While NHL fans and the media will invest time in the 16 clubs that make the Stanley Cup playoffs, hockey is never over the other 16 that miss out on postseason action. That is to say, the action leaves the ice and enters the front office. The Seattle Kraken’s regular season is almost over, and with the playoffs but a prayer at this point, here’s a look at some of the contract situations management will face this offseason. Welcome to where professional sports teams are built: the negotiating table.
Kraken’s Cap Situation
Those who follow the thrilling world of NHL collective bargaining agreements (CBA), salaries, and cap hits know that the very fine people at Cap Friendly help The Hockey Writers with the figures we’ll be discussing. They cover all teams and go into the details that make an accountant’s head spin.
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As of April 1, the Kraken are projected to have $1.257 million in cap space after the regular season. While that does not sound like a lot, consider that many clubs won’t have any or barely a few thousand dollars. Incidentally, or perhaps unsurprisingly, many teams that have more projected cap space are the ones that will badly need it (read: not very good teams). Note: A few terms that will come in handy are unrestricted free agent (UFA), restricted free agent (RFA), entry-level contract (ELC), and no-trade clause (NTC).
Seven players on Seattle’s roster have expiring contracts, and we will focus on six of them. The seventh is a special “buried penalty” case involving third-string goaltender Chris Driedger, who will be tending the crease for the AHL’s Coachella Firebirds during their playoff run.
The others are Matthew Beniers (ELC and RFA), Justin Schultz (UFA), Tomas Tatar UFA), Eeli Tolvanen(RFA), Kailer Yamomoto (RFA), and Pierre-Édouard Bellemare (UFA).
Seattle Sleeper: Tomas Tatar
The biggest question among the UFAs and RFAs this summer is Tomas Tatar (UFA). Like many players that are brought in mid-season, Tatar joined the Kraken from the Colorado Avalanche to finish one season, contractually speaking. His cap hit is $1.5 million, and when the trade occurred in December, Seattle was playing terribly and in danger of dropping the ball after a pleasant sophomore season.
Despite frequently playing on the top line with Jared McCann and Beniers, Tatar’s time with the team hasn’t quite worked out. In 39 matches in the Emerald City, he has 13 points (seven goals and six assists). Is it because Tatar isn’t a good fit, or has the club underperformed overall? It wouldn’t be the first time a player makes a half-season pit stop on a team only to leave in the summer. Ryan O’Reilly comes to mind. He was acquired by the Toronto Maple Leafs to help with last season’s playoff push and is now finishing his first campaign with the Nashville Predators.
Tatar brings significant experience, however. He was a part of the famous 2017-18 Vegas Golden Knights that made it to the Stanley Cup Final and the equally improbable Montreal Canadiens run in the summer of 2021. This could go either way, but it might be smarter to keep him.
Kraken Keepers: Beniers and Yamamoto
There are some players listed above who, by most metrics, should stick in Seattle. The standout is Matty Beniers. He’s on an ELC with a cap hit of $897,500. Once that rookie contract expires, he will become an RFA. If the Kraken want to build towards the future, re-signing the player who won the Calder Trophy (for rookie of the year) in 2022-23 seems like a no-brainer. He technically started playing in the NHL during the 2021-22 campaign, but it was only for 10 matches. Last season was his breakout campaign, with 57 points through 80 contests (24 goals and 33 assists).
Granted, the current season has not been as impressive, but the same could be said for almost everyone wearing Kraken colors. To let go of a player one year after receiving such an important award would be wild.
A teammate of Beniers who seems like he should stick around is Kailer Yamamoto (RFA). He’s not too expensive for now, with his $1.5 million cap hit. What’s interesting about him is his youth (only 25) and experience in postseason play. Lest it be forgotten that he’s spent most of his career with the Edmonton Oilers before he was traded to the Detroit Red Wings last summer and cleared waivers. But the first seven years of his career were in Edmonton, where he got a taste of the playoffs in 2022 and 2023, when the Oilers made it to the third and second rounds, respectively. He’s not a huge points-getter, but a decent second or third-liner.
Kraken Cuts: Bellemare, Schultz, Tolvanen
Sadly, some players will be looking for new homes this offseason. It’s nothing personal, purely business. We’re not arguing that the Kraken will arrive at the same decisions we do, but here are three players for whom it’s difficult to justify keeping them.
This trio includes Pierre-Édouard Bellemare, Justin Schultz, and Eeli Tolvanen. The Frenchman Bellemare (UFA) isn’t very expensive, with a cap hit of “only” $775,000, but he’s 33 years old and hasn’t played much this season. He’s laced up for 36 matches and put up six points. He’s been a part of some remarkable franchises, having worn Golden Knights, Avalanche, and Tampa Bay Lightning colors, among others. Perhaps therein lies the secret to his success: he’s an interesting cog in a well-oiled machine, not one that requires a major upgrade.
Defenseman Justin Schultz (UFA, NTC) is the big talking point here. He doesn’t come cheap with a hit of $3 million. He’s also going to celebrate his 34th birthday this June and is having a bad season. Schultz has the second-worst plus-minus on the roster with a minus-21. Seattle has trouble putting pucks in the net. It can’t have defenders who are on the ice too often when the opponents score.
Finally, there is Eeli Tolvanen (RFA). He isn’t a bad player per se, but he doesn’t contribute that much, either. He’s still young (24 years old) and has shown flashes of skill, but he hasn’t cracked the code of NHL-level production, not when he was with the Predators nor in his one-and-a-half campaigns with the Kraken. Alleviating the books of his salary (a $1.45 million hit) would allow the team to take a chance on someone with more potential.
There we have it. For all we know, the Kraken will do the complete opposite of everything we’ve written, but some of these decisions look fairly obvious. Seattle is hampered by flaws, and this offseason will be another opportunity to remind the rest of the league why they are a monster to be feared.