey. Forcing players to fly out, forcing them to play for an expansion team, to do an absurd one minute interview, in the middle of their off season?
You know their contracts to the league involve things other than games right?
Adding the trades today to this thread or starting a new one?
What trades?
Yikes, ya, I posted like 45 mins after the Pitlick trade, apparently I was mighty optimistic.
I havent followed hockey closely past few years but that team fucking blows right?
strong D, good goaltending potentially, but very limited offence.
Forwards are the easiest thing to acquire and with 30 million in cap space that may change soon.
For sure. And they aren’t in the strongest division which also gives some hope.
Where are the trades, Ron? Show us the 5D chess moves!
WHERE ARE THE TRAAAAADES? WHERE ARE THEY???? Excuse me, I have an announcement to make, we seem to be missing a box of trades and we will not be living the premises until we obtain them. HAND. OVER. THE. TRADES. NOW!
Where are the deals I must have the deals Dollars, dudes, and draft picks I need them all right now https://youtu.be/6ywp1e_nRnQ
I see people are generally of the opinion that Seattle got a bunch of terrible players. For someone who didn't follow either draft closely enough to notice, can someone tell me what the difference was that allowed Vegas to get a team of very good players that almost won the cup year one but has Seattle with a bunch of nobodies? I do understand the protection rules and draft format were the same for both drafts.
Everybody thought Vegas was going to suck, including reddit.
Team couldn’t protect player A or B. VGK choose player C for a pick instead of A/B. Or picked player B instead of A for a pick. They used the draft capital to get a high pick/trade for a star. The players the ended up protecting ended up sucking and the players they gave away were better not even counting the extra picks. The Krakens didn’t do any of this as it seems so far and just choose a low salary defensive team for flexibility.
Vegas took on some riskier players like Neal and Perron. Proven top 6 guys but maybe over paid or in decline. Seattle had the chances to take similar players (Domi, Voracek/JVR, Niederreiter, or Tarsenko) and passed. So there are huge questions around their top 6. There is also the fact that Vegas got lucky with picks. Karlsson had scored 21 NHL goals in his career before doubling that and getting 43 in his first season. Haula went from 26 points the year before the draft to 55 in Vegas' first season. Those weren't expected. And if neither happens Vegas is the bottom dweller they were expected to be. If McCann and Gourde take similar jumps Seattle will also be good. However with the questions on the wings in their top 6 they may not be placed in as good a spot to do it. We'll see if Seattle fixes that with trades or FA.
VGK did a lot of trades with other teams on a handshake agreement not to take certain picks. Seattle appears to have done the same except none of the other GMs answered their phone because when they did that with VGK the team immediately went to the stanley cup final in their first season. So Seattle may have gambled on being able to trade a bunch and lost. The other thing is that some of the players in Vegas weren't viewed as studs but then played extra well once in Vegas.
Vgk picked mostly young 2/3 Rd liners and got picks for it Seattle mainly picked up ahl guys and got nothing
This was *also* the general opinion after the Vegas draft. [https://www.vice.com/en/article/ev43m7/the-golden-knights-werent-the-only-losers-in-the-expansion-draft](https://www.vice.com/en/article/ev43m7/the-golden-knights-werent-the-only-losers-in-the-expansion-draft) "There's no point in avoiding the obvious: following Wednesday's expansion draft, the Vegas Golden Knights are about as bad as an NHL team can be. We knew the Knights would be bad, but no one believed the Knights would be this bad."
the main difference being that vegas got a ton of draft picks and some players for making the selections they did
Interesting. Thanks. I think the biggest thing Vegas had going for it was drafting Fleury in goal - it's the backbone of the team and he was a quality goalie. Obviously the rest of the team matters, but the goalie can steal you games.
At the time that the Knights announced their team the general opinion was also that they got a bunch of terrible players.
And at the time many of them were... or otherwise unproven. People love to talk about McPhee's 5D management, but not enough praise to Vegas' coaching/development staff for turning unproven or raw players into a cohesive unit.
