The Seattle Kraken: Looking at who the team could trade before the deadline
4 months ago
The Seattle Kraken are a weird team. They didn’t take the blueprint that the Vegas Golden Knights set for expansion teams, as they missed out on a playoff spot in their first season. Interestingly, they made it to Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals in 2023, but look like they’ll once again miss the playoffs.
This is a series called Meet the Sellers. As the Edmonton Oilers are in a “Stanley Cup or Bust” year, we’re going to look at the teams who have no other aspirations this season other than adding some prospects and picks and jockeying for a better position in the 2024 Draft Lottery.
Before looking at who the Kraken have to offer, let’s take a look at the needs of the Edmonton Oilers.
Second-pairing right-shot defenceman: If the Oilers were to upgrade their defence, a logical upgrade would be by moving Cody Ceci along with other assets to net a second-pairing right-shot defenceman. It’s not that Ceci is a bad defender by any means, it’s just that he’s probably better suited to the third pairing.
Second-line winger: Instead of loading up the first line with Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDaivd, the Oilers should look to add a second-line winger – on either side – to play alongside Draisaitl on the second line. It’s clear he doesn’t have chemistry with Evander Kane, and pairing him with Ryan McLeod and Warren Foegele isn’t ideal for a contender.
Right-shot defenceman depth: Last season, the Oilers had Jason Demers in the American Hockey League as a backup plan if a right-shot defenceman got injured. Thankfully, the Oilers remained relatively healthy that season and have barely missed any games from their defence this season, but they don’t have a veteran right-shot defenceman in the minors this year. It doesn’t help that Philip Broberg has missed time with an injury and could be out for two to three more weeks.
A “1B” goaltender: This season, starter Stuart Skinner has a .905 save percentage and a 2.64 goals-against average in 44 games played. Calvin Pickard has a .905 save percentage and a 2.53 goals-against average in 11 games played. Skinner has had hot and cold streaks, but Pickard probably isn’t the type of backup you’d want on a contender. However, it’s been reported that the Oilers aren’t looking to add a goalie at this year’s deadline… Still a need though.
Third-line centre: The least of the Oilers’ needs as they have McLeod there, it appears that the team sees this as one of their biggest needs, as they’ve been linked to Nic Dowd and Adam Henrique. At least if they get a third-line centre, they can move McLeod to Draisaitl’s wing where he excelled.
Who could the Seattle Kraken sell:
As it stands, the Seattle Kraken are seven points out of a playoff spot. While two fewer games are played than the Nashville Predators, their chances are getting slimmer and slimmer by the day. That begs the question, who could be on the move if they decide to sell?
Jordan Eberle is the best trade chip that the Kraken have this season. The former Oiler is a pending unrestricted free agent with a $5.5 million cap hit. This season, he has 14 goals and 35 points in 56 games and had 20 goals and 63 points in 82 games last season for the Kraken, the most points in a season for him since 2014-15. Eberle is also a playoff performer, scoring 19 goals and 45 points in 63 playoff games since the Oilers traded him after the 2016-17 season.
Alexander Wennberg has been a consistent scorer since breaking into the league in the 2014-15 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets. While he may never hit the 59 points he had in 2016-17, Wennberg has nine goals and 25 points in 60 games this season with the Kraken and has hit 37 or 38 points the past two seasons. Like Eberle, Wennberg is a pending UFA with a cap hit of $4.5 million, along with a 10-team no-trade list.
Kailer Yamamoto is another former Oiler (get used to it), and he has seven goals and 13 points in 49 games this season. The Oilers moved him and Klim Kostin to the Detroit Red Wings at the 2023 draft to clear cap space, with Yamamoto being bought out. Yamamoto is a pending restricted free agent and will be until the end of the 2025-26 season, and has a cap hit of $1.5 million this season.
Tomáš Tatar has been in the league forever and has seven goals and 20 points in 56 games this season between the Kraken and the Colorado Avalanche. Prior to this season, Tatar has been good for 40 or more points when healthy, and scored 20 goals and 48 points in 82 games with the New Jersey Devils in 2022-23. As for is playoff performance, he has seven goals and 13 points in 52 playoff games, but scored one goal in New Jersey’s 12 games last playoff. Tatar has a cap hit of $1.5 million and will be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end.
Adam Larsson would be a perfect fit for the Oilers for the second-pairing, right-shot defender role. An excellent defender who was underrated in his time with the Oilers, Larsson has three goals and 17 points this season and had a career-high eight goals and 33 points the season prior. In his playoff career, Larsson has five goals and 13 points in 38 career playoff games. Moreover, he has a cap hit of $4 million until the end of the 2024-25 season and a 10-team no-trade list. For various reasons, a reunion with Edmonton seems incredibly unlikely, but the fit would be nice.
Justin Schultz is another right-shot defenceman who once played for the Oilers. Schultz’s style is more oriented towards offence, as he has five goals and 18 points in 60 games, along with seven goals and 34 points in 73 games last season with the Kraken. Since leaving the Oilers, Schultz has yet to miss the playoffs and has won a couple of cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins, totalling 10 goals and 42 points in 81 games. Schultz has a cap hit of $3 million and is a pending UFA with a 10-team no-trade clause.
Devin Shore is another former Oiler and it’s the only reason he’s being mentioned here. This season with Seattle, he has a goal and four points in 21 games. With the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the American Hockey League, he has five goals and 11 points in 20 games. He has a cap hit of $750,000 and will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
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