The 3 biggest needs for the Seattle Kraken to address in the Draft and Free Agency

1. Goalscoring

We’re aware that all three of the needs we’ve listed relate to mostly forwards, but that’s mainly because the Kraken have a plethora of defensemen and their top six figure to form a very good blueline unit.

Anyway, arguably the biggest need for Seattle to address over the next few days is goalscoring given that you aren’t going to achieve anything in the National Hockey League if you can’t light the lamp.

At the moment, the Kraken only have one real proven goalscorer in Jordan Eberle, who scored 16 goals and 33 points in 55 games for the New York Islanders in 2020-21, while Yanni Gourde scored 17 goals and 36 points last season while playing on the third-line, so his production could increase playing top-six minutes.

However, outside of Eberle and Gourde, Seattle crave a legitimate goalscorer or two and that should be their main focus heading into Free Agency, with the Draft only likely to produce long-term answers.

The biggest name available – aside from Alex Ovechkin who will re-sign with the Washington Capitals – is Gabriel Landeskog and it will be interesting to see if the Kraken are willing to commit to $8-$9 million a year to make the wing their marquee addition.

Landeskog would certainly provide a hell of an offensive punch but, if the front office are reluctant to commit that much money to one player in their first year, they could go after cheaper options like Brandon Saad, Tomas Tatar and Mike Hoffman.

Goalscoring is the biggest need for the Seattle Kraken to address over the coming days, but if they can also add more skill and find a center or two, then the the NHL’s newest franchise will be in good shape heading into their inaugural season.