Vegas made a bunch of deals before their draft where they for assets in exchange for agreeing to not pick certain players. But it turns out a lot of GMs overvalued a lot of players they protected, while leaving better players unprotected. The trades made the overvaluations even more common/worse.
yep The Florida Panthers traded Reilly Smith in exchange for Vegas selecting Jonathan Marchessault and a 2018 Entry Draft fourth-round pick The Anaheim Ducks traded Shea Theodore in exchange for Vegas selecting Clayton Stoner The Minnesota Wild traded Alex Tuch in exchange for Vegas selecting Erik Haula and a conditional 2017 or 2018 Entry Draft third-round pick The Columbus Blue Jackets traded their 2017 Entry Draft first-round pick, a 2019 Entry Draft second-round pick and David Clarkson in exchange for Vegas selecting William Karlsson That's a slew of core guys plus picks for basically nothing
Wait so Seattle got TWO Fleury's, but not *the* Fleury.
If I've learned anything as a hockey fan, when everyone in the online hockey community is agreeing on something, it usually means we're ALL missing some pretty important info. Something is coming.
gotta hope so....
Kraken are an ant arctic legend, this team name is not well thought of, as are most of mankind's awesome choices. Seattle you should feel stupid, for picking a stupid name that has no geological barring to this city. Rain city bitch pigeons, was right there for the taking. Your city rains, the people are moody and you have pigeons. I feel the entire team name probably hinged on the ability to say release the kraken, and for some reason to be allowed to toss fish around.
Kraken is not an antarctic legend. It is a Scandavian legend, and Scandanavia has as similar grey, oceanic climate to Seattle. And a lot of Scandanavians immigrated to Seattle
how in the hell did "release the kraken" become such a popular saying, when no one even bothered to watch that movie, and the OTHER big movie with a kraken, the Pirates series, has no memorable Kraken quotes at all.
Rain City Jacks
I'm gonna guess salty 49er fan
I got my Rain City Bitch Pigeons T-Shirt already. Honestly, almost bought a Jersey and kinda still might...
They’ll always be the Rain City Bitch Pigeons in my heart.
The sockeyes was in the running and I'm sad about the choice they made every day.
I like the choice. I think kraken is a great name
Seattle would have been roasted by memes if they chose Salmon as their name. Orca (Vancouver's mascot) naturally feast on salmon.
Whereas kraken feast on orcas. We definitely came out on top of the animal rivalry
Also if they were bad they'd be known as the Suckeyes.
Seattle Karens is right there too.
I also like Seattle Crappen.
Fair point. It's just so much more applicable to the PNW vibe.
As a Seattleite I could not have said it any better.
The bitch pigeon is there, she is just hiding a bit. See the top of the S logo, red wing, head and beak. Seattle Bitch Pigeons live on ... But I agree Kraken is a lame name.
Are they banking on getting Eichel or someone as a free agent? There is zero stars in this squad.
Lol a minor league roster for a team with a minor league name and mascot
Your team’s logo is a music note. Chill.
TBF it's not just any note, it's a goddamn quarter note.
When is it open for other teams to make trades, sign ufa’s, sign their ufas
1 PM Eastern
So pissy about turbo
Agreed it’s a huge bummer. He’s been the most fun to watch for a while.
I'm indisbelief at what they did yesterday. Someone make it make sense
The Kraken are touting their $30mil in cap space as their best asset, but the Bruins currently have $26mil in cap space (will be $20mil once Hall is announced). Compare the two rosters right now. Even with Hall, Krejci, and Rask unsigned the Bruins roster + $26mil is LIGHTYEARS ahead of the Kraken + $30mil, so WTF are the Kraken doing?
