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

[SwedishFire]

In this somewhat ballooned league, everyone with an ounce of talent gets heavy interrest, because close to every team has blanks to fill, everyone has players that are just stopgaps or warm bodys. And need to reach playoff. Wich means every player can chose just free from every free single offer and gets stupidly overpaid.

Fiala is a good player, but he isnt a 8 million player. Wtf..

Money in this league has just rushed over the hill of sense

 

[SwedishFire]

In aftermath, wich players could Kraken had if they had a crystalball or wasnt so afraid for busting;?

Duchene, Tarasenko, Zadorov(?), .. someone.other worrh mention?

 

[McJedi]

[mod]

He’s not wrong about Kakko. Healthy scratching him in game 6 was a brutal organizational decision and one there isn’t really any going back from. Killed the team to player relationship. The trust is gone. No idea why NYR did that. The kid line was interesting and NyR were already playing beyond where they should have been give their poor 5 be 5 metrics.

Game 6 ECF Wasn’t the time to panic and insert an AHL level nobody in place of Kakko. That was stupid. Really stupid.

And it will cost the rangers Kakko in a trade that won’t fetch anything close to 100 cents on that diminished dollar.

 

[ICanMotteBelieveIt]

He’s not wrong about Kakko. Healthy scratching him in game 6 was a brutal organizational decision and one there isn’t really any going back from. Killed the team to player relationship. The trust is gone. No idea why NYR did that. The kid line was interesting and NyR were already playing beyond where they should have been give their poor 5 be 5 metrics.

Game 6 ECF Wasn’t the time to panic and insert an AHL level nobody in place of Kakko. That was stupid. Really stupid.

And it will cost the rangers Kakko in a trade that won’t fetch anything close to 100 cents on that diminished dollar.

I agree with you regarding Kakko.

But I fail to see the relevance of bringing up our prospects. And Laf is buried behind Panarin and Kreider, he doesn't get any PP time. He showed in the playoffs that he'll most likely be a 2nd line player at least. He just needs some more time since he's not a generational player.

He was wrong about 95% of everything else he spouted out though.

 

[HoseEmDown]

For me it's more about the lack of direction. If ownership wants Seattle competing quickly like Vegas then yes you take Tarasenko, Duchene, etc. If it's building through the draft and showing patience, there's no need to sign two goalies taking up to 10m in cap space. Eberle eating up 5.5, signing a 30 year old Schwartz to a 5 year deal.

Instead Seattle were just kind of left in purgatory. Now they are going to try and plug those holes via UFA.

Who was Vegas' Duchene, a 8M player with 5 years left coming off two terrible seasons? What player did Vegas take that was coming off two seasons which had to be cut short because of surgery? Everyone says they should've went the Vegas route but Vegas wasn't taking contracts like that. Vegas got lucky Pittsburgh wanted to dump Fluery, Florida Marchessault and Smith, Anaheim Theodore and Karlsson turned into a 1C. Their best players were practically given to them.

You can say Francis handled the draft poorly then and should have gotten some side deals done. I just think GM's learned from last time and didn't make the same mistakes. They also had more time to prepare for Seattle draft. As for the contracts you mentioned Eberle was the best pick from NY, Francis never addressed goaltending properly in Carolina so he tried to right away, Schwartz when healthy is a good player and plays the style Francis wants. Unfortunately things didn't work as well as he hoped but the played better down the stretch so I assume they think a few pieces and better goaltending will make them competitive.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

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

Teams (usually) don't have that sort of loser mentality. At best, what are the odds of getting Bedard? Just under 20% if you finish dead last?

 

[ICanMotteBelieveIt]

Teams (usually) don't have that sort of loser mentality. At best, what are the odds of getting Bedard? Just under 20% if you finish dead last?

20% of getting a potential generational player is still better than being a team on the outside looking in. There is no need to rush anything. Build through draft, try to get better players in 2 seasons when you got Bedard or other top 5 talent drafted.

 

[Spring in Fialta]

20% of getting a potential generational player is still better than being a team on the outside looking in. There is no need to rush anything. Build through draft, try to get better players in 2 seasons when you got Bedard or other top 5 talent drafted.

I'm not saying that Seattle should be spending in FA but anyone who thinks that a team should stop itself from getting a good player who they think is a fit in the name of a lottery ticket shouldn't be taken seriously. It's strictly an internet mentality (most of the time). Stopping yourself from acquiring good players for the lottery is a surefire way to keep losing for a long, long time.

