Another NHL Expansion Draft has Come and Gone: Look back at Seattle's Draft

Here is a brief look at the Kraken roster, along with a closer glance at some of Seattle’s top selections. 

Seattle Kraken Expansion Selections

Anaheim Ducks - Haydn Fleury, D

Arizona Coyotes - Tyler Pitlick, RW

Boston Bruins - Jeremy Lauzon, D

Buffalo Sabres - Will Borgen, D

Calgary Flames - Mark Giordano, D

Carolina Hurricanes - Morgan Geekie, C/W

Chicago Blackhawks - John Quenneville, LW

Colorado Avalanche - Joonas Donskoi, RW

Columbus Blue Jackets - Gavin Bayreuther, D

Dallas Stars - Jamie Oleksiak, D

Detroit Red Wings - Dennis Cholowski, D

Edmonton Oilers - Adam Larsson, D

Florida Panthers - Chris Driedger, G

Los Angeles Kings - Kurtis MacDermid, D

Minnesota Wild - Carson Soucy, D

Montreal Canadiens - Cale Fleury, D

Nashville Predators - Calle Jarnkrok, C/W

New Jersey Devils - Nathan Bastian, RW

New York Islanders - Jordan Eberle, RW

New York Rangers - Colin Blackwell, C/W

Ottawa Senators - Joey Daccord, G

Philadelphia Flyers - Carsen Twarynski, LW

Pittsburgh Penguins - Brandon Tanev, LW

San Jose Sharks - Alexander True, C

St. Louis Blues - Vince Dunn, D

Tampa Bay Lightning - Yanni Gourde, C

Toronto Maple Leafs - Jared McCann, C/W

Vancouver Canucks - Kole Lind, RW

Washington Capitals - Vitek Vanecek, G

Winnipeg Jets - Mason Appleton, RW

Picks We Loved

Mark Giordano - The former Calgary Flames captain brings an element of leadership to this young team, and there is a good chance the Kraken acknowledge that by making him the first captain in franchise history. Though he’s nearing the end of his career, he’s still got plenty in the tank to get Seattle off and running.  

Morgan Geekie - Geekie has just 38 games of experience in his NHL career, though, with Carolina’s loaded top-six, he wasn’t getting the ice time needed to showcase his skills. He projects as a second-liner on the Kraken roster, and his game should take off this fall when play resumes.  

Vitek Vanecek - Getting one of the top young goaltenders in the league, the Kraken has a legit goaltending tandem with Vanecek and Chris Driedger (arguably, goaltending is the strength of the team). Vanecek will likely start the year as the 1B option of the two, but there’s a reason the Capitals trusted the 25-year-old Czech to play big minutes down the stretch.

Picks That Left Us Confused

Gavin Bayreuther - The Kraken’s Columbus selection came as a surprise given some of the other exposed players, particularly Max Domi and Dean Kukan. The 27-year-old defenseman has three goals and three assists in 28 career games and did not play at the NHL level at all in the 2019-20 season. Columbus may have dodged a bullet with this selection. 

Cale Fleury - Another scenario where there was plenty of talent on the table for Seattle, including several solid contributors during Montreal’s run to the Stanley Cup Final, the Kraken opted for Fleury. There’s a chance Cale could join his brother Haydn on the blue line at some point, and Fleury is a decent prospect. Still, this was a surprise selection, to say the least. 

Jared McCann - The McCann selection came as a two-fold surprise. First was that the Toronto Maple Leafs traded for him, sending prospect Filip Hållander and a seventh-round pick to the Penguins, then exposed McCann for expansion. Then, further surprise when the Kraken selected McCann over Alexander Kerfoot, though, unlike our other two surprises, McCann will be a steady addition for the Kraken.

Overall Outlook

Most roster models have the Kraken set to finish around 88 points and third in the Pacific Division based on their current makeup. However, we expect the Kraken to make a splash in free agency, and with some big names on the table (such as Dougie Hamilton, Jaden Schwartz, Gabriel Landeskog, and Ryan Suter), Seattle has the cap room and roster space to appeal to those players. Like the Vegas Golden Knights in their inaugural season, expect a playoff appearance for the Kraken in Year One.