The world of hockey has been waiting since July 23rd, 2020 for the 32nd National Hockey League team to conduct its expansion draft. The Seattle Kraken are here and they snagged a player from every team in the league, besides the Vegas Golden Knights due to their deal with the NHL when they entered the league in 2017. The Kraken are required to select 14 Forwards, nine defenseman, and three goaltenders. Let's take a look at the players the Kraken front office drafted in order to confidently compete in the 2021-2022 season.
The Seattle Kraken's Selections:
Anaheim Ducks: Haydn Fleury - $1.3M AAV
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 4 (G- 3, A- 1) GP: 47
Arizona Coyotes: Tyler Pitlick - $1.75M AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 11 (G- 6, A- 5) GP: 38
Boston Bruins: Jeremy Lauzon - $850K AAV
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 8 (G- 1, A-7) GP: 48
Buffalo Sabres: Will Borgen - RFA
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 0 GP: 10
Calgary Flames: Mark Giordano - $6.75M AAV
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 26 (G- 9, A- 17) GP: 56
Carolina Hurricanes: Morgan Geekie - RFA
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 9 (G- 3, A- 6) GP: 39
Chicago Blackhawks: John Quenneville - $750K AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 5 (G- 2, A- 3) GP: 42
Colorado Avalanche: Joonas Donskoi - $3.9M AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 36 (G 20-, A- 16) GP: 61
Columbus Blue Jackets: Gavin Bayreuther - UFA
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 1 (G- 1, A- 0) GP: 9
Dallas Stars: Jamie Oleksiak - UFA
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 14 (G- 6, A- 8) GP: 56
Detroit Red Wings: Dennis Cholowski - $894K AAV
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 3 (G- 1, A- 2) GP: 16
Edmonton Oilers: Adam Larsson - UFA
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 12 (G- 4, A- 8) GP: 60
Florida Panthers: Chris Driedger - UFA
Pos: G - 2020-2021 Regular Season Save Percentage(%) - .927 GP: 26
Los Angeles Kings: Kurtis MacDermid - $875K AAV
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 4 (G- 2, A- 2) GP: 28
Minnesota Wild: Carson Soucy - $2.75M AAV
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 17 (G- 1, A- 16) GP: 54
Montreal Canadiens: Cale Fleury - RFA AAV
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 1 (G- 1, A- 0) GP: 41
Nashville Predators: Calle Jarnkrok - $2M AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 29 (G- 13, A- 16) GP: 54
New Jersey Devils: Nathan Bastian - $825K AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 10 (G- 3, A- 7) GP: 41
New York Islanders: Jordan Eberle - $5.5M AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 44 (G- 20, A- 24) GP: 74
New York Rangers: Colin Blackwell - $725K AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 22 (G- 12, A- 10) GP: 47
Ottawa Senators: Joey Daccord - $750K AAV
Pos: G - 2020-2021 Regular Season Save Percentage(%) - .897 GP: 8
Philadelphia Flyers: Carsen Twarynski - RFA
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 0 GP: 7
Pittsburg Penguins: Brandon Tanev - $3.5M AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 17 (G- 8, A- 9) GP: 38
San Jose Sharks: Alexander True - RFA
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 1 (G- 0, A- 1) GP: 7
St. Louis Blues: Vince Dunn - RFA
Pos: D - 2020-2021 Points: 11 (G- 2, A- 9) GP: 43
Tampa Bay Lightning: Yanni Gourde - $5.17M AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 43 (G- 23, A- 20) GP: 79
Toronto Maple Leafs: Jared McCann - $2.94M AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 33 (G- 14, A- 19) GP: 49
Vancouver Canucks: Kole Lind - RFA
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 0 GP: 7
Washington Capitals: Vitek Vanecek - $717K AAV
Pos: G - 2020-2021 Regular Season Save Percentage(%) - .908 GP: 37
Winnipeg Jets: Mason Appleton - $900K AAV
Pos: F - 2020-2021 Points: 28 (G- 13, A- 15) GP: 64
Where do the Bruins stand without Jeremy Lauzon:
In the backend of the 2020-2021 season, the Bruins blue-line unit struggled. They especially missed left-shot talent, which is why Jeremy Lauzon is somewhat of a tough loss. Without Lauzon in the lineup, the Bruins are scarce on solid left-shot defenseman. The remaining lefties on the Bruins backend is as follows: Matt Grzelcyk, Mike Reilly, Jakub Zboril, Jarred Tinordi, John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, and Jack Ahcan.
For this team to be up to Tampa Bay Lightning skill, all Bruins defenseman need to prioritize improving in the offseason and to not be reliant upon another asset coming into town. However, rumors are circulating about several proven left-shot blue liners interested in making a deal with the Bruins. Don Sweeney expressed with the media that the Bruins are looking to add one or two defensemen this off-season. It will be interesting to see who Boston lands to fill the needs in their defensive pairings. It will also be interesting to see the contracts of guys like Taylor Hall, David Krejci, and Mike Reilly come together.
Bruins Possible D-Pairings:
Grzelcyk-McAvoy
Reilly-Carlo
Zboril-Clifton
Looking at these pairing, it reminds me of the lineups from the 2020-2021 season. We knew the Bruins had a solid group on the blue-line, but the one thing that is really missing is a proven NHL defenseman to fill the void in the backend. McAvoy and Grzelcyk played 34 games together this past season. When they were on the ice together, they generated 389 chances versus allowing 223 chances. Also, they contributed on 235 shots for, meanwhile they let up 109 on Tuukka Rask. And on the scoreboard, they put up 20 goals and let up seven. Although these are some of the best pairing statistics in the league from this past year, it was still clear that the Bruins needed a little more depth on the blue-line when competing with the top teams in the league.
Important Upcoming NHL Dates:
July 23- Round 1 of the 2021 Draft, airing on ESPN2 at 8 p.m. ET.
July 24- Rounds 2-7 of the 2021 NHL Draft, airing on ESPN2 at 11 a.m. ET.
July 28- Free agency opens at 12 p.m. ET.
Hockey Night in New England (airs Saturday evenings at 5:30 on NBC Boston)
Episode 1- Chris Wagner
Episode 2- Matt Boldy
Episode 3- Skylar Fontaine
Episode 4- Brian Boyle
Episode 5- Grayson Badger
Episode 6- Season Finale