 

[The Marquis]

Some of you guys are all "they're blowing it by spending on UFA's, they are going to suck so bad" yet at the same time are all "They're going to miss out on Bedard if they buy UFA's". Which one is it? Are they going to suck, or are they going to suck? WHICH SUCK ARE THE KRAKEN GOING TO BE? UFA suck, or not UFA suck? Sounds to me like the Kraken are going to be in on Bedard regardless according to everybody who thinks Francis spending on UFA's is dumb. If it's so dumb, why does it make them both suck AND simultaneously put them out of the running for Bedard. Frankly, as a Kraken fan, I don't think any of the difference maker UFA's are going to land in Seattle anyway, so I'm banking on a third suck... try and fail... but it won't be enough because Beniers will net the Kraken enough goals and thus wins to put them about 8th from the bottom.

 

[jbron]

As long is Hakstol is behind the bench whether they add UFA's or don't they are going to suck. However, getting Bedard and a new coach in a year could turn the tide.

 

[TheShape]

Who was Vegas' Duchene, a 8M player with 5 years left coming off two terrible seasons? What player did Vegas take that was coming off two seasons which had to be cut short because of surgery? Everyone says they should've went the Vegas route but Vegas wasn't taking contracts like that. Vegas got lucky Pittsburgh wanted to dump Fluery, Florida Marchessault and Smith, Anaheim Theodore and Karlsson turned into a 1C. Their best players were practically given to them.

You can say Francis handled the draft poorly then and should have gotten some side deals done. I just think GM's learned from last time and didn't make the same mistakes. They also had more time to prepare for Seattle draft. As for the contracts you mentioned Eberle was the best pick from NY, Francis never addressed goaltending properly in Carolina so he tried to right away, Schwartz when healthy is a good player and plays the style Francis wants. Unfortunately things didn't work as well as he hoped but the played better down the stretch so I assume they think a few pieces and better goaltending will make them competitive.

They shouldn't have went the Vegas route is the point, because like you said GMs learned from the last expansion. We don't know what direction ownership was looking for, if it was to be competitive off the hop like Vegas than Francis' hands were a bit tied. Regardless, I don't see how anyone can look at that ED and say Seattle did a good job.

As things stand the Kraken are years away and that point what good are players like Gourde, Oleksiak, Grubauer, Schwartz who are going to be in their mid 30s? I think Francis signed this group with term believing they were going to be competitive from day one given Seattle were in a weak division.

 

[sigma six]

Francis hasn't announced what his plan is so people assume he doesn't have one? Leiweke isn't going to let him just idle along.

The ED didn't go according to plan but they did pretty well in the entry draft. This year they'll add Nemec and four second rounders to that, so they'll be building through the draft regardless.
I agree that now isn't the time to add an expensive superstar, that team needs a couple of years to mature but they may instead be thinking to add some quality depth who will be around for awhile.

Personally I don't see Hakstol lasting any longer in SEA than he did in Philly.

 

[DistantThunderRep]

The main move Seattle should make is replacing Hakstol. He’s a terrible coach.

 

[KingsFan7824]

In this somewhat ballooned league, everyone with an ounce of talent gets heavy interrest, because close to every team has blanks to fill, everyone has players that are just stopgaps or warm bodys. And need to reach playoff. Wich means every player can chose just free from every free single offer and gets stupidly overpaid.

Fiala is a good player, but he isnt a 8 million player. Wtf..

Money in this league has just rushed over the hill of sense

Because every player isn't a UFA at the same time. If everyone only signed 1 year deals, and you were always a UFA when the year was over, you'd get a better $ ratio between talent and need every year, assuming the cap was still in place. If it wasn't, and we might as well change the entire system if we're doing the contract thing, but then you'd still end up with Bobby Holik situations.

 

[bleedgreen]

Should've drafted Voracek, Tarasenko then. They drafted a lot of barely AHL players who they then lost to waivers or they chose not to re-sign. Could've picked a lot of decent players and if worst came to worst, retained salary and then they would've gotten good draft picks back. Tarasenko at 50% retained would've been a very good trading piece. Same thing with Voracek/JVR and many, many more.

They did f*** all.

Tarasenko over Dunn made zero sense, never has. why would they take big ticket items like Voracek? No one wants contracts like that without getting paid to take them.

They got 18 picks in the first four rounds of the next two drafts. They made all the moves everyone expected for the expansion draft at the trade deadline and got better value. They did it right while not paying some bad contracts in the meantime. Now they can use their cap space on the players they want instead of that crap list.

