Will The Seattle Kraken Be The Next Golden Knights?
(Photo via nhl.com)
Now that the Las Vegas Golden Knights have already clinched a playoff spot, I thought it was only appropriate to talk about the next NHL expansion team: the Seattle Kraken.
The Golden Knights joined the league in the 2017-18 season. Ever since they entered, they have been a strong Stanley Cup contender. In the organization's first full year in the NHL, they made the Stanley Cup Finals. The team has been known to be fast, strong, physical, and cohesive. All things that usually take a few years to put together, especially as an expansion team.
So, will the Kraken follow suit? The 32nd team in the NHL is set to join next season (2021-22) with the expansion draft scheduled for July 21 and the regular draft taking place between July 23-24.
With the trade deadline over and terms coming to an end, teams pretty much know who they will be giving up to Seattle. Every team in the league must release at a minimum two forwards and one defenseman. Those selected players must have played in a minimum of 81 games between the 2019-20 season and the 2020-21 season. Teams must also offer up a goalie. These players must be under contract or a restricted free agent after this season. Only so many players fit into this specific category from each team, so it will be interesting to see this makeshift, hybrid team.
Vegas was a rarity, and I would be surprised if Seattle had similar success. I don’t think that the players available to them are as good as the ones Vegas was able to pick up. The big thing with these expansion teams is chemistry. All of these players are coming from different teams with different systems, so to all come together seemingly takes a little while.
Overall, I am excited for this new team. Their social media marketing and branding is by far one of my favorites. A new team means growth for the sport, which is always a great thing. In regards to their play and success, I am hopeful they will be competitive, but to have similar success to Vegas, just seems unrealistic.