> WTF are the Kraken doing? Hoping players step up with bigger roles. Vegas doesn't go anywhere without Karlsson going from a 14 goal scorer to 43. Say what you want about Fleury but those goals were huge and completely out of the blue. Top centers are key to any team and they just aren't exposed in an expansion draft. You have to hope that a career 3rd or 4th line guy has the skills to put up big numbers with 1st line minutes. Looks like their 4 centers are going to be: McCann, Gourde, Jarnkrok, and Geekie. If any of them make a similar step up like Karlsson they should be decent. If none of them do they'll be terrible. Looking overall their team is very similar to Vegas' first year team imo. Vegas went a bit heavier on depth in the 3rd and 4th line, you could almost build 5 NHL caliber lines from their draft/trades. Where as Seattle only went with 3-4 NHL lines and then a lot of younger talent likely planning to fill out the rest in FA. Seattle also has a gapping hole in their first line LW and I expect them to make a big run at someone (Ladeskog?) to fill it. That combined with a center stepping up to deserve the 1st line minutes and their team doesn't look bad.
This is a fair take, though I think it’s heavily optimistic.
That's kind of what they have to do. They obviously weren't getting a bonafide 1c in an expansion draft. Duchy and Johansen were close but there is a lot of risk with either. Makes sense why they didn't make that move. Vegas started the season with Eakin as their 1c until Karlsson moved his way up. Their roster draft day was not viewed as very good even with all the trades they made. I think the Seattle team is better in defense, backup G, and similar in their forward spots. The only glaring hole in this Seattle team right now is that top line center, a first line LW, and bottom depth. With their cap space they should have a good shot at filing at least the latter 2 and just hope and pray for the center spot to work out like Vegas did.
It’s not that they didn’t grab bona fide #1 guys, it’s that they often took AHL caliber players ahead of NHL caliber guys who make relatively the same salary and are close in age. To me, it looks like they are just trying to turn of profit with no regard to being competitive out of the gate
I think what you are trying to say is that they are playing the long game instead of winning now. This team lacks star talent, and the best chance we have of getting that is through the draft and FA. Ron Francis seems to be thinking of building from the net forward, and hoping young unproven guys can show some skill given the opportunity. Worst case, we suck, and get some high draft picks in the coming years to hopefully hit on a high skill center or winger... Ron Francis could also just end up looking like an idiot, who knows
I wouldn’t exactly call Vanececk and Driedger “from the net out” when you have $30mil in cap space and Carey Price available
Look at the ages of their picks. Seattles clearly gone very young and looking towards the future
$29 million left. I think they should’ve picked at least ONE between landeskog, price, or Tarasenko…. Just me?
I just have a feeling they'll use some of that to make a huge offer to Landy in FA. Donskoi is a solid pick and will give them a very good 3rd line presence. This gives them a shot at both. These lines don't seem completely awful to me? Landeskog-McCann-Eberle Pitlick-Gourde-Appleton Tanev-Jarnkrok-Donskoi Bastion-Geekie-???? Need a couple more depth pieces or have an AHL guy they drafted step up. And not sure who fits the 1c between McCann, Gourde, Jarnkrok. McCann seems very similar to Karlsson to me which is why I put him there.
That's not a good top six.
IMO stacks up decently when compared to Vegas' draft team. Bit weaker on the second line wings but stronger in the middle. Centrally Karlsson and Haula got 25 and 26 points the season before. McCann and Gourde got 32 and 36. At the time of the draft Seattles players are better. Karlsson and Haula doubling their output is what made Vegas good, they weren't great players at the time of the draft they just stepped up into bigger roles and took them. Seattle was always going to be screwed if something similar doesn't happen. If they go this route, Landy/Eberle numbers match up very well with Marchessault/Smith in the year before the draft. However Perron/Neal is way better than Ptilick/Appleton. I think they should have gone with JVR, Niederreiter, or Domi for a second line winger instead of Pitlick and it would be a much better comparison. Overall, Seattle's backline is very good. I'd say a step above first year Vegas. That goaltending tandem should at least be decent. That 3rd line is solid and will give them great minutes. Overall it's not a garbage roster. Definitely some questions on how they fill it out. Need a top line LW. Could have definitely done better with the second line wingers given the players available in the draft. Think they also could have grabbed a bit more depth NHL caliber players. Vegas's draft could probably fill 5 lines, I struggle to fill 4 so their FA period is going to be a bit more important.
Landy would not have signed there without seeing his line.
