Reloading for year three: Seattle Kraken offseason signing tracker
By Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA – The 2022 season was historic for the Seattle Kraken in many ways, largely due to the success that they saw that included coming just minutes away from reaching the Western Conference Finals. With the main chunk of the roster set to remain with the team, Seattle has a few things to take care of this offseason, headlined by signing defenseman Vince Dunn to a new contract following his career year. General manager Ron Francis and the Kraken staff have the task of adding to their roster to get this team deeper into the playoffs while managing the fact that they have young prospects on the rise who will push their way onto the roster sooner rather than later.
Getting defenseman Vince Dunn has been a top priority for the Kraken since the season ended (Photo by Liv Lyons)
Checklist
Re-sign Vince Dunn
Make decisions on those fourth line guys
Add, but be smart about it
Extend Matty Beniers?
Figure out the backup goaltender spot
Signings tracker
June 30th
-Team makes qualifying offers to Dunn, Fleury, Borgen, Lind: This doesn't technically count, but we’ll put it in here so that it was at least noted that it took place this offseason. Prior to day one of free agency, the Kraken extended qualifying offers to the three defenseman and forward, helping them in their likely plan to get those guys new deals. For Dunn and Borgen it makes a ton of sense, bringing back young defenseman that shined in their own ways this past season for Seattle, while Fleury is young and still really hasn’t been able to really make his case in major playing time. Lind is a forward that’s bounced around the league a little while not getting a major shot at the NHL level, having a great season in the AHL with the Coachella Valley Firebirds on their Calder Cup run that fell just short.
Also taking place on this day, the team re-signed goaltender Joey Daccord on a 2-year deal at $1.2M AAV. Daccord has largely struggled to stay at the NHL level, getting a few stints in his past two years with the Kraken, but this season in his brief period with Seattle and during the entirety of his time with the AHL affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds, he looked rock solid. Nicknamed the “Mayor,” Daccord was in large part the reason why the Firebirds went as far as they did in their chase for the Calder Cup during the inaugural season. During a brief stint in his time with the Kraken when Martin Jones wasn’t fully good to go late in the season and just generally wasn’t playing very well, Daccord played well in the minutes that he got. If he’s able to continue to build off that sort of performance from this past season, Seattle may have their backup goaltender situation figured out behind Philipp Grubauer.
There’s another side to this day, though, as the team opted to not qualify forwards Morgan Geekie and Daniel Sprong, both players who will surely be drawing interest around the league if Seattle lets them hit free agency without any sort of offer. In addition to those players, unrestricted free agents Carson Soucy, Martin Jones, and Ryan Donato are all likely gone considering that there haven’t been any murmurs of the team trying to get them brought back. It’s still possible that the Kraken can do something to bring any of these names back, but it seems somewhat unlikely.
July 1st, day one of free agency
-Depth deals: On day one of free agency, the Kraken decided to sign four veteran players in deals that should be considered depth deals, including that of veteran Brian Dumoulin. In addition to the former Pittsburgh Penguin, Seattle signed defenseman Jimmy Schuldt, forward Marian Studenic, and forward John Hayden. Outside of Dumoulin and barring any injury (knock on wood right now if you haven’t), then expect those three players to be heading to AHL Coachella Valley this season. While the Kraken got players who traditionally haven’t been stars or were ineffective elsewhere and turned them into productive machines, I highly doubt Studenic, Schuldt, or Hayden will get real minutes at the NHL level unless something unforeseen takes place.
With that being said, the Studenic signing is a fun one. The forward is only 24, had a 48-point season with the AHL Texas Stars and even had six points across eight playoff games for the Dallas Stars this season. Considering the sort of depth that the Kraken have at forward even while losing names like Donato, Sprong, and Geekie, I don’t think we see Studenic make an impact at the NHL level but easily could be a guy that the Kraken look to if they need to make a move. Of the four signings that took place today, Dumoulin is easily the one that will make the most noise. He’ll likely be a third pairing defenseman, but a well-respected veteran with a physical presence, great awareness, and quality zone exits is a plus to any lineup. Given the sort of career he’s had and teams he’s been on, the value that Dumoulin brings goes further than on the ice.
