Confirmed Signing with Link: [SEA] Alex Wennberg signing with the Kraken (3 years, $4.5M AAV)

[4Twenty]

Seattle is getting a lot of grief right now but IMO they'll be able to out-defend every team in their division but the Golden Knights and do so by a considerable enough margin to get into the playoffs.

Wennberg kind fits in that scheme. Add him to a whole pile of defensively astute forwards, very solid D and quality goaltending, they might do all right.

Vegas got grief too. Even with all their wheeling and dealing.

Vegas' 2nd line their first year was Perron-Haula-Neal.......lets get real, Wennberg is a better asset than any of those guys with 1 year on their deals.

Vegas' first season success was about team camraderie and gelling....their ability to sustain an elite contender was because they kept upgrading their lineup.

So many people don't seem to understand cap space, flexibility, the value of short term contracts......case in point if he signed for 4 years $3m people would be praising the deal.....Seattle has no cap concerns and has the flexibility of only a 3 year commitment.

Also, this is a 26 year old former 1st round pick....just because Columbus bought him out, because he crapped out playing for Tortorella (he's not the first of this kind) doesn't mean he wasn't an effective 2nd line player. Even if he's "only a 3C".....that's a damn good 3rd line if this guys on it.

 

[nihlify]

Seattle appears to be heading into the gutter for a long time imo. Vegas appeared to have a plan at least.

Did you people even exist before the vegas first season?

 

[bleedgreen]

You'd think it was an 8 year deal instead of three. This wont negatively affect them at all even if it didnt work out.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

Not a bad contract, but Seattle is deliberately trying to suck. But you never know.

I expect Francis to get fired come by 2025. I knew Seattle was doomed the second he signed on as their GM.

 

[LokiDog]

I think Wennberg has a big year. He did well in Florida after getting a fresh start last year. 42 point pace. He should get a bigger role and a lot of opportunity in Seattle. I could see 50 points from him, and he's a fairly solid two-way player. I like this signing quite a bit for Seattle.

 

[SwedishFire]

Lol. Seattle f***ing sucks.

Love it. Wennberg and Schwartz immediately make us loads better. And we still probably have 20M more in cap space.

Seattle is polarizing.. LOL

I like their strategyand match up. Wennberg though....heh?? THeir 3C I guess. THat price is also.... say again??

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Seattle is polarizing.. LOL

I like their strategyand match up. Wennberg though....heh?? THeir 3C I guess. THat price is also.... say again??

I think this team is not built to win from their top-6. Its to basically play tough and close games. The bottom-6 Forwards, G and D is really solid. The top-6 is going to have a tough time scoring but defensively should be able to hold their own.

As we get more elite talent via future drafts or otherwise, the type of players we have give us a lot of flexibility in moving players up and down the lineup. We are not going to be a sexy team to watch, but I have a feeling teams are going to have a hard time playing us.

 

[LokiDog]

Wennberg is absolutely starting in the top-six for Seattle. He paced for 42 points last year and averaged over 18:00 TOI w. 1:55 PP and 2:33 SH. He'll get the same this year, with likely a bump in PP time. I don't think 45-55 points is out of the question.

 

[SwedishFire]

I think this team is not built to win from their top-6. Its to basically play tough and close games. The bottom-6 Forwards, G and D is really solid. The top-6 is going to have a tough time scoring but defensively should be able to hold their own.

As we get more elite talent via future drafts or otherwise, the type of players we have give us a lot of flexibility in moving players up and down the lineup. We are not going to be a sexy team to watch, but I have a feeling teams are going to have a hard time playing us.

I think Sesttle had interresting matchup. Room for players like Järnkrok and McCann room to show what they are, can show off some offensive talent. Gourde, Schwartz, Eberle, good top 6 players as well. Donskoi, Apleton, Blackwell, Wennberg, Geekie could do damage as a 3rd line, and having good 4th liners; Tanev, Bastian ex. Nothing to really complain about. No bad contraxts mKes them special.

Should have kept Pitlick though

 

[Jacob]

“Weaponizing cap space.”