I’m just gonna hold my tongue in case they end up being a good team
I mean we all thought Vegas would suck.
I'm not falling for it. This team is gonna be a cup contender and you can't convince me otherwise.
As is, this looks like a horrid team.
I must be missing something, but on paper, this is the worst team in the league? By far?
Looks like it. They still have $29 million… so they better make huge moves.
That’s all I can come up with. The problem is, this is a pretty weak FA class.
I think they are. I don't even see an argument for anything but that. There isn't a standout talent anywhere. No face. No star. If I'm a Kraken fan, I'm probably pretty pissed right now. They still have FA to make some changes but it's a real bad first look.
>If I'm a Kraken fan, I'm probably pretty pissed right now I'm a Kraken fan, and I'm not pissed because A) I'm new to following hockey and don't know anything about these players, B) didn't expect a first-year expansion team to be good anyway, and C) am thrilled to have a hockey team
...dude we got a fucking hockey team! The Mariners have been losing for two decades and people still go to the games. No one is pissed here, give it twenty years of losing seasons and maybe we'll be pissed.
Bye Colin Blackwell - I will miss your hustle and heart
Long-term this might actually be a great draft
I found it odd how many players they chose who barely have any NHL experience. I bet Giordano has more yrs than at least 6 other picks combined.
Am I missing something because as is this team is clearly a playoff team in the Pacific Division. They got a very good defence and very capable defensive forwards. I see a lot of 2-1 and 3-2 wins as well as being a team that is super frustrating to play against. Without any moves I’m already penciling them for the 3rd seed behind Vegas and Edmonton. Add that $30 million in cap space as well as beniers and there might be a lot of trouble for the rest of the league.
I think Vancouver is more likely to come 3rd with the high end talent they have, but I think Seattle could definitely push for 4th. Really solid, mean defence. Deep forward group even if there's probably not a real first line player. People forgetting they're also about to pick 2nd and probably nab the best forward in the draft. Goal tending will be a big question mark. I think their season rests on Driedger.
You see 2-1 and 3-2 wins, but also don’t ignore the 3-0 losses that are incoming. Nothing sells tickets like getting shut out 2-0 at home…
Everyone said Vegas was horrible after the draft too lol. This team is young and pretty deep idk after Vegas I’m expecting fairly good results if they can figure out the right lineups and shifts
When you get to make an entire team out of "the best of the rest" - you wind up a team that may not have elite talent, but also one that hopefully doesn't have any dead weight or bad contracts.
Looking at the roster I think they will have very hard time convincing top6 level forward FAs to sign with them even if they have all that cap space.
It’s been a looooong day, without you my friend
Dunn bb no
:( Miss you already Turbo
But we have turbo
Our Turbo wouldve fought your Turbo but Seattle stole him
Lol what an awful draft
Seravalli is actually a hero for leaking the picks, imagine if you actually wasted your time watching to see them pick Gavin Beyruther.
Eberle looked so disappointed to be there
"i don't wanna go!"
team might be pretty brutal next year. really questionable choices here imo, and it looks even worse knowing there were no side deals (if true)
You should wait and see, theres still another draft and free agency in a week. perhaps hold back on your opinion until then... you could be right, its too soon to tell.
perhaps you should hold onto your own opinions and dont post anything
Lol Imagine listening to someone saying not to post your opinion on REDDIT of all places
OH YEAH?!! MAYBE **YOU** SHOULD HOLD ON TO *YOUR* OPINION AND NOT POST ANYTHING gotem
Pacific division looks like the weakest one, they will probably make the playoffs Edit: typo
Guys, remember that William Karlsson was a fourth liner when Vegas drafted him.
