A correction from the Kraken side of the ledger changes the count of the team’s original players.
Joey Daccord and Cale Fleury should have been included among the Kraken’s expansion draft acquisitions, a reader pointed out in the comment section. That means both players still count as active members of the organization at the NHL level.
The miss was easy enough to understand. Daccord played only five games in that first season and five more the next while serving as the main man with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. Fleury also spent most of his time in California, appearing in nine NHL games in his first Seattle season, then 12 the next, and one more after that.
With those two added back in, the number of “original Kraken” stands at seven: Daccord, Fleury, Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, Adam Larsson, Vince Dunn and Philipp Grubauer.
Here’s where that group stands now:
Daccord is 29 and entering the second year of a five-year contract worth $5-million per season.
Fleury is 27 and entering the final year of a two-year deal worth $890,000 this season.
McCann is 30 and entering the final year of a five-year deal worth $5-million this season.
Eberle is 36, captain, and starting a two-year deal worth $5.5-million per season.
Larsson is 33 and entering the second year of a four-year deal worth $5.25-million per season.
Dunn is 29 and entering the final year of a four-year deal that pays him $7.35-million this season.
Grubauer is 33 and entering the final year of a six-year deal that will pay him $5.9-million.
That leaves the possibility that a few more of the originals could be off the list within the next 24 months.
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The hesitation appears to be tied to a few familiar questions teams keep asking about him. Tolvanen is listed at 5-foot-10 and 182 pounds, and there has not been much sign of offensive growth in the surface numbers, which can make it harder for a player to separate himself in a crowded market. For Seattle, it leaves an awkward little wait to see whether a player who fit into the lineup reasonably well last season will eventually land somewhere else or remain one of the leagues more surprising holdouts. [Read more 🡒]
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One name that keeps surfacing in that discussion is Shane Wright, a player Kraken fans have tracked closely since he arrived in Seattle. Wright has shown promise, but his role has been limited enough that rival teams can wonder whether a different setting might unlock more of his game. For the Kraken, any such talk comes with the obvious counterpoint: if they ever entertained a move, they would be looking for young assets back, which is exactly where the conversation gets interesting and unresolved. [Read more 🡒]