LeBrun: Kraken will be serious players in free agency - ''going to spend big if they can''

[Marc the Habs Fan]

LeBrun rumblings: How does Anthony Duclair's injury affect the Panthers' offseason?

Also, how is the UFA goalie market shaping up? Will Nazem Kadri and Ondrej Palat remain with their teams? Is Zdeno Chara coming back?

theathletic.com

The Kraken and the UFA market

I can’t tell you how many different sources across the league mentioned to me over the past couple of weeks to keep an eye on the Seattle Kraken ahead of the July 13 UFA market.

Word out of Seattle is the Kraken intend on being serious players in free agency.

“They’re going to spend big if they can,’’ a source reiterated Wednesday.

I wonder if they’ll make an offer to Johnny Gaudreau if he hits the market, for example. Wouldn’t surprise me if they did.

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[BringTheReign]

Francis and Hakstol were such poor decisions to build a foundation for this franchise. Given that they’re there though, Klingberg could at least help their system’s focus on offense generation from the point.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

Is this the UFA crop to spend big on?

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Is this the UFA crop to spend big on?

This is one of the better UFA crops in 10 years in my view.

 

[Lays]

Should’ve done it last off-season

 

[CraigsList]

Is this the UFA crop to spend big on?

It’s a lot better than previous years. Gaudreau, Forsberg, Malkin, Letang, Giroux, etc.

 

[Mike Jones]

This is one of the better UFA crops in 10 years in my view.

Are there any who would be interested in the Kraken this early in the team's development? The team probably has at least one more year before they contend for or make the playoffs.

The '23 offseason seems to be the one where they should try to sign the younger UFAs.

 

[BHD]

Francis has his team scouting every middle-six forward and second-pairing dman.

 

[Muffin]

So they botched the expansion draft because "cap space is the most important asset" but decided to waste it all on UFA that's going to be overpaid?

 

[Marc the Habs Fan]

Are there any who would be interested in the Kraken this early in the team's development? The team probably has at least one more year before they contend for or make the playoffs.

It's a flat cap world and so many teams are already in cap hell. There will be somewhat desperate UFA's who will take the biggest offer and the Kraken with the cap room they have can provide that biggest offer.

 

[Bazeek]

So they botched the expansion draft because "cap space is the most important asset" but decided to waste it all on UFA that's going to be overpaid?

I'm not saying that it was The Plan, but saving your cap space for a UFA class that's actually pretty good isn't the worst approach.

 

[Duck Off]

feels like a bad idea to me. They made their bed when they screwed up the expansion draft. Signing a bunch of bad contracts to be relative seems like the wrong way to go. I'm saying "bad" because normally if you're a "big player" in free agency, you're handing out a lot of $ and term.

 

[LEAFANFORLIFE23]

It’s a lot better than previous years. Gaudreau, Forsberg, Malkin, Letang, Giroux, etc.

I guess but 3 of the guys you mentioned are mid 30's

If you are a contender that's one thing but should Seattle really be giving Malkin say 4 years 8.5 per?

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

My money's on Klingberg

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

This is how you build an underperforming, overpaid roster that leaves you cornered when you need to make a move because nothing is working. This would have been okay if they were extremely aggressive last year in collecting picks and prospects that can give cheap talent or future trade collateral, but they did damn near the bare minimum. Seattle is not going to be a threat anytime soon.

 

[sennysensen]

They'll be too good to get Connor Bedard. Should wait 1 year before spending.

 

[Roof Daddy]

What an odd strategy for an expansion team. You forego grabbing guys like Tarasenko or Duchene in the expansion draft who are under shorter term than you’ll have to offer in free agency a year later, and then announce that you’re going all in on free agency a year later?

I foresee this team topping out at mediocre for the next decade. If they stock up in UFA this year, they won’t be picking high enough in a stacked draft next year to nab a franchise player (maybe Beniers is already that guy, but it would be on the lower range of franchise player).

 

[MoneyManny]

Spend as much as you like, let the Habs finish last again pretty please?

 

[Stealth JD]

They should weaponize their cap space and take other team's dumps for picks....not spend their space on UFA's that won't help them escape last place any time soon. Gear up for 2026; acquire picks in '23 and '24 with that cap space.

 

[BHawk21]

McCann-Gourde-E. Kane
Schwartz-Beniers-Eberle
Donato-Wennberg-Donskoi
Sheahan-Geekie-Lind

Oleksiak-Letang
Dunn-Larsson
Soucy-Borgen

Grubauer
Dreiger

Pretty solid.

Trying to make the playoffs early on for a new franchise may be more beneficial then taking a few years to build a team.

 

[stempniaksen]

For some reason this feels like Nichushkin/Burakovsky to me (more than likely Bura). Maybe they end up being the team unafraid to throw money at Mason Marchement. I very much doubt they'll be in on the Malkin/Letang/ect types.

 

[Ezpz]

They'll be too good to get Connor Bedard. Should wait 1 year before spending.

They weren't even able to finish at the bottom this year, what makes you think they're going to next year? Beniers looks like a stud.

 

[MS]

This is one of the better UFA crops in 10 years in my view.

It's one of the best ever. Certainly for forwards - blueline is fairly thin.

Gaudreau, Forsberg, Klingberg are three U-30 impact players. Kane is a 4th although yuck. And then you have Kadri, Malkin, Letang, Giroux, Bergeron all still as older top players on top of that. Having ~10 impact players available is very unusual.

But yeah, why Seattle would be major players is strange. The Vegas thing happening to them has sailed and they should be building traditionally through the draft.

 

[SeanMoneyHands]

I wouldn’t be surprised if they sign Giroux, Kadri, Letang.
.

 

[Mickey Marner]

I don't think Francis has a clue, but with no state income tax, he could at least appear semi-competent.