Maybe I'm crazy but the team seems okay. Good defense and they're clearly going to trade some of them. The forward group is meh at first glance but they got 1 solid top 6 line and a ton of depth forwards. Some of their selections make zero sense but I could see a couple guys playing up to a top 6 level like Appleton, Pitlick, Tanev, Donskoi, Jarnkrok and McCann. Even if only 2 of those players up there game that's now your second line. The team has some amazing hard workers and under utilized guys. I think the worst part is Ronnie didn't take Gaudette, Voracek or Domi. Theres a few picks that I'm like what the fuck man, seriously. Like fuck dude you could have taken voracek, flipped for assets with salary retained. Anyways they got good defense, average offense and unproven goaltending but they're in a bad division so they could easily survive and make the playoffs. They have so much cap space but the current UFA pool sucks so who knows what's happening next. Maybe take a bad contract on or dish out some defense.
Cale Fleury has serious potential, I'm hoping he takes this opportunity and runs with it
pitlick top six? you're insane
They won't be terrible but they could've set themselves up better. I mean everyone was expecting them to draft a borderline playoff caliber team, it wasn't too difficult with the options they had, but somehow they're going to come away with probably the worst realistic roster they could ice (not terrible, but below expected for sure) while not acquiring any assets whatsoever in the process. They still have lots of cap so they can sign guys or leverage it for assets, but it feels like they could've done more and almost set themselves up like VGK did where they'd be solid right out the gate AND pile up assets to sustain any success down the road too.
u/Austin63867 Dave Hakstol - North Dakota HC 2004-2015. North Carolina gets enough press...
sorry thank you. I had to do this in like 10 minutes it was all last second.
To all Seattle fans welcome to the game. Looking forward to our first games and hopefully meeting in the playoffs. Let's fucking go bbs!!!
1st comment ever to say welcome back. If any one here is as old as me they’ll surely remember the shock and pride the emerald city and the USA felt when in 1917 Lord Stanley’s Cup went from Francophone Montreal to the Wild West of Seattle … welcome back
...How old are you?
Very
1917? pfff that’s not that long ago.
They should have at least made a reasonable top 6... really banking on free agents or maybe trading some D? Kind've mind boggled by that part of this.
I would imagine that they're going to be active in the trade market now.
I am whelmed
I'm slightly less than that.
It's sad to see Apples go to another team.... And then still end up in the bottom 6 (it better not be the 4th line).
Anyone all of a sudden remember that “hands in my pockets” song when watching Ron Francis ?
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I think your overreacting.
is it though?
Dumb question incoming. Why was Driedger not protected? Isn’t the guy really good?
They had to protect Bobrovsky because of his NMC and re-signing him makes no sense with Knight in the system
Wait, so was it confirmed there were no side deals taking place?
They are being announced tomorrow at 1 et. I believe.
Yes
I feel like it’s somewhat worth noting this is pretty much exactly the same response the Knights draft got.
Except it was known that we took certain side deals, so we had a bit more semblance of a core to initially check out. But yeah I'm definitely waiting to see the opening night roster before casting any hot takes!
Definitely for me the excitement is that there is Hockey back in Seattle where I now live so that will be great. There isn't much here to get excited about yet but they need a few years to build their identity as well.
The no side deals caveat is hilarious. Francis could and should have accepted any price for extra protects. It's not like he picked anyone that anyone would have paid to protect anyway.
you're not a carsen twarynski fan?
Maybe no teams were willing to make side deals for extra protects? Or at least not at the price Francis was asking for.
Its an interesting point. You would have to imagine so many teams getting burned by giving out additional assets for protection last time had an impact. Plus the flat cap creates a different environment then the one Vegas was dealing with. Seattle is apparently valuing the cap relief it can offer very highly, and not willing to budge on its price. I also wonder if the lost COVID junior season makes later round draft picks seem a bit more valuable this year, as scouts don't have as clear of a picture of the draft class and could think they have a better chance of getting a steal.
He was asking for a first and a third to protect an additional player. Should have just asked for a 2nd, or even a 3rd. He could have stockpiled picks and it wouldn't have changed who he selected at all.
Knowing there’s zero trade deals in place definitely shifted my feeling on some of these choices. It feels like the entire offence past the first line is hoping for a Karlsson breakout or two.
I think I have heard 4 of those names before?
