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The 6 players the Seattle Kraken must take in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft

By Andrew Steele-Davis

Yanni Gourde #37 of the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images)
Yanni Gourde #37 of the Tampa Bay Lightning. (Photo by Mike Carlson/Getty Images) /
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Vince Dunn (29)
Vince Dunn #29 of the St. Louis Blues. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

4. Vince Dunn – St. Louis Blues

As we saw with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017, there is an opportunity for the Seattle Kraken to pick up one or two unpolished gems and turn them into elite NHL players.

Step forward Vince Dunn.

Selected with the 56th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the St. Louis Blues, Dunn has long been since as a potential high-end defenseman in the league, and he’s certainly shown flashes of it.

However, he appears to have hit a bit of a brick wall for the Blues and a change of scenery could be just what the 24-year-old needs to really unlock his potential and take that next step to becoming a legit top-four blueliner in the NHL.

Vince Dunn (29)
Vince Dunn #29 of the St. Louis Blues. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images) /

Dunn is a puck-moving defenseman with okay size at 6-foot and 203 pounds, while he can provide offense as backed up by the fact that he has recorded at least 20 points in each of his first four seasons in the NHL, including six goals and 14 assists for 20 points in a shortened season in 2020-21.

He had a Corsi of 50.9 and a 58.1 oZS% last year too, he can be used on the second power play unit and the left-shot is also pretty effective in his own zone, while the Kraken could sign the RFA to a team-friendly deal, giving them a player with a high ceiling at a low price.

That approach worked for the Golden Knights and it could certainly work for Seattle.

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