Like many of you, I was extremely confused by what Seattle did tonight, and I felt that Francis and the rest of the Kraken staff really dropped the ball on this one.
So to show how badly they dropped the ball, I took an hour to create a team that not only is cheaper and more competitive than what Francis just drafted, but I also have some big names that I am flipping for picks and prospects to start to help fill out my AHL Team.
While doing this, I tried to keep as many of the Krakens picks as I thought possible or agreed with and I also did this without making any sides deals (like the Kraken).
So without further to do, here is the team I drafted...
OFFENCE
JVR – Gourde – Bailey
McCann – Tierney – Donskoi
Jarnkrok – Geekie - Blais
Gadjovich – Blackwell – Stenlund
Shore
DEFENCE
Simek - DeMelo
H.Fleury – Lauzon
MacDermid – Stetcher
Ruhwedel/Lybushkin
GOALTENDING
Dreidger
Wedgewood
AHL
Mascherin (F)
C.Fleury (D)
Borgen (D)
Delia (G)
TRADING
Giordano (D)
Vanacek (G)
Kahkonen (G)
TOTAL CAP HIT - $51,564,999
TOTAL CAP SPACE - $29,935,001
Now I know that there are some questionable picks in here (Like taking Blais over Dunn/Tarasenko) but the purpose of this was to show that it was possible to make a better, more cohesive team than whatever the hell Seattle just did for $1,000,000 LESS than what Seattle is spending.
You may look at that D-Core and think that it is pretty suspect, you would be right. But with ~$30,000,000 in cap space and Gio/Vanacek/Kahkonen all being traded, that is something that can be easily addressed. Then, if you upgrade the D-Core, none of the players that are there are what we would call "untradeable", so when you get an upgrade on them, you can still trade those players for even more prospects/picks.
I guess what this whole post is trying to say is that as a fan of hockey itself, I am pretty disappointed in how the Kraken approached this draft and find it kind of ridiculous that a 20-something year old with no prior hockey experience can whip up a team in an hour that is better and cheaper than what a bunch of "trusted hockey men and women" can do in months.