Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft Predictions

(Photo by Elaine Thompson / AP Photo via usatoday)

The Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft is tonight, and it wouldn’t be a draft without some mock draft predictions. Before we get into it, let’s clarify how the expansion draft works and who is protected and unprotected. 

Seattle will be required to choose at least 20 players under contract, and will choose one player from each team. Current NHL teams are allowed to protect seven forwards, three defensemen and one goalie or eight skaters and one goalie, under certain conditions. Teams recently released their protected lists, so if you’re curious, go check those out. All first and second year players cannot be chosen in the expansion draft. No players from Vegas are available to be drafted by Seattle either. The Kraken will be granted a three-day window to negotiate for UFAs before official free agency begins on July 28.

I won’t go through every team and who I think will be taken because that would just be a long list. Instead, I will highlight to big players Seattle could potentially have a successful inaugural season.

With Ron Francis’ previous experience in Carolina, I could see him making moves with the Hurricanes. Nino Niederreiter is available, but I’ve read that defensemen Jake Bean was drafted when Francis was in Carolina, which makes that an interesting pick in terms of familiarity. 

Going north, the Blackhawks have left Ryan Carpenter unprotected. He is a solid right wing guy that can play on the penalty kill and fill a solid bottom six role.

Staying in the central division, Seattle could capitalize on Ben Bishop, but no one is quite sure how he will perform coming off of surgery. On the other hand, this could be a good grab, but there also are other goalies on the market. Wouldn’t be the best option, but wouldn’t be the worst.

On the topic of goalies, Braden Holtby is also available. He is a veteran that brings a lot of experience to the ice. If the Kraken were to grab a younger goaltender, this guy would be able to fill a great mentor role. 

I think another notable unprotected player is Dylan DeMelo, a defenseman from the Jets. DeMelo is said to be a great teammate who encourages his team to play at the next level. He would bring quality play for the Kraken on the back end. 

We can’t forget to mention the opportunity to get Vladimir Tarasenko from the Blues. He not only brings skill and experience to the team, but this could get the team some leverage in terms of ticket sales since he is such a big name. 

There are a lot of other players exposed that are worth being mentioned, but here are the ones that I’m expecting and keeping an eye out for in the expansion draft. Next time, I’ll have my predictions for the official NHL draft. Stay tuned.