Picking The Kraken

As we inch closer to the Seattle Expansion Draft, there has been speculation on what kind of team Seattle will have once they have chosen thirty players from the rosters of the NHL fraternity. The only team who doesn't have to give up a player is the Vegas Golden Knights thanks to their recent expansion status, so Seattle GM Ron Francis and his team of executives have likely been scouring rosters and looking into players for the better part of 2021. If newly-appointed head coach Dave Hakstol gets any say, the team will have character along with skill, so that might give us some idea as to what kind of team Hakstol wants to coach in the Kraken's inaugural season.

I'll be honest: I'm nowhere near as smart as Ron Francis or any of the people he's hired to help him when it comes to finding gems buried deep in NHL rosters. My view is you take the best player available from each and every team when possible, but there are salary cap implications that Seattle will want to consider as well. It should be an interesting view into the mind of Francis and company when the picks are made on July 21.

Rather than trying to prove I'm as smart as Francis with a mock draft here on HBIC, I'm ready to track any and all players acquired that night by the team with the graphic below!

As picks are made from each team, I'll add them to the list on the left. If a trade is made, I'll add those players that Seattle acquired in the "traded players" area. There's extra room there in case Ron Francis wants to wheel-and-deal that night, but hopefully there won't be many trades to list. The one thing I will do, though, is add the drafts to the empty space that they will likely acquire as teams look to protect assets. By the end of the night, this graphic will be the EA Sports' NHL Hockey version of the Seattle Kraken!

There is one player not listed on this current graphic, and that's Seattle's lone free agent signing in Luke Henman. Because he wasn't selected, he doesn't get added to the graphic, but he may be there by the end of July 21. I'll see what kind of room I have left on the graphic, but Henman should likely appear as long as Francis doesn't go all Kevin Costner in Draft Day.

I'm all set for the Kraken to start building their team on July 21! Are you?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!