 

[AveryStar4Eva]

Seattle literally told other teams we don’t want your bloated contracts just to turn around and sign guys for even longer

 

[Saucechucker99]

I don’t like anything the kraken are doing.

 

[MNRube]

“Weaponizing cap space.”

Id imagine a lot of the returns on this strategy come at the deadline. It’s too early to tell if the cap space is best used to acquire players or to acquire futures for taking on salary.

 

[pabst blue ribbon]

Last time this guy got an AAV similar to this he got bought out

 

[sr edler]

I'm not a Kraken fan, but I didn't like it when Francis said "teams weren't willing to make the mistakes they made last time", i.e. last time being Vegas.

Even if that is true, that teams were more careful this time around, it's still a negative type of statement and sounds like an excuse if his team is about to suck this upcoming season.

I've no idea how good or bad the Kraken are going to be next season (if I had to guess, probably mediocre to bad), but Alexander Wennberg's a really unspectacular player.

 

[ctmagic]

Last time this guy got an AAV similar to this he got bought out

under torts, first season away from that system he sets a career high in goals during a shortened season. Not saying he’s going to be amazing, but I’m interested in seeing how he does in this situation. No one expected wild bill to do what he did in Vegas.

 

[bossram]

Not a bad contract, but Seattle is deliberately trying to suck. But you never know.

I expect Francis to get fired come by 2025. I knew Seattle was doomed the second he signed on as their GM.

I don't get this sentiment, yet it seems fairly common.

It also seems pretty untrue. Why go to the trouble of signing these free agents then? I.e. Larsson, Oleksiak, Schwartz, Grubauer, Wennberg. Why not just sign some young and/or bargain guys if the plan is to tank?

I agree that organizationally, Francis looks pretty clueless. But it does look to me that they want to be competitive next season. And they will be. The Pacific division is trash after Vegas. It's pretty realistic that Seattle finishes 2nd in the division at the end of it.

 

[bleedgreen]

I'm not a Kraken fan, but I didn't like it when Francis said "teams weren't willing to make the mistakes they made last time", i.e. last time being Vegas.

Even if that is true, that teams were more careful this time around, it's still a negative type of statement and sounds like an excuse if his team is about to suck this upcoming season.

I've no idea how good or bad the Kraken are going to be next season (if I had to guess, probably mediocre to bad), but Alexander Wennberg's a really unspectacular player.

You can not like it all you want, doesn’t make it any less true. It’s hardly an offensive statement. We all knew teams were preparing for this, there was very little that was a surprise about the exposure lists other than Domi and Price, who were both easy to not take.

 

[SwedishFire]

Seattle literally told other teams we don’t want your bloated contracts just to turn around and sign guys for even longer

but cheaper cap. That matters

 

[Canes]

Weaponized mediocrity

 

[chauron]

Looks like they’re hoping him to overperform like William Karlsson did, hoping to get #2C.

 

[TaketheCannoli]

I wish Wennberg the best of luck. He's a good team mate, plays a strong defensive game and is a capable playmaker. If he can learn to shoot, he could make a lot of Seattle fans very happy.

 

[AHockeyFanatic]

Why would they help Tampa? /s

Tyler Johnson would have been the second best center behind Gourde in Seattle, but since Francis doesn’t know how to GM he missed Johnson and any top line center, shame and bizarre.

Biggest disappointment will be wasting Gourde on a trash team.

 

[AHockeyFanatic]

Seattle had so much to potential to load up on talent or load up on assets. They did neither.

Incredibly dumb.

Best options for an Expansion team:

1. Load up on talent
1b. Load up on assets

Francis: I will do neither.

 

[AHockeyFanatic]

I get the feeling that whatever plan Seattle had in place in a month ago isn't shaking out the way they wanted and now they're making some desperation moves.

I like the player, but that's a lot. I still can't really grasp what their team is.

Not planning for the expansion draft, not filling out the roster, picking guys they couldn’t trade, receiving 0 extra draft picks before the draft….

98% of people on HF could have done a better job.