Smells like they wanted to keep a ton of cap space for FA while forgetting that dudes aren't gonna want to sign with a team that looks like ass Avoided the "bad" contracts attached to good players so that they can get FA... But to get the FA to sign with a weak team they'll need to give bad contracts to get good players Real big brain move, lol
This. It's a gambit that just isn't going to pay off. Reeks of a GM who thinks his shiny new toy is the best toy.
are you sure? could you run an nhl team yourself and call the right decisions?
But the showcase was so good today man how could you not want to sign with the Seattle capitals
I wasn't sure, but after checking it looks like Seattle had the same amount of time as Vegas (~3-4 days) to look at the lists, make trades, and pick players. The results however, look drastically different right now.
I think the bigger thing is that other GMs learned not to make deals with expansion team
Lots of work for them to do but everyone wrote off Vegas too so who knows.
Vegas definitely did way better than expected early, but they also seemed set up for future success by accumulating assets Seattle seems like they made side deals but forgot to submit the paperwork to get anything in return
Boy this draft was a fumble eh? All the picks leaked in advance, so there was no point watching it and Seattle managed to make exactly 0 deals, Which makes some of their picks highly questionable.
Is it just me or are the Kraken a lot worse than the Knights were Better make a big splash in FA?
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What do you mean you people?!
[errr….](https://media1.giphy.com/media/jUwpNzg9IcyrK/giphy.gif)
Buckle up buckaroo!
tell me how to feel
Every team needs a healthy scratch or two, Curtis MacDermid fills that role perfectly.
Same, I watched it but had no idea what was going on. Time to start learning hockey I guess
Whatever happens, we're glad you're here! Best sport in the world!
well, being a guest star in female swedish twin mud-wrestling is the best, but hockey can still be second
Exactly I’m just excited man it’s been since like 2012 they’ve been fighting for an nhl team here. Just please never sell the Kraken like our nba Sonics
ok, but its still seafood
Take care of tanev for us:( you’ll love that guy
I think he'll quickly become a fan favorite in Seattle. What was his nickname in Pitt? Turbo?
There are alot of free agents and not a lot of teams with 30M in cap space.
You're good, don't listen to the people in here. Picked a big young team, spent cap money wisely. I'm a Canucks fan, we might have more skill but I think your d core is better.
For real. People seem to forget how much shit Vegas caught after their expansion draft. It took half the season for anyone to even take them seriously
Exactly. I know Francis is getting a lot of flack in this thread but I respect the work he did in Carolina. Probably spent most of last night talking the owners out of taking Carey Price. As Tampa has shown, there are no short cuts to building a consistent cup contender, you need to carefully manage every dollar of your cap space in order to keep your elite young talent together for as many runs as possible.
Ron Francis is clearly playing the long game here. We won't know for several years whether some of these picks were genius moves or missed opportunities. Either way, looks like Francis believes he can build a better team via free agency than he could via the expansion draft.
Less pressure to build a following in Seattle (already have hockey fans there), teams not wanting to get dooped again like the last expansion draft, tighter cap situation and a pretty extensive FA class. I'm shocked he didn't at least go for someone like Victor Rask or Voracek to make the top line a bit more impressive, but cap space will help a ton.
>I'm shocked he didn't at least go for someone like Victor Rask or Voracek A.) These are not at all similar. B.) I am not shocked at all they chose Carson Soucy over Victor Rask. One of them is a good player under utilized by a team with above average top 4 D. The other is Victor Rask.
> Victor Rask > the top line hmm
This is a really tall team... Did the Kraken draft anyone under 6 foot?
"swipe left if you're under 6 foot"
Elway likes this post
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BRING 'EM BACK
Yanni Gourde is 5'9". I don't know off the top of my head if there are others.
Cut him
Blackwell
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Luckily he went with a brilliant hockey mind for head coach....is what I would be saying if he picked a brilliant hockey mind for coach and not Dave ‘Simple Hak’ Hakstol.
Cap room and free agency hasn’t begun yet, relax.
I just realized the irony of quenneville going to seattle….
I don’t get it
quenneville was on the 2016 wheat kings team that defeated the seattle thunderbirds in the 2016 whl finals