The Seattle Kraken continue to make moves today, now signing expansion draft selection Kole Lind. CapFriendly reports that Lind accepted his qualifying offer, giving him a one-year two-way deal worth $874,125 at the NHL level and $70,000 at the minor league level.
Lind, a 2017 second-round selection by the Vancouver Canucks, will continue his development with the Kraken organization after they selected him in the expansion draft. Lind got his first taste of NHL action this season, going pointless in a seven-game stint with Vancouver. But what those numbers don’t show is his quick scoring development at the minor league level. Lind had somewhat of a breakout season for the Utica Comets in 2019-20, his second professional season, posting 44 points (14 goals) in 61 games. And while Lind didn’t play much this year as he served a decent portion of the season on Vancouver’s taxi squad, he did score eight points in just eight AHL contests.
Due to Seattle’s deep forward group, a return to the AHL (now with the Charlotte Checkers) is likely for Lind, especially with the team’s signing of Marcus Johansson today. However, Lind’s development over the past few seasons shows extreme promise, and he could be a long-term middle-six piece as the Kraken continue to take shape.
Kole Lind doesn’t have any skills that project at the NHL level. He’s a poor skater and has pretty average offensive instincts. He could carve out a career as organizational depth like Zac Dalpe but I really don’t think there’s anything beyond that.
NHL Analyst cory-5 has spoken.
I watch way too much Canucks stuff despite how terrible the entire organization is.
@secretsatan – @cory-5 may have also read Lind’s EliteProspects page to add to his own eye test. Normally, guys have a bit more than just “Kole possesses an excellent ability to shoot pucks from one-times to snap shots, Hockeyprospect.com 2017”. More highly touted prospects get praise, many times from multiple sources, that lead you to believe that the guy has a good chance of being truly elite.
I dunno every source I’ve heard has talked for years about Kole’s potential. Doesn’t mean he reaches it but he must have a solid toolset to be considered by multiple sources potentially a top six guy.
@backhandinbaptist – Actually, the point I was trying to make wasn’t necessarily about Lind’s actual potential, but that EliteProspects usually has more to say for a player that is supposed to have more upside than has been previously demonstrated, which is more in line with @cory-5’s opinion that has his own “eye test data” to back it up. He might develop into a player of consequence, but EliteProspects’ comment doesn’t reflect that. Now, I’m not saying that if EliteProspects doesn’t state a guy is really good, then he won’t be, but it is strange that they don’t have the usual fanfare for Lind, in this case.
I wonder did Cory-5 see him at the nhl or AHL level? Sometimes young kids coming up are overwhelmed with the transition to the NHL from the AHL. His numbers in the AHL the last two seasons have been pretty nice. I understand your point @mac, usually elite prospects have multiple sources on high end guys. But the sources I read (dobber being my most trusted) have consistently held him as one of the canucks better prospects. But it does say something that they left him exposed. I think, personally, he gets regular NHL minutes this year and will have a good year. Opportunity is there, let’s see if he can take advantage of it.
@backhandinbaptist – I think you’ll have to ask @cory-5 about whether it was AHL or NHL. I had heard similar stuff about Lind, but I rarely go to EliteProspects immediately to see who else is chiming in, unless it’s a recognizable name, so when doing so yesterday, I was just a little surprised at how little there was. He could turn out to be something of a “diamond in the rough”, given opportunities for development, but we’ll just have to wait and see. For his sake, I hope that the lack of praise on EliteProspects was simply more oversight than anything.
I think you guys need to leave @cory-5 alone Kole Lind is bottom six at best. I’ve in Vancouver and watch/listen/read about the Canucks a lot too.
I live in Van**. Sorry.
@bigguccisosa300 – I’m not in disagreement with @cory-5, but was trying to offer an explanation to @secretsatan as to why he may have the opinion he does. For Lind, I’ll be a wait-and-see type…
I was genuinely asking @cory5 if and where he seen him play.