The Seattle Kraken is set to join the NHL in the 2021-22 season, so I thought i would be fitting to try and draft the Seattle Kraken from scratch and turn them into a contending team.
At the Expansion draft, the Seattle Kraken make a few trades:
Seattle Kraken acquires Zach Parise, Connor Dewar, 1st round pick 2021 from the Minnesota Wild for a 2021 4th round pick.
The Kraken is willing to take on Zach Parise's contract but it will cost the Wild Connor Dewar and a 1st round pick as well.
Seattle Kraken acquires 3rd round pick '21, 3rd rd pick '23 to protect Cizikas, Clutterbuck from being selected by Seattle.
This is a no-brainer for the Islanders because Cizikas and Clutterbuck are part of their identity line; they need to keep them at all costs.
Seattle Kraken acquires Marc-Eduoard Vlasic, 2022 1st round pick from the San Jose Sharks for 2021 3rd round pick.
The Kraken takes on Vlasic's terrible contract at the cost of the Shark's first-round pick in 2022.
Seattle Kraken acquires Tyler Johnson, Cal Foote from Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2022 3rd round pick.
The Kraken takes on Tyler Johnson's contract, but it comes at the cost of prospect defenseman Cal Foote.
Expansion Draft:
ANA-Troy Terry
ARI-Niklas Hjalmarsson
BOS-Nick Ritchie
BUF-Zemgus Girgensons
CGY-Connor Mackey
CAR-Nino Neiderreiter
CHI-Calvin DeHaan
COL-Tyson Jost
CBJ-Joonas Korpisalo
DAL-Jason Dickinson
DET-Jonathan Bernier
EDM-Ethan Bear
FLA-Chris Driedger
LA-Blake Lizotte
MIN-Nick Bonino
MTL-Joel Armia
NSH-Dante Fabbro
NJ-Andreas Johnsson
NYI-Kieffer Bellows
NYR-Colin Blackwell
OTT-Nic Paul
PHI-Oskar Lindblom
PIT-Marcus Pettersson
SJ-Dylan Gambrell
STL-Vince Dunn
TB-Blake Coleman
TOR-Alex Galchenyuk
VAN-Jake Virtanen
VGK-Brayden McNabb
WAS-Lars Eller
WPG-Tucker Poolman
After the trade, the Kraken make some trades:
Seattle Kraken trade Calvin De Haan, Nic Paul, Oskar Lindblom to the San Jose Sharks for Ivan Chekhovich, Jacob Middleton, 2021 3rd round pick.
Seattle gets some prospects and a draft pick for players that didn't fit in the lineup.
The Kraken also trade Nick Bonino, Marcus Pettersson to the New Jersey Devils for Nick Merkley, Aarne Talvitie, and a 2022 2nd round pick.
The Devils need a left defenseman and a veteran center, so this trade addresses both those needs.
The Kraken also trade Niklas Hjalmarsson, Zemgus Girgensons, Colin Blackwell to the Ottawa Senators for Logan Brown, Michael Amadio.
Logan Brown is lost in the shuffle in the Sens' system, and with the new prospects coming in for the Senators, he may not have a spot in the lineup, so a move to Seattle is the best option for him.
Troy Terry, Dylan Gambrell, Alex Galchenyuk to the Dallas Stars for Riley Tufte, 2021 3rd round pick.
The Kraken get Riley Tufte and a 3rd for Troy Terry, Alex Galchenyuk, and Dylan Gambrell.
Ethan Bear, Jason Dickinson is traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Emil Benstrom, 2021 3rd round pick.
The Kraken trade Ethan Bear and Jason Dickinson for Emil Benstrom and a draft pick.
Blake Coleman is traded to the Edmonton Oilers for 1st round pick in 2022.
The Oilers get Blake Coleman, a gritty and versatile forward, who gives them exactly what they need.
Jonathan Bernier is traded to the Calgary Flames for a 2022 4th round pick.
The Flames need a backup goalie, so they acquire Jonathan Bernier, who is a very solid veteran backup.
Andreas Johnsson is traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for a 2022 5th round pick.
