Speculation: 2021-22 Kraken Roster Discussion

[Carl182]

I'd make a solid bet that Haydn Fleury is in the lineup. But I see the issue with RHD you have.

Well Hayden is in the lineup, but I think we trade Gio and have something like,

Fleury-Larsson
Oleksiak-Dunn
Soucy-Lauzon

 

[Moosetache]

Well Hayden is in the lineup, but I think we trade Gio and have something like,

Fleury-Larsson
Oleksiak-Dunn
Soucy-Lauzon

In the initial post I responded to it was my assumption that the RHD position was CALE Fleury, not Haydn. Since Cale is RH.

 

[Carl182]

In the initial post I responded to it was my assumption that the RHD position was CALE Fleury, not Haydn. Since Cale is RH.

Hayden can play both sides and I'm not sure Cale Fleury will have an opening roster spot

 

[Moosetache]

Hayden can play both sides and I'm not sure Cale Fleury will have an opening roster spot

I assure you, Haydn cannot play both sides. I've been watching him for 6 years. Well I guess he could line up at RD, but he'd be set up for failure.

 

[BKarchitect]

As expected the true center depth is bad coming out of the XD. Gourde, Geekie and True are the only full-time centers of the bunch. Blackwell can play center but was more of a winger in his NHL breakout last season, usually playing with Strome. McCann and Jarnkrok can play center but are poor on the dot. I prefer each as a playmaking support winger honestly. Appleton is a winger and not sure why people keep putting him at center. Bastian is also more of a big winger than center.

Anyways - hopefully some of the side deals and free agent signings shore up the middle of the ice. The goaltending is promising, the defensive should be deep and effective if not exciting. There’s little star power on the wings but if the quasi-centers can play their more natural wing positions, the depth is good there too. But the middle past Gourde, McCann (assuming he plays center - he seems like the guy to fill the #2 center spot right now) and maybe Geekie (who I think has breakout upside and being selected instead of Bean, I think Francis agrees) looks bad - at the moment.

McCann-Gourde-Eberle
Donskoi-XXX-Appleton
Vatrano-Jarnkrok-Tanev
Blackwell-Geekie-Pitlick
Ex: Bastian, True, Twary

Top line loads up on the best the team has to offer offensively.

Second line is workable if you get another center in there. Love Appleton as the Bill Karlsson breakout candidate in this team, maybe not 40 goals but I think he can pot 25 in a bigger role. The theoretical center could be somebody like Tyler Johnson but more ideally - with Gourde on the small side and the rest of these guys not great at face-offs, I would look for a bigger center who can win draws and insulate a pretty lightweight group up front. Like a Jordan Staal type.

That third line could be legit - Jarnkrok brings a bit of playmaking, Vatrano can be an opportunistic scorer and Tanev brings relentless energy. All these guys are over their heads as full time top 6ers but are perfect as above average third liners.

Pitlick and Blackwell would make terrific 4th liners and Geekie could be steadily groomed. The other guys should be extra forwards not regular line-up guys, at least to start. Also Big Mac could get a look at forward - he is not gonna play a ton but almost guaranteed he is on the 23 man because of his locker room, leadership and work ethic presence. Whether that’s at forward or defense.

 

[Carl182]

I assure you, Haydn cannot play both sides. I've been watching him for 6 years. Well I guess he could line up at RD, but he'd be set up for failure.

So left side is set then,
Gio-Larsson
Oleksiak-Dunn?
Fleury-Lauzon?
We have so many LHD to trade..
Realised it would be dumb to trade one of Gio, Larsson, Oleksiak, Fleury when they presented them..

 

[Moosetache]

yeah, the RHD situation is an issue. unless I am missing someone, the only RH guys are Larsson and Cale Fleury?

Then Haydn, Gio, Oleksiak, Dunn, Lauzon, Soucey are the NHL level dmen at LHD

 

[Moosetache]

As expected the true center depth is bad coming out of the XD. Gourde, Geekie and True are the only full-time centers of the bunch. Blackwell can play center but was more of a winger in his NHL breakout last season, usually playing with Strome. McCann and Jarnkrok can play center but are poor on the dot. I prefer each as a playmaking support winger honestly. Appleton is a winger and not sure why people keep putting him at center. Bastian is also more of a big winger than center.

