Five Seattle Kraken Players Who Might Not Be Back Next Season
The Seattle Kraken’s first season in the NHL has come to a close, and while it was not the most successful year for an inaugural season, it did have plenty of upsides.
The Kraken now enter the frustrating part of being an NHL franchise. They are no longer the shiny new team on the block. Instead, they are just like everyone else.
With a long offseason in front of them and many questions they need to answer, there are five players who might not be back next season in Seattle.
1. Victor Rask
The Minnesota Wild and Seattle Kraken made a trade for Victor Rask primarily to clear up cap space and get Rask back into the NHL. With the Minnesota Wild, Rask had been sent down to the AHL and cleared waivers to get there.
The Wild and Kraken exchanged nothing more than future considerations to get the deal done but considering Rask put up just eight points in 18 games, who knows whether or not the restricted free agent will be brought back.
Considering the Kraken are trying to build their franchise through the draft and make themselves competitive, it makes sense that Rask would not be getting a deal from this team.
2. Haydn Fleury
Haydn Fleury played just 36 games this season. After a strong start of the year with a few goals and a lot of time in the lineup, Fleury fell off towards the back half of the season and was in and out of the lineup.
If the Kraken are going to use some of their cap space to try and land another defenseman, then it makes sense to move on from Fleury, considering five of their defensemen are signed past the 2021-22 season.
Re-signing and keeping the 25-year-old Fleury does not make sense if all that would lead to is him playing in the minors next year.
3. Derrick Pouliot
In March of this past season, the Seattle Kraken claimed Derrick Pouliot off waivers from the Vegas Golden Knights. At the time, he had only played two games in the NHL with Vegas and has spent time in a handful of different organizations.
Pouliot is an unrestricted free agent who will not be demanding a lot of money next season. But considering where the franchise is at, one would expect they need to work on building their defense, not keep around players that are not going to get an extended look with the franchise down the line.
4. Riley Sheahan
Riley Sheahan was signed by the Kraken this past offseason. He has spent 11 years in the NHL with six different NHL teams, the Red Wings, Penguins, Panthers, Oilers, Sabres and Kraken.
Sheahan is an unrestricted free agent – their only amongst forwards – and he played in 69 games this season, putting up 17 points.
Sheahan not returning makes sense partly due to what the Kraken need but also for what he needs. Sheahan is 30 years old and has been in the playoffs five times with Detroit, Pittsburgh and Edmonton, but the furthest he made it was the second round with Pittsburgh in 2017-18.
Sheahan used to be a reliable middle-six forward on some good teams, and one would imagine he would like to chase a championship sometime soon, which Seattle might not be able to offer him.
5. Chris Driedger
The final player on this list is the only person with term still left on his deal – goaltender Chris Driedger.
The Kraken are building for their future through the draft. They also want to keep their cap space open to sign some players or take on some contracts to take advantage of teams up against the cap ceiling.
The Kraken have two netminders signed for at least the next two seasons taking up a combined 9.4 million in cap space. For two goalies, that is a lot of money – especially considering the state of the franchise.
Neither Driedger or Grubauer were that remarkable this past season, and if you are looking to move one of them Driedger makes more sense when looking at his cap hit and term remaining.
So what do you think? Are there any other Kraken players you think won’t be back next season? Based off of how things ended this past season I think the possibilities are endless!