The Seattle Kraken project to have over $20M in cap space in the offseason and own seven draft picks in 2025, and GM Ron Francis plans to be aggressive in his use of them.
At this season's deadline, the Kraken moved pending UFAs Brandon Tanev and Yanni Gourde, as well as Daniel Sprong and Oliver Bjorkstrand. Trading these four forwards netted them two first-round picks, two second-round picks, a seventh-round pick and Michael Eyssimont.
As the regular season inches closer to a conclusion and the Kraken's chances of making the playoffs continue to dwindle, looking toward the offseason is only natural. With seven draft picks in the upcoming draft, the Kraken have the opportunity to add to an already deep prospect pool but could also use those picks differently.
As it stands, the Kraken would have the fifth-best odds of landing the first overall pick. Trading a pick that high in the draft wouldn't make much sense, but they could use their second-round and mid-round picks to move up in the draft or acquire established players through trades.
"Moving forward that's five first-round picks in the next three drafts, five second-round picks in the next three drafts, so that's 10 picks," said Francis. "I'm not sitting here saying we're looking to draft 10 players. In a perfect world, we're looking to move some of these draft capital pieces to acquire players and move the process forward a little bit quicker."
In the most recent offseason, the Kraken were aggressive, signing Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson to long-term deals. Although fans and analysts were asking for the Kraken to take risks, the signing of Stephenson awakened quite a bit of criticism due to his age and the dollar amount.
Despite that, Francis plans on using the cap space to upgrade the roster. According to Puckpedia, the Kraken will have $21,752,620 of cap space in the offseason and need to sign restricted free agents Kaapo Kakko, Tye Kartye and Ryker Evans. Players with UFA status include John Hayden, Eyssimont, Josh Mahura and Cale Fleury, who is set to become a Group 6 UFA if he does not play in 10 more games this season.
During his availability, Francis spoke highly about Jani Nyman and Berkly Catton, as well as sharing some praise towards Ryan Winterton and Jagger Firkus. The Kraken are beginning to lean towards a youth movement, and over-spending could hurt their development. Finding the right players to help them progress, but also play at a level that has the franchise playing in meaningful games come March is important.
Each offseason is crucial. It can make or break the upcoming season or the future, but for the Kraken, the pressure feels exponentially higher. If they land a top-five pick or move up in the draft, providing them the opportunity to draft one of Michael Misa, Matthew Schaefer, James Hagens or Porter Martone, surrounding their young nucleus with skilled players would speed up the retool.
The Kraken need to be smart about how they allocate their money, but at the same time, they can't let opportunities pass them by. It's a difficult task for the front office but they need to find a way to do what's best for the organization.
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