Anyways - hopefully some of the side deals and free agent signings shore up the middle of the ice. The goaltending is promising, the defensive should be deep and effective if not exciting. There’s little star power on the wings but if the quasi-centers can play their more natural wing positions, the depth is good there too. But the middle past Gourde, McCann (assuming he plays center - he seems like the guy to fill the #2 center spot right now) and maybe Geekie (who I think has breakout upside and being selected instead of Bean, I think Francis agrees) looks bad - at the moment.

McCann-Gourde-Eberle
Donskoi-XXX-Appleton
Vatrano-Jarnkrok-Tanev
Blackwell-Geekie-Pitlick
Ex: Bastian, True, Twary

Top line loads up on the best the team has to offer offensively.

Second line is workable if you get another center in there. Love Appleton as the Bill Karlsson breakout candidate in this team, maybe not 40 goals but I think he can pot 25 in a bigger role.

That third line could be legit - Jarnkrok brings a bit of playmaking, Vatrano can be an opportunistic scorer and Tanev brings relentless energy.

Pitlick and Blackwell would make terrific 4th liners and Geekie could be steadily groomed. The other guys should be extra forwards not regular line-up guys, at least to start.

Blackwell I thought played a lot of center no? Also, while geekie is a natural center yes, he played most of last year on the wing. Hes a solid player, but not the biggest and struggled at the dot.

 

[BKarchitect]

Blackwell I thought played a lot of center no? Also, while geekie is a natural center yes, he played most of last year on the wing. Hes a solid player, but not the biggest and struggled at the dot.

I thought Blackwell played mostly with Strome last year who is definitely a center. Not saying he can’t do it though. He could get a look higher up given his offensive efficiency last season although it came from out of nowhere so I’m curious to see if it’s sustainable.

And Geekie that’s why I think he starts in a lower line as a center - just given this current roster make-up, I think he should be groomed for the middle. There’s enough third/fourth line type wingers right now.

Of course all of this could be re-shaped in the coming weeks!

Edit: Yeah Blackwell’s most common line usages were:
Panarin-Strome-Blackwell
Kreider-Strome-Blackwell

And he didn’t take many draws. So his NHL breakthrough really came as a top six RW. Now I’m really intrigued to see if he can continue in that kind of role or if it was a flash in the pan driven by better linemates.

 

[Carl182]

yeah, the RHD situation is an issue. unless I am missing someone, the only RH guys are Larsson and Cale Fleury?

Then Haydn, Gio, Oleksiak, Dunn, Lauzon, Soucey are the NHL level dmen at LHD

Then we will have something like

Gio-Larsson
Oleksiak-Dunn
H.Fleury-Lauzon
Soucey/Cholowski-C.Fleury
AHL:Brogen, Macdermid, Bayreuther
We need to trade one of Soucy (ideally) or Cholowski

 

[Carl182]

As expected the true center depth is bad coming out of the XD. Gourde, Geekie and True are the only full-time centers of the bunch. Blackwell can play center but was more of a winger in his NHL breakout last season, usually playing with Strome. McCann and Jarnkrok can play center but are poor on the dot. I prefer each as a playmaking support winger honestly. Appleton is a winger and not sure why people keep putting him at center. Bastian is also more of a big winger than center.

Anyways - hopefully some of the side deals and free agent signings shore up the middle of the ice. The goaltending is promising, the defensive should be deep and effective if not exciting. There’s little star power on the wings but if the quasi-centers can play their more natural wing positions, the depth is good there too. But the middle past Gourde, McCann (assuming he plays center - he seems like the guy to fill the #2 center spot right now) and maybe Geekie (who I think has breakout upside and being selected instead of Bean, I think Francis agrees) looks bad - at the moment.

