Seattle Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke provided his ‘state of the union’ on the franchise on 93.3 KJR, maintaining their stance that the ownership group believes they are ready to win now.
Seattle Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke provided his ‘state of the union’ on the franchise on 93.3 KJR, maintaining their stance that the ownership group believes they are ready to win now.
Seattle Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke provided his ‘state of the union’ on the franchise on 93.3 KJR, maintaining their stance that the ownership group believes they are ready to win now.
The Kraken are struggling. Making the playoffs two seasons ago may have rushed the process they had set out and hurt their long-term outlook. Since the ownership and front office came together, the plan has been to build through the draft, but this past offseason saw the Kraken spend lots of money on players approaching 30 years of age.
The Kraken now sit 11 points out of a playoff spot and would have to jump four teams in the standings to do so. Many insiders and analysts believe the Kraken will be heading towards a rebuild, but Leiweke's comments suggest a different route.
"We early on made a decision that [building through the draft] was how you were gonna build a long-term competitive team," said Leiweke. "Having said that, we're ready to win now, too. We've got to press just a little bit harder. I love the free agents we picked up, it was hard losing our captain Jordan Eberle, who's been gone for most of this season but actually was down skating with the Firebirds over the break here. All in all I feel pretty good. But we have an ownership group that wants to go faster and get there sooner, and it's going to be an interesting finish to the year. I'd say going into season five, that's when a lot of folks said we're going to be a sustained playoff team, and that's what we expect is that we're going to have a team that doesn't just make the playoffs but stays in the playoffs."
The Kraken only have three pending UFAs and three RFAs. The RFAs include Kaapo Kakko, Ryker Evans and Tye Kartye, all of which the Kraken will likely re-sign. The UFAs are a different story. Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev are wanted commodities on the trade market, but the Kraken have been persistent on their stance that they would rather re-sign them than trade them, but if they don't agree to a contract before the deadline, they would be moved.
The UFA list doubles in the following season and could prove to be the most important season for the future of the Kraken.
For fans who believe the current roster is strong enough to make a run at a Stanley Cup will enjoy the message Leiweke is relaying, but those who are in favour of a rebuild and a new youth movement will feel let down.
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