Expansion Draft Post-mortem

 

The expansion draft happened Wednesday, and now, we know who will be taking the ice for the Seattle Kraken. Little happened of note, as teams were reluctant to trade in order to get contracts off their books. As far as who will be on the team, here's some of the notables:

• Mark Giordano from the Calgary Flames is near the end of his career, but is still a solid defenseman and is likely the first captain in franchise history. 
• His defense partners include Jamie Oleksiak and Adam Larsson, both solid in their own end, with Oleksiak being the better shot blocker and Larsson the more responsible in his own end.
• Up front, Jordan Eberle is the Kraken's top scorer, though he is also decent playing defense.
• The forward core is pretty much full of solid two way players, headlined by Brandon Tanev, Jared McCann, and Mason Appleton.
• Goaltending is still largely unproven, but young enough to reach full potential. Chris Driedger goes in as the starter, but Vitek Vanecek and Joey D'Accord will get looks, too.
• Vince Dunn, Mason Appleton, and Carson Soucy stand to benefit the most, as all three will have expanded roles. Calle Jarnkrok and Joonas Donskoi are players to watch up front, as they too, will have bigger roles as the veterans to lead the younger players.

The basis of the Kraken squad is a team of players that will make the opposition have to play the full 60 while they still have cap room, meaning they may go for a bigger name or two. We find out starting Wednesday whether they can attract a Gabriel Landeskog or not.