McCann-Gourde-Eberle
Donskoi-XXX-Appleton
Vatrano-Jarnkrok-Tanev
Blackwell-Geekie-Pitlick
Ex: Bastian, True, Twary

Top line loads up on the best the team has to offer offensively.

Second line is workable if you get another center in there. Love Appleton as the Bill Karlsson breakout candidate in this team, maybe not 40 goals but I think he can pot 25 in a bigger role. The theoretical center could be somebody like Tyler Johnson but more ideally - with Gourde on the small side and the rest of these guys not great at face-offs, I would look for a bigger center who can win draws and insulate a pretty lightweight group up front. Like a Jordan Staal type.

That third line could be legit - Jarnkrok brings a bit of playmaking, Vatrano can be an opportunistic scorer and Tanev brings relentless energy. All these guys are over their heads as full time top 6ers but are perfect as above average third liners.

Pitlick and Blackwell would make terrific 4th liners and Geekie could be steadily groomed. The other guys should be extra forwards not regular line-up guys, at least to start. Also Big Mac could get a look at forward - he is not gonna play a ton but almost guaranteed he is on the 23 man because of his locker room, leadership and work ethic presence. Whether that’s at forward or defense.

I think Donskoie mainly plays RW, while Tanev plays both wings? And I heard Pitlick can play C?

My 1st line was build kinda like the Montreal 1st line to shutdown the other 1st line.

Tanev-Gourde-Appleton

Then a more offensive sheltered line

Donskoie-McCann-Eberle

A high energy 3rd line

Blackwell-Jarnkrok-Pitlick

Big 4th line

Twary-True-Bastien

It is honestly decent

 

[BKarchitect]

Yeah Donskoi was mostly RW with Colorado but I think he could switch if needed. Seems like there are a lot of right sided guys.

You’ll get pushback on having Tanev in a top line role but I guess he could be a poor man’s Hyman?

 

[TDotMassive]

They should do it with whatever picks he can, but he won't because he likes to hoard picks and then make low risk low reward picks with them.

Sounds about as exciting as the roster he drafted... or as exciting as the Carolina Bores he left behind. I feel for Kraken fans... even if this team wins some games, it will be in the most boring way possible.

 

[Dog]

Not even going to try because who knows who they trade or sign in free agency.

 

[finnishflash13]

Why do these projections all have Dunn playing his off side? He really only did that with the Blues out of necessity.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

After taking some time I'm really interested in how this offseason will shape up.

Given Francis comments about drafting a guy that might play right away I think he's talking about Beniers.
Also, it seems like the FO liked Jaden Schwartz quite a bit and maybe that trade for Vatrano also happens.

I would sprinkle in a signing of "hometown hero" Derek Ryan and the lineup could look something like this.

Schwartz-----Beniers----Eberle
McCann-----Gourde---Tanev
Jarnkrok----Ryan---Appleton
Vatranno----Geekie--Bastian

Giordano----Lauzon
Dunn------Larsson
Oleksiak----Fleury

Driedger
Vanecek

Overall we've got way too many NHL ready defenders to keep and will have to trade a couple of them.

Ideally you'd have another top six center to start Beniers on the third line, but I couldn't really think of one we wouldn't have to overpay(and therefore regret at some point) to join the Kraken.

The team, overall, won't be a favourite for a lot of people but it could roll four lines and certainly wouldn't be a favourite with other teams fans thanks to the physicality overall.

 

[Gniwder]

Why do these projections all have Dunn playing his off side? He really only did that with the Blues out of necessity.

Same situation here. Look at all the LHD vs RHD.

Also, a lot of center prospects play wing their first season or two, so I wouldn't use that as a reason to put Blackwell on the wing. This team will more than likely miss the playoffs, so might as well give the kid a chance to play center.

 

[Adele Dazeem]

Vanecek started 37 games last season, he's more than capable of playing half the season if Hakstol decides to split starts.

The forwards don't look like AHLers, but severely lacking on the top end. I didn't expect Francis to chase all the big names but missing out on virtually all of them sucks. I know they all have injury concerns but they also don't have much term left on their contracts if they don't recover.

