The Seattle Kraken’s three best non-selections in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft
By Nick Herrera
The Seattle Kraken caught a lucky break by not selecting these three players.
Tonight the Seattle Kraken will conduct their 2021 Expansion Draft in preparation for becoming the NHL’s 32nd franchise. Other NHL General Managers have been keeping this in mind as they continue to do the business that they have at hand, and it has no doubt be taken into consideration for the past few seasons.
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Now we will see how those moves unfold as well as what Seattle GM Ron Francis plans to do with the opportunities available to the new franchise.
Speculation has led to massive media coverage and interest throughout every NHL fanbase. It is not surprising that now, on the day of the Expansion Draft, we have massive leaks in what appears to be the Seattle Kraken’s roster. Francis has made it well known that the price for helping out another team with salary cap troubles will be top dollar.
It makes perfect sense then that there are rumored to be some rather conservative choices made by Seattle. With that type of strategy in mind, let us talk about the best selections that Seattle avoided making.
Seattle Kraken’s three best non-selections in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft
3. Carey Price
It was very surprising when goaltender Carey Price waived his no-move clause in order to allow the Montreal Canadiens to protect backup goalie Jake Allen. Montreal is paying its goalie tandem over $13 million, while Price alone is over $10 million of that cost. Additionally, Price is going to cost Montreal that $10 million until after the 2025-2026 season when he would be 38 years of age.
Price, who was the 5th overall pick in 2005, had an excellent 2021 Stanley Cup Playoffs. However, the combination of his performance, age, and injury concerns over the past few seasons led to Montreal feeling the need to acquire Allen from the St. Louis Blues. Allen flirted with being a starting goalie in his time in St. Louis before the rookie revelation of Jordan Binnington.
This information tells us that even Montreal is concerned with the future of Price as a starting goaltender, with reports suggesting that the one-time Vezina Trophy winner will see a specialist this week about potentially undergoing surgery that could see him miss significant time in 2021-22.
Working off of what we know, it looks like Seattle did not want to pick up a $10 million dollar price tag for a possible future buyout candidate. If you need a bit of contemporary precedent just look up Henrik Lundqvist‘s last year as a New York Ranger.
Even a Hall of Fame level goaltender is not safe from aging, and the inconsistencies that come from the nature of being an NHL goaltender.