The Hurricanes need to replace Nino Niederreiter, who they lost in the expansion draft, so they get Andreas Johnsson, who could benefit from playing in Carolina with some good young players.
This is how the Seattle Kraken looks like after the expansion draft:
N.Neiderreiter-L.Brown-J.Armia
N.Richie-T.Jost-T.Johnson
K.Bellows-L.Eller-J.Virtanen
Z.Parise-B.Lizotte-E.Benstrom
B.McNabb-D.Fabbro
M-E.Vlasic-C.Foote
V.Dunn-T.Poolman
J.Korpisalo
C.Dreidger
Spares: C.Mackey, M.Amadio, C.Dewar, N.Merkley
Top Prospects: I.Chekhovich, R.Tufte, J.Middleton
At the 2021 draft, the Seattle Kraken trade picks 68, 70, 83 to the Detroit Red Wings for pick 52.
2021 Draft
2-Matthew Beniers
25-Sasha Pastujov
35-Samu Tuomaala
52-Sean Behrens
66-Samu Salminen
78-Olen Zellweger
The Seattle Kraken draft a couple really solid prospects that could be an important part of their core in the future.
The Seattle Kraken re-sign a few players:
Chris Driedger-3yr/3.5M per
Vince Dunn-4yrs/3.25M per
Joel Armia-4yrs/3M per
Nick Ritchie-3yrs/2.5M per
Tyson Jost-2yrs/1.75M per
Dante Fabbro-2yrs/1.3M per
Cal Foote-2yrs/925K per
Logan Brown-2yrs/925K per
Kieffer Bellows-2yrs/925K per
Blake Lizotte-2yrs/925k per
Conor Mackey-2yrs/925k per
Tucker Poolman-2yrs/800k per
Nick Merkley-1yrs/800k
Michael Amadio-1yr/700k
Not surprisingly, the Seattle Kraken finish the 2021-22 season with the worst record in the NHL and manage to retain the number 1 pick in the 2022 draft.
Before the 2022 draft, a few trades are made:
Seattle Kraken trade Tyson Jost, Jake Virtanen, Brayden McNabb to the Boston Bruins for Jack Studnicka, Trent Frederic, 2022 2nd round pick.
The Bruins add more depth scoring on the wings and also add a big physical defenseman for two solid prospects and a 2nd round pick.
The Kraken also trade Lars Eller to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2022 2nd round pick, 2023 3rd round pick.
The addition of Lars Eller gives the Leafs more depth scoring and versatility as well.
Nino Niederreiter, Riley Tufte, Dante Fabbro are traded to the Colorado Avalanche for Andre Burakovsky, Justin Barron, 2022 1st round pick.
This trade makes the Colorado Avalanche even deadlier coming off a Stanley Cup Victory; at the same time, the Kraken get Andre Burakovsky, a great prospect defenseman, and a 1st round pick.
Joonas Korpisalo is traded to the LA Kings for Jonathan Quick.
This is a straight one-for-one trade, which works out great for both teams, as the Kings get to get out of Quick's contract and the Kraken get a Veteran goalie to tandem with Chris Driedger.
2022 Draft
1-Shane Wright
20-Ivan Miroshnichenko
32-Simon Forsmark
33-Joakim Kemmel
57-Jonathan Lekkerimaki
63-Julian Lutz
64-Maveric Lamoureux
The Kraken had a great draft in 2022, landing a few blue-chip prospects with Shane Wright, Ivan Miroshichenko, Simon Forsmark, and Joakim Kemmel.
Seattle Kraken re-signs a few players:
Andre Burakovsky-3yrs/4.5M per
Ivan Chekhovich-2yrs/1.3M per
Emil Benstrom-2yrs/1.25M per
Trent Frederic-2yrs/850k per
Conor Dewar-2yrs/850k per
Jack Studnicka-2yrs/800k per
Seattle Kraken makes two key free agents:
Calle Jarnkrok-3yrs/2.2 million per
Noel Acciari-3yrs/1.75 million per
The Seattle Kraken miss the playoffs again in the 2022-23 season and end up with the 7th pick in the draft.
