Early Hot Take: The Seattle Kraken will boast a better Expansion team than Vegas
The Seattle Kraken will have a better team than the Vegas Golden Knights did in 2017. You heard it here first.
It was a big day in the NHL on Sunday as the league released every team’s Protected Lists ahead of the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft on Wednesday, and the Seattle Kraken will have a plethora of big name players and elite talent to choose from.
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While there were many who felt, and still do, that things were set up for the Golden Knights to succeed when they entered the NHL in 2017, the flat cap has ensured that the Kraken will have a chance to construct a much better roster from the outset.
Because, while Vegas found success with players that were discarded by their previous teams, there will be some legitimate star power on offer for the Seattle front office to construct a talent-laden roster for their inaugural season in the NHL.
Just look at some of the names available. From Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price to Colorado Avalanche Captain Gabriel Landeskog to St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko to Calgary Flames defenseman Mark Giordano, those are all players that could make Seattle an immediate Playoff team.
Seattle Kraken will have the chance to boast a better Expansion team than VGK
Those names would also sell a lot of tickets and a lot of merchandise, making Seattle an immediate draw on TV and on the NHL app too.
But those players mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg. Scan through the Protected List and players in the ilk of Jonathan Quick, Matt Duchene, Ryan Johansen, P.K. Subban, Ben Bishop, Jeff Skinner, Jakub Voracek and Yanni Gourde will also be available to Seattle.
Of course, many of those players will come with bloated contracts and hefty cap hits, so Seattle General Manager Ron Francis will need to perform a careful balancing act to build a competitive and balanced roster without being cap constrained from the off.
However, there’s also a glut of high-end role players that have been left exposed, including the likes of Blake Coleman, Brenden Dillon, Tyler Johnson, Alex Killorn, Jason Zucker, Jordan Eberle, Nino Niederreiter, Max Domi and Kaapo Kahkonen.
So, yes, the Kraken will have every opportunity to build one hell of a roster on Wednesday.
Plus, while there is a trade freeze on the NHL, the Kraken can still engage in trade talks with other teams and they can currently negotiate with pending UFA’s and RFA’s, so there could be more deals to be swung as they now begin the process of building the first roster in franchise history.
No matter which way you slice it, Seattle will have an incredible list of players to choose from and that should result in not only an elite roster, but also a deep and loaded team that boasts a number of very good players up and down the lineup.
You can be pretty confident that the Kraken will probably take a player in the ilk of Landeskog or Giordano in order to make either one the face of their franchise, while they could start their NHL adventure with a legit future Hall of Famer between the pipes if they are willing to take on Price’s albatross of a contract.
Next. Worst First-Round picks in each team's history. dark
Therefore, while the Golden Knights did benefit from how the 2017 Expansion Draft unfolded, there is no doubt that the caliber of players available in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft are far greater across the board and, as a result, the Seattle Kraken will boast a better roster in their inaugural year and you can take that to the bank.