With the madness of the early days of free agency in the rearview mirror, the time has come to digest what has transpired. Some players and clubs hit it big. The Nashville Predators were big “winners” by signing Steven Stamkos. Goliathan defenseman Nikita Zadorov changed sweaters from Vancouver Canucks blue to Boston Bruins black and yellow. Amidst all the hoopla, Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis committed some exciting manoeuvres that got fans and pundits talking a lot this week. Let’s discuss.
Stanley Cup Champs in the Pacific Northwest
No, that’s not wish fulfillment from the Kraken fanbase. It’s what happened this week, at least from a certain point of view. For someone who built a reputation for taking a conservative approach, Francis went all out on July 1.
The first major headline was newly minted Stanley Cup champion Brandon Montour arriving from the Florida Panthers. The club signed him to a sizeable seven-year contract with an average annual value (AAV) of $7.14 million. Bringing in someone with fresh championship experience is a brilliant move. In fact, he has three deep postseason runs under his belt. The first was in the 2016-17 campaign with the Anaheim Ducks. That team made it to the Western Conference Final. The second came two seasons ago when the Panthers lost in the Stanley Cup Final to the Vegas Golden Knights. He has also been on a Presidents’ Trophy-winning side (the 2021-22 Panthers).
On the flip side, Montour is 30 years old and underwent shoulder surgery in the summer of 2023. It didn’t prevent him from playing well after he returned from a prolonged absence, but the injury history, age, and contract duration are causes for concern for some people. Every coin has two sides and it’s more than fair to put a contract such as this one into perspective. That said, pound-for-pound Montour is a performant, experienced player. This is the sort of contract a team gives a player because it wants to improve immediately.
The other big name that made their way northwest was Chandler Stephenson from the Golden Knights, also signed for seven years. His contract’s AAV is $6.25 million. What’s more, he’s also 30 years old. The Saskatoon native has not one but two rings. He was part of the Vegas squad that captured the franchise’s first championship two seasons ago and the 2017-18 Washington Capitals group that, incidentally, downed the Golden Knights in the Cup Final. He’s a consistent producer, tallying over 50 points in the past three seasons and more than 60 points twice.
Francis was fishing for something specific in free agency. He wanted seasoned players but not too old and with championship experience. When NHLers hit 30, the desire for long-term deals increases. Nobody wants to bounce around the league every other season, especially if one has a proven track record that includes a Stanley Cup.
One can nitpick all they like, but in its three-year existence, this feels like the first time the Kraken lived by the philosophy of going big or going home. It was probably about time anyway.
Thank You for Your Services
Offering big bucks to big players like Montour and Stephenson inevitably means that a club needs to offload roster members. Those two alone have a cap hit of $13.3 million against the previous space of $23.4 million.
As such, Seattle made a deal with Anaheim. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin – and his $3.15 million contract – joined the Ducks in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round draft pick. A bit of breathing room for the cap and a 32-year-old player who didn’t contribute as much as the team would have liked is out the door.
Related: Ducks Acquire Brian Dumoulin from the Kraken
Tomas Tatar, whom the Kraken had acquired early in the 2023-24 season from the Colorado Avalanche, became an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and was quickly picked up by his former club the New Jersey Devils. Tatar, Seattle hardly knew you.
Lastly, netminder Chris Driedger joined the Panthers. Granted, this didn’t make major headlines. For one, he spent most of his time with the Coachella Valley Firebirds in the American Hockey League (AHL). Second, Seattle is well equipped in net with Joey Daccord and Philipp Grubauer. Third, the franchise just drafted Finnish keeper Kim Saarinen. Lastly, they still have a plethora of goalies they’re trying to develop, be it because they were invited to camp or the Kraken have their rights: Remington Keopple, William Gramme, and Visa Dedenpää.
Stay in Seattle, the Water is Nice
The big news out of Seattle on Friday was that Eeli Tolvanen was re-signed to a two-year deal with an AAV of $3.475 million. At 25 years old, he has many solid years of hockey ahead of him and is considered a fan favorite in Seattle. Francis and head coach Dan Bylsma surely see him as part of a brighter future for the club despite his numbers not being extraordinary last season (16 goals and 25 assists in 81 games to go along with a minus-15). The reality is that he’s only just begun coming into his own. The 2021-22 campaign with the Nashville Predators was the first in his NHL career during which he played more than 40 games. That was only three years ago.
The most special signing came on July 5 when Francis visited the Kraken’s development camp and had this year’s eighth overall pick Berkly Catton sign his three-year entry-level contract at center ice. It has an AAV of $975,000. This amount of money feels about right. There are very high hopes for the former Spokane Chief, but he is, by default, an unproven NHLer. Locking him up for three seasons with that salary allows the club to determine if they made the right choice while preserving salary cap wiggle room.
If there is one cloud hanging over Seattle, it’s Matty Beniers. Not that the 2023 Calder Trophy winner has said he wants to leave, but rather because everyone is waiting to see if he accepts the qualifying offer made to him. His previous deal was for three years at an AAV of $898,000, but being the crowned league’s best rookie a summer ago means it’s time to pay up. At the time of writing his decision is forthcoming.
Apart from that, the Kraken essentially gave one-year deals to several young hopefuls who will most likely be playing for the Firebirds a lot: Defensemen Maxime Lajoie (one year, two-way, $775,000), Nikola Brouillard (one year, two-way, $775,000), and Joshua Mahura (one year, one-way, $775,000).
Room to Pay, Room to Play
The Kraken still have $7.25 million in cap space. Mind you, that excludes whatever Beniers might earn, should he accept the offer that was pushed across the negotiating table. Will Seattle make more significant moves this summer that capture headlines? It doesn’t seem likely. After all, Francis and Bylsma might not want to radically change the side that made it to the second round of the playoffs in 2022-23. The adjustments they’ve made this offseason carry the potential to make up for the team’s failings in 2023-24.
If anything, it’s fair to argue that a lesser-known player or two might be sent away. Seattle has 10 NHL-ready defensemen, plus a host of guys playing on the blue line in Coachella Valley. It wouldn’t be a surprise if a Kraken or a Firebird d-man were part of a deal this summer or early in the season. It bears repeating that the defense wasn’t the issue in 2023-24.
Other than the Beniers situation, the Kraken are officially in the offseason now. Even the development camp is over (congratulations to Team Blue for defending its Stucky Cup title). Every little bit of news will be like a drop of water in the desert until September. For the next couple of months, the highlights will come from the managerial office. As of the end of the first week in July, the Kraken have done quite a bit to make fans optimistic about 2024-25.