Before the 2023 draft, the Seattle Kraken make a huge trade:
Seattle Kraken trade Nick Ritchie, Conor Mackey, Blake Lizotte, 2023 3rd round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for Brandon Tanev, Zach Aston Reese.
The Kraken get Brandon Tanev and Zach Aston Reese, two players who will bring physicality and grit to their bottom 6.
2023 Draft
7-Hunter Brzstewicz
39-Frantisek Ridzon
The Kraken draft a great prospect defenseman in Hunter Brzustewicz, and a solid forward in Frantisek Ridzon.
Seattle Kraken acquires Lukas Dostal from the Anaheim Ducks for 2024 2nd round pick, 2025 5th round pick.
The Kraken need a goalie of the future, so they acquire Lukas Dostal, the top goalie prospect on the Anaheim Ducks, who is stuck behind John Gibson.
Seattle Kraken re-signs a few players:
Logan Brown-3yrs/3.5M per
Cal Foote-3yrs/3.5M per
Kieffer Bellows-3yrs/2.75M per
Zach Aston Reese-3yrs/2.6M per
Lukas Dostal-2yrs/1.8M per
Seattle Kraken makes two major free agent signings:
Vladimir Tarasenko-7yrs/7 Million per
Artem Zub-4yrs/3.5 million per
The Seattle Kraken make the playoffs in the 2023-24 season, but get eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs.
After the season, two major trades are made:
Seattle Kraken trade Vince Dunn, Ivan Checkhovich, Connor Dewar, 2024 1st round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Mikhail Sergachev.
Mikael Sergachev never really got a chance to play top-pair minutes in Tampa Bay, perhaps a move to Vegas will unleash his full potential.
Andre Burakovsky, Emil Benstrom are traded to the Buffalo Sabres for Arttu Ruostalainen, 2024 2nd round pick.
The Sabres improve their top 6 with the addition of Burakovsky, and add a depth forward in Emil Benstrom; at the same time, the Kraken gets a solid depth forward and a 2nd round pick.
Seattle Kraken re-signs a few players:
Mikhail Sergachev-7yrs/5.5M per
Justin Barron-5yrs/4.5M per
Jack Studnicka-3yrs/1.5M per
Arttu Ruostalainen-3yrs/1M per
Trent Frederic-2yrs/850k per
The Seattle Kraken make it to conference finals in the 2024-25 season, before losing to the Colorado Avalanche in 7 games.
Seattle Kraken makes two huge trades:
Seattle Kraken trade Chris Driedger, Joel Armia to the Montreal Canadiens for Cayden Primeau, 2025 3rd round pick.
The Kraken get Cayden Primeau, a top prospect goalie and a draft pick for Chris Driedger and Joel Armia, who the Canadiens had lost in the expansion draft.
Marc-Eduoard Vlasic is traded to the Vancouver Cancuks for Jett Woo, 3rd round pick '25.
The Canucks get veteran defenseman Marc Eduord Vlasic for Minor defenseman Jett Woo, 3rd round pick.
Seattle Kraken re-signs a few players:
Matthew Beniers-8yrs/6M per
Sasha Pastujov-4yrs/3.5M per
Samu Tuomaala-3yrs/3M per
Cayden Primeau-3yrs/2.5M per
Lukas Dostal-3yrs/1.8M per
Jett Woo-3yrs/1.4M per
By the 2025-26 season, the Seattle Kraken have put together a powerhouse team:
2025-26 Seattle Kraken
S.Pastujov-S.Wright-S.Tuomaala
I.Miroshichenko-M.Beniers-V.Tarasenko
K.Bellows-L.Brown-J.Studnicka
C.Jarnkrok-N.Acciari-Z.Aston-Reese
M.Sergachev-A.Zub
S.Forsmark-J.Barron
S.Behrens-J.Woo
C.Primeau
O.Dostal
Spares: A.Ruostalainen, T.Frederic
Top Prospects: H.Brzstewicz, J.Kemmel, J.Lekkerimaki, S.Salminen, J.Lutz, M.Lamoureux, F.Ridzon, O.Zellweger
The Seattle Kraken got increasingly better every year, and look poised to contend for Stanley Cups in the next decade.
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