 

[SwedishFire]

Because every player isn't a UFA at the same time. If everyone only signed 1 year deals, and you were always a UFA when the year was over, you'd get a better $ ratio between talent and need every year, assuming the cap was still in place. If it wasn't, and we might as well change the entire system if we're doing the contract thing, but then you'd still end up with Bobby Holik situations.

What is a Bobby Holik situation?

 

[ThomasTheTumorigenic]

It will be interesting to see who comes here to Seattle in free agency. Regardless, I suggest Francis better get goaltending right this summer. The first part of the season went south because Driedger was hurt and couldn't properly back up Grubauer, who was playing poorly. Now that Driedger os out until 2023, Daccord is the only other goalie in the system. He seems like a good dude, but I don't know if he's NHL caliber. They need to make sure they have another option in case he isn't.

 

[Hobnobs]

Sounds like Francis is about to lose his job....

What is a Bobby Holik situation?

A 3rd line center who was paid 8 millions per year by the Rangers back in 02.

 

[bleedgreen]

A writer says they’re gonna blow big money on ufa contracts and we’re 8 pages deep on how dumb they are. The team has said nothing to this effect, though I’m sure theyre looking at the market to make their team better just like everyone else.

Maybe we should see these contracts actually happen before dogging them about it….

 

[jmelm]

Tarasenko over Dunn made zero sense, never has. why would they take big ticket items like Voracek? No one wants contracts like that without getting paid to take them.

They got 18 picks in the first four rounds of the next two drafts. They made all the moves everyone expected for the expansion draft at the trade deadline and got better value. They did it right while not paying some bad contracts in the meantime. Now they can use their cap space on the players they want instead of that crap list.

The fact that’s they’ve compiled so many picks just reenforces that the correct course of action is to go the full suck-and-rebuild route. If they get a few big name UFAs that help them get to 9th and 10th in the division over the next 3-4 years, they’re going to totally f**k up the chance to suck for Bedard & others.

They should continue to try to suck (first step, keep Hakstol as coach), and weaponize their cap space to take on shitty contracts for picks, and be a 3rd party facilitator (retaining salary) on traded players to bring the cap hits down for more picks. They should be be trying to pick top 3-5 for the next 3-4 drafts, with a dozen more picks behind their top one.

 

[Gruyeriev]

In aftermath, wich players could Kraken had if they had a crystalball or wasnt so afraid for busting;?

Duchene, Tarasenko, Zadorov(?), .. someone.other worrh mention?

JVR, Adam Heinrique, Max Domi, RyJo, and Carey Price. Granted as an Avs fan I didn’t think Grubauer or Donskoi would suck as bad as they did. Maybe they should have chosen JT Compher instead.

 

[SwedishFire]

JVR, Adam Heinrique, Max Domi, RyJo, and Carey Price. Granted as an Avs fan I didn’t think Grubauer or Donskoi would suck as bad as they did. Maybe they should have chosen JT Compher instead.

Couldnt chose both Duchene and RyJo, but Duchene is the safer bet. JVR wouöd also been a good choice I guess? Pr8ce, they could stay away

 

[CupInSIX]

JVR, Adam Heinrique, Max Domi, RyJo, and Carey Price. Granted as an Avs fan I didn’t think Grubauer or Donskoi would suck as bad as they did. Maybe they should have chosen JT Compher instead.

Price was exempt but I'm glad you pointed out Johansen was available and is still a capable top 6 C on a playoff team. The rumors were they were asking for ridiculous assets (1st+top prospect) to take on guys like JVR, but they probably could have had a good prospect + a 2nd to draft him over the guy they picked (I'm drawing a blank on the AHLer they took...Lycinski I think?).

To be fair to Francis, they had a limit to the amount of forwards they could draft.


Teams walked away from the 'sticker shock' (according to Lebrun) of Francis' asks and instead turned to teams like Chicago & Arizona to dump cap. The fact that Francis couldn't pull off even 3 minor deals for cap dumps is mind boggling considering all the teams like the Wild, Toronto etc who were still looking for cap relief that summer.

But oh well, he did the bare minimum & flipped guys like MacDermid & Gio. Personally I thought the Habs, Arizona & even Chicago (after the awful Jones trade) made out better selling off assets.

 

[Bevans]

A vegas 2.0 was impossible.. Vegas was paid to make the expansion draft choices they did we didn't. So enough.

Yes the only possible series of events were the two that occurred. No GM could possibly done anything different than Fancis did. I cannot imagine a universe in which anything else could have happened.

ENOUGH!

 

[Whoshattenkirkshoes]

Why wouldn't they at least tank 1 more year.