Speculation: Who will the Kracken take from the Devils in the Expansion Draft?

[SJinNewJersey]

Who do you think the Seattle Kracken are going to take from the Devils?

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[Auto Pilot]

Johnsson or butcher.

 

[Traitor Zach]

Want them to take Johnsson or Subban. Gut says they take Bastian or Johnsson.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Who I hope they take, in order:

1.) Butcher
2.) Johnsson
3.) Merkley
4.) Bastian
5.) Subban

 

[Devils731]

After seeing the other lists, I don’t think Seattle will want to pick one of the Devils with salary as there are better options with salary available to them.

So I think it will come down to Bastian, Merkley, or Murray. I’d have to study Seattle’s list to see who I think they’d take but possible upside or future value may run Murray/Merkley/Bastian so that may be the order I’m thinking.

 

[Billdo]

I went with Johnsson which makes that trade even more stupid. Down year during Covid, had Covid which was bad for him, and he's gone. Just a dumb move in hindsight.

 

[Devil made me do it]

Whomever they take, it won't be a significant loss to the team and that's really all that matters.

 

[Satans Hockey]

Voted Johnsson cause I want him gone the most but if there was a who cares option that would have gotten my vote.

 

[TheUnseenHand]

I'd be mildly disappointed if they took Bastian. Would be disappointed if they took Subban. Wouldn't care otherwise.

I'm going to guess they take Johnsson.

 

[BurntToast]

It’s very difficult to pick players given the list and I’m sure other picks make it an even more difficult decision.

Do they go with their starter lineup first?

 

[Forge]

I think it's Johnsson. He's a little over priced even if he bounces back, but provides the biggest offensive upside, had shown a history of producing at an acceptable level. In theory, he'd provide the greatest versatility throughout a lineup. We've seen him play the third man on a top line in Toronto, not out of place in the middle six

 

[Forge]

It’s very difficult to pick players given the list and I’m sure other picks make it an even more difficult decision.

Do they go with their starter lineup first?

Yeah, the choice is significantly impacted by external factors

 

[Hisch13r]

With how many good players are out there on bigger deals I’d probably just go cheap and pick Bastian

 

[Mgd31]

I think they will take Bastian honestly.

 

[Cheddabombs]

It's a tough one because it's also a matter of who will they take from every other team, and how will their team composition look. I want them to take Butcher or Johnsson though. And hey maybe those are the best options when you look at it. Butcher did show quite a bit of promise early on but his lack of speed hampered him and he got pushed down the chart but maybe a change of scenery, in a system that doesn't emphasize speed as much, would do him well. Or you could bank on Johnsson bouncing back and being a solid middle 6 winger.

I see the concern with Bastian being picked, I'd be bummed out a bit if he was. But I don't think he'll ever be more than a 3rd liner, would Seattle prefer to go with more of a safer option with him? Maybe, or maybe they want to swing for the highest upside options. And I can't seem them taking Subban. There are too many other options to fill out there defense. Options that aren't 32, don't carry a 9M cap hit, and aren't on expiring contracts.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

With how many good players are out there on bigger deals I’d probably just go cheap and pick Bastian

Francis has permission to spend to the cap, can't believe he'd spend 3 million trying to squeeze value out of Johnsson instead of using that cap space on bigger names, but there's so many moving parts it's really hard to tell.

Tod Leiweke Q&A: On Kraken spending to the salary cap, Seattle's home opener, Vegas comparisons

 

[billingtons ghost]

Capfriemdly has all the lists loaded up already so you can do a mock draft.

Once you start, I was quick to realize there's alot of garbage on those lists. The big names of yesteryear are blinding but there really isn't a whole lot of quality.

I mean even from stacked teams like the Avs you're looking at donskoi or ej.

 

[Triumph]

Not saying history will repeat itself but it is interesting that two of the clear 4th line guys Vegas picked are still with the team 4 years later. I think they just take Bastian, he's low-upside but he's got 4 years of team control left.

 

[Forge]

Capfriemdly has all the lists loaded up already so you can do a mock draft.

Once you start, I was quick to realize there's alot of garbage on those lists. The big names of yesteryear are blinding but there really isn't a whole lot of quality.

I mean even from stacked teams like the Avs you're looking at donskoi or ej.

There's an interesting young, upside defense that can be built. Fleury, Dunn, Bean, Foote and Soucy. Then you can add kylington or gio from Calgary

 

[youryeah]

@StevenToddIves laying out a prayer circle as we speak for the kraken to select johnsson

 

[devilsblood]

There's an interesting young, upside defense that can be built. Fleury, Dunn, Bean, Foote and Soucy. Then you can add kylington or gio from Calgary

Making Butcher less likely?

 

[Camille the Eel]

Studenic should be in the running. He will cost nothing and has the tools to be a bottom 6 guy and give them youth and development. He or Bastian would be my guess. They save the $ to spend elsewhere.

 

[Forge]

Making Butcher less likely?

It seems like they may have side deals in place, so hard to say... But I can't see them taking him.

 

[Guttersniped]

I went with Johnsson which makes that trade even more stupid. Down year during Covid, had Covid which was bad for him, and he's gone. Just a dumb move in hindsight.

Ok, we only lost Joey Anderson in trade and we did need goal scoring. Anderson would have been exposed in the draft instead, he’s not exempt anymore.

Many posters described Fitz as being “defensive of Johnsson” last season when he didn’t publicly criticize AJ in a zoom interview when asked about his production.

This led to the theory that he would protect Johnsson in the ED, not because he was worth protecting but because Fitz didn’t want to look “foolish” after making that trade and then expose the player he traded for in the ED in very next off-season. Some posters even got preemptively angry over this.

Fitz doesn’t do this and he protects McLeod over Johnsson like the vast majority of the board wants and he’s still stupid and dumb? Again, Joey Anderson would have to be protected or exposed too if we kept him.

I’m sorry, I would/will only accept bellyaching from 1) from the majority of the board if Johnsson had been protected 2) from the minority who said they wanted Johnsson protected, I assume over McLeod 3) those few who said they wanted Bastian protected over Kuokkanen. I don’t agree with 2) or 3) but at least they have something specific to complain about.

Random complaints about the Johnsson trade are just bitching for fun, and I likely took the loss of Joey harder than most on the board. (Not harder than @StevenToddIves but pretty hard, and I still believe Joey could be an NHLer, Dubas just needs to stop keep signing aged RWs.)

The Rangers just traded for Barclay Goodrow’s rights and then exposed him. The Ducks traded for Volkov and Fleury, young signed players, and then exposed both. Only so many players can get
protected, that’s how this works.

 

[Better Call Sal]

Hoping for Butch, for his sake and ours. Either way, I envision he’s dealt somewhere by the draft if Seattle hasn’t taken him.