Pretty lousy draft, completely a low event roster. Didn't even hit the salary cap floor because he was so conservative. My expectation with this roster is bottom 10.

I agree, I think Tarasenko was a no brainer.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

After taking some time I'm really interested in how this offseason will shape up.

Given Francis comments about drafting a guy that might play right away I think he's talking about Beniers.
Also, it seems like the FO liked Jaden Schwartz quite a bit and maybe that trade for Vatrano also happens.

I would sprinkle in a signing of "hometown hero" Derek Ryan and the lineup could look something like this.

Schwartz-----Beniers----Eberle
McCann-----Gourde---Tanev
Jarnkrok----Ryan---Appleton
Vatranno----Geekie--Bastian

Giordano----Lauzon
Dunn------Larsson
Oleksiak----Fleury

Driedger
Vanecek

Overall we've got way too many NHL ready defenders to keep and will have to trade a couple of them.

Ideally you'd have another top six center to start Beniers on the third line, but I couldn't really think of one we wouldn't have to overpay(and therefore regret at some point) to join the Kraken.

The team, overall, won't be a favourite for a lot of people but it could roll four lines and certainly wouldn't be a favourite with other teams fans thanks to the physicality overall.

That is a decent roster. Not 'elite' by any means but defensively responsible. I don't expect Beniers in a big role on this team this season. If, big IF, he does play, I expect him to play as 3C or top-6 W. That is unless he completely hits it out of the park.

Schwartz-Gourde-Eberle
McCann-?-Appleton/Donskoi
Vatrano-Jarnkrok/Appleton-Tanev/Appleton
Tanev/Blackwell-Bastian/Blackwell-Geekie

Giordano-Larsson
Dunn-Oleksiak
Soucy-Fleury

Driedger
Vanecek

One good top-6 C could change the look of this roster. People will crap on us for lack of elite scoring talent but this team is not currently built to win high-scoring games. It is built to win on team defense.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

@Fistfullofbeer

I just really liked that McCann-Gourde-Tanev line which has a little bit of everything and would hount other teams.

BTW: Shouldn't we start using the free agency thread now?
Or should we open one for Rumors/Roster moves etc.?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Now that the expansion draft is done, we can use this thread for rosterbation, speculation, etc.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

@Fistfullofbeer

I just really liked that McCann-Gourde-Tanev line which has a little bit of everything and would hount other teams.

BTW: Shouldn't we start using the free agency thread now?
Or should we open one for Rumors/Roster moves etc.?

Created a new thread. Speculation: - 2021 Kraken Offseason Roster Discussion

 

[StarterHart]

Not sure if it was posted in one of the expansion draft threads, but I'll go ahead and throw it up here.

 

[Carl182]

@Fistfullofbeer

I just really liked that McCann-Gourde-Tanev line which has a little bit of everything and would hount other teams.

BTW: Shouldn't we start using the free agency thread now?
Or should we open one for Rumors/Roster moves etc.?

If the roster stays somewhat similar I can't see McCann not play centre

 

[Ray Martyniuk]

To walk folks off the ledge here.

Strengths:

- We have over 28M available in cap space.
- Our D is pretty much set. Infact we have too many D-men. No superstars but I would argue that we have more than 4 top-4D on our roster and may move some out.
- We have a really solid bottom-6. Could be arguably one of the tougher ones to play against.
- Goalie situation appears to be good with Driedger, Vanecek and Daccord.

Weaknesses:

- Goalies are young an unproven.
- Top-6 F is big position of weakness. Outside of Gourde (who is injured), McCann (who is young and unproven) and Eberle it is looking pretty bleak. Maybe Appleton can eat 2nd line minutes and Donskoi can work in a pinch but those are big gambles to take.

However, there is long way to go before the season starts. We need to be patient and see what moves happen tomorrow (if any) and then also wait to see how the off-season plays out.

There is talk that Calgary has acquired T Pitlick...for a second rounder,third rounder perhaps