Confirmed Signing with Link: [SEA] Dennis Cholowski re-signs with the Kraken (1 year, $900k, two-way)

[Seventy7]

I like Cholowski. Still relatively young for a D

 

[banks]

Just claim the kid for (sort of) free off waivers if he comes available. Arizona will have to pay a small fee but they don't have to send any people or picks Seattle's way.

But theres a chance someone else gets him on waivers before Arizona. If they want him, they have more than enough draft capital to throw away a mid pick for him.

 

[PAZ]

I think pre-camp, the expected locks would be

Giordano
Larsson
Dunn
Oleksiak
Soucy
Lauzon

and then H. Fleury, Borgen, C. Fleury and Cholowski competing for the 7/8 spot.

I expect them to carry 8 D while Gourde is on IR, unless they acquire another forward, or someone comes out of nowhere and really impresses.

I feel like Cholowski is the least likely to get claimed of their excess D men now, but of course that could change depending on how camp/pre-season goes.

Problem for Seattle is that they have a lot of guys that really fall into the 7th quality D and 13th quality forward that aren't waiver exempt and not really good enough for other teams to trade worth-while assets for, but good enough for other teams to want to pick up off of waivers to take a gamble on because they are better than the 7th D/13th forward of half the teams in the league.

Yes and no. While they are more talented than many teams 7th/13th forwards, many of them do not fit the role that most teams want from their bench players. Most coaches prefer their bench players to play a safe, reliable game - they don't care how much talent they have since they're only playing 7-10 minutes a game. Rebuilding teams will most likely take a gamble on these type of players though, as they aren't trying to compete and are simply looking for talent.

 

[tarheelhockey]

I think pre-camp, the expected locks would be

Giordano
Larsson
Dunn
Oleksiak
Soucy
Lauzon

and then H. Fleury, Borgen, C. Fleury and Cholowski competing for the 7/8 spot.

I expect them to carry 8 D while Gourde is on IR, unless they acquire another forward, or someone comes out of nowhere and really impresses.

I feel like Cholowski is the least likely to get claimed of their excess D men now, but of course that could change depending on how camp/pre-season goes.

Problem for Seattle is that they have a lot of guys that really fall into the 7th quality D and 13th quality forward that aren't waiver exempt and not really good enough for other teams to trade worth-while assets for, but good enough for other teams to want to pick up off of waivers to take a gamble on because they are better than the 7th D/13th forward of half the teams in the league.

Unless Fleury got a lot worse over the past few weeks, he should be a solid lock on that roster. On almost any team other than Carolina he would have been challenging for a middle-pair role, then when they swapped him for a legit middle-pair guy he stepped right into 20-minute duty for Anaheim.

Don't get me wrong, he's no game-changing stud or anything, but he's a roughly league-average defenseman and still only 25. If they have him competing for the 7/8 spot they should probably just trade him to a team that needs cheap depth.

 

[Rebels57]

Gotta think Francis would make that trade if offered, but I sorta doubt Arizona offers that.

If everyone stays healthy in Seattle's Francis will probably be looking to move a better piece than Cholowski, so it might benefit AZ to hold off a bit to see what is available closer to the mandatory roster cuts.

Francis is terrified of trades so I wouldn't count on it.

 

[Kaibur]

Coyotes defense a little more than one month from opening night:

Chychrun
Stralman
Gostisbehere
Lyubushkin (Career 134 GP)
Timmins (Career 33 GP)
Capobianco (Career 14 GP)
Soderstrom (Career 4 GP)

The waiver wire guys might be able to play top 4 for Arizona!

 

[Irie]

Unless Fleury got a lot worse over the past few weeks, he should be a solid lock on that roster. On almost any team other than Carolina he would have been challenging for a middle-pair role, then when they swapped him for a legit middle-pair guy he stepped right into 20-minute duty for Anaheim.

Don't get me wrong, he's no game-changing stud or anything, but he's a roughly league-average defenseman and still only 25. If they have him competing for the 7/8 spot they should probably just trade him to a team that needs cheap depth.

The Kraken have a lot of 4/5 defensemen and no where to play them all. Right now, I see H. Fleury, Lauzon, and Soucy competing for the final two of the 6 D spots(not necessarily as a bottom pairing, as I think this team may roll 3 D pairings rather evenly.)

There is a chance an injury in the ranks eliminates the need for a decision, but I see Giordano, Larsson, Oleksiak and Dunn as locks in the top 6.

Lauzon is versatile and brings a physical aspect that I think gives him an advantage for a spot, and Soucy's experience filling in on the right side in the top four in Minny might come into play as one of these guys are probably going to have to play their offside.

To be clear, I didn't mean to imply that H. Fleury wouldn't make the team, and with a decent camp, I think he could definitely find himself in the top 6, but at this stage, I view him as 7th on the depth chart, more due to fit than overall skill. With that said, literally anything could happen in the coming weeks. A lot of things are going to change after camp and the organization finally has a chance to evaluate what they actual have in each player.

 

[Irie]

Yes and no. While they are more talented than many teams 7th/13th forwards, many of them do not fit the role that most teams want from their bench players. Most coaches prefer their bench players to play a safe, reliable game - they don't care how much talent they have since they're only playing 7-10 minutes a game. Rebuilding teams will most likely take a gamble on these type of players though, as they aren't trying to compete and are simply looking for talent.

Very true. But we are talking about players that would likely be claimed on waivers due to their potential being higher than the potential of what many teams have in the same slot.

You are right, they wouldn't be as desirable for contenders who will need reliable depth for long playoff runs, but they would never make it far enough through the waiver process for those teams to claim them.

 

[tarheelhockey]

The Kraken have a lot of 4/5 defensemen and no where to play them all. Right now, I see H. Fleury, Lauzon, and Soucy competing for the final two of the 6 D spots(not necessarily as a bottom pairing, as I think this team may roll 3 D pairings rather evenly.)

There is a chance an injury in the ranks eliminates the need for a decision, but I see Giordano, Larsson, Oleksiak and Dunn as locks in the top 6.

Lauzon is versatile and brings a physical aspect that I think gives him an advantage for a spot, and Soucy's experience filling in on the right side in the top four in Minny might come into play as one of these guys are probably going to have to play their offside.

To be clear, I didn't mean to imply that H. Fleury wouldn't make the team, and with a decent camp, I think he could definitely find himself in the top 6, but at this stage, I view him as 7th on the depth chart, more due to fit than overall skill. With that said, literally anything could happen in the coming weeks. A lot of things are going to change after camp and the organization finally has a chance to evaluate what they actual have in each player.

That all makes sense.