With day one of free agency, and as previously mentioned, Seattle was bound to lose a few players that were contributor's last season. Carson Soucy, Morgan Geekie, Daniel Sprong, and Ryan Donato all found new homes on the first day of free agency. It was bound to happen for the defenseman and the three forwards, but for different reasons. Soucy had an okay year as a blueliner for the Kraken, but at times became a liability in terms of his own discipline and his play defensively, so with prospects like Ryker Evans on the come up and upgrades available in free agency, they moved on. Geekie, Sprong, and Donato were all big factors in Seattle’s high-powered offensive attack, but it was highly likely that they weren’t all going to come back for the Kraken. It isn’t too surprising to see all those three gone, considering that Seattle has a variety of forwards already, Andre Burakovsky returning, and young players on the come up.
July 2nd, day two of free agency
-Give him a warm Washington welcome: On the second day of this year's free agency, Seattle signed forward Kailer Yamamoto to a one-year deal to essentially kick the tires on the former Edmonton Oiler. The first Washington-born player that the Kraken have signed in their now three-year existence, Yamamoto knows about the kind of high-powered offense that Seattle had last season given that he’s been with Edmonton since he was drafted by them back in 2017. Back on June 29th, the Spokane native was traded to the Detroit Red Wings before they opted to place him on waivers and make him a free agent. Seattle now has decided to take a chance on him, and given his scoring touch, it’s a low-risk high-reward potential type of deal. In the past four years with the Oilers, Yamamoto has been a 20+ point scorer, his best year coming in 2021-22 when he tallied 41 points. In this Seattle scoring environment and his ability to live in front of the net, the pieces of the puzzle for Yamamoto to shine are certainly there.
July 3rd, day three of free agency
-Here, have some more depth: On the third day of free agency, Seattle brought to me; defenseman Connor Carrick. It isn’t a big move by any means, and likely another depth signing for the Kraken to have ready in Coachella Valley if Carrick is okay with that. The Orland Park, Illinois native was signed by Seattle to a one-year deal back on August 4th of 2021, being reassigned to the Kraken’s AHL affiliate at the time, the Charlotte Checkers, after training camp. Last year, Carrick signed a deal with the Bruins to be part of their organization, only playing one game towards the end of the season to help rest players for their playoff run. The 29-year-old really hasn’t been able to find a steady situation yet, so that plus the depth that the Kraken have already at defenseman has “AHL” written all over it.
July 7th, what day of free agency is it? Just kidding, it’s seven
-Veteran forward presence and William Borgen: The Kraken made two signings here on the seventh day of free agency, adding more depth to their forward group and officially getting Will Borgen a new contract. First, the team signed nine-year NHL veteran Pierre-Edouard Bellemare to a one-year minimum deal. Considering that Bellemare has been playing hockey about as long as I’ve been alive (sorry to age you, if I did) and has been on some great teams over the past few years, it’s a similar situation to the Dumoulin signing. Seattle gets a veteran that can certainly pitch in some points along the way, but likely adds more due to his veteran presence and hockey IQ than statistics. Bellemare will help with the team's penalty kill and with their faceoff percentage (that hovered around league worst, if you remember our statistics posts from the season), which will be welcome benefits to this signing.
The other move on this day was Seattle giving young defenseman Will Borgen a two-year deal, avoiding having to deal with arbitration. This was a move that you knew had to be coming for the Kraken, or one that at least seemed entirely logical. While it would’ve been fun to keep the bromance/friendship of Borgen and Soucy together, Borgen is simply the better defenseman and will provide more value for Seattle moving forward. It’s going to be notable to watch Borgen’s upcoming year, considering that until last season he really hasn’t played a full campaign. He proved to be a valuable blueliner for this Kraken roster, and if this past season was any indication, he’ll continue to be a staple for this team defensively.
Seattle Kraken defenseman Will Borgen looks to clear a puck up the ice in a late season matchup against the Arizona Coyotes (Photo by Liv Lyons)
July 9th, day nine of free agency
-More depth, with young upside: On July 9th, the team signed young defenseman Cale Fleury to a two-year deal. The brother of Haydn (former Kraken) stepped in at points for the Kraken, but still really hasn’t done enough to push himself into a consistent role with the team. It isn’t a bad thing necessarily for the team, considering that they have their top six defenseman solidified and are winning with them in place, but some wondered if Fleury was going to want some more playing time and potentially head elsewhere. That isn’t the case it appears, and Fleury seems to be happy with his situation in Seattle given the fact that he signed a two-year deal, not just a one-year. I’ll be interested to see if the Kraken have a different plan for Fleury than to just scratch him all year unless there’s an injury or emergency, but that’s what it seems like he’ll be.
Seattle Kraken defenseman Cale Fleury during the teams Super Skills Showcase in February (Photo by Liv Lyons)