Seattle Kraken Continue to Ace NHL Trade Deadline

The Seattle Kraken have been one of the biggest winners so far at this NHL Trade Deadline.

They might not be the type of winner that becomes an instant Stanley Cup contender, but they know where they stand and have acted accordingly. Outside of the moves made by the Florida Panthers, the Kraken have had the best deadline of any team so far.

Seattle began by moving Calle Jarnkrok to the Calgary Flames in a move that kick-started a steady stream of draft capital being injected into the NHL’s newest organization. Three picks came back to Seattle from Calgary, as the team added picks in the second (2022), third (2023), and seventh rounds (2024).

On Sunday, the acquisition of picks continued when captain Mark Giordano was shipped to the Toronto Maple Leafs, along with forward Colin Blackwell. In return, the Kraken added a second-round pick in each of the next two drafts, plus a third-rounder in 2024.

Most recently. Seattle acquired a 2022 second-round pick from the Nashville Predators in exchange for defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, as well as a 2023 fourth-rounder from the Winnipeg Jets for Mason Appleton.

The Kraken are thriving in their first NHL Trade Deadline.

Overall, those trades yielded Seattle four second-round picks, two third-round picks, a fourth-round pick, and a seventh-round pick. Seattle now has eight selections in the first four rounds of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and 11 in total.

Looking further down the road, Seattle has more than 30 picks in the next three drafts combined, giving the organization every opportunity to build through the draft or leverage picks for established players.

This season has not been the one that Kraken fans wanted, nor the one that hockey fans had expected after the success that the Vegas Golden Knights enjoyed in year one. However, Seattle is accepting that, embracing that, and planning for the future accordingly.

The Kraken may not be able to follow in Vegas’ footsteps in terms of early success, but they are hoarding picks in the way that the Golden Knights did. It may not lead to immediate success, but Seattle knows what it’s doing, and it’s doing it well.

Combine the mountain of draft picks that the team now possesses with its recent extension of forward Jared McCann, and the league’s newest franchise has carved out a very clear path forward.

Seattle isn’t winning the deadline in the same way that the Panthers are, but this has been a successful handful of days in the state of Washington. Keep an eye on the Kraken as they ascend quickly in the near future thanks to a brilliant deadline strategy.