The Seattle Kraken have signed defenseman Josh Mahura to a one-year, league-minimum contract, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Mahura moves to Seattle after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Florida Panthers. He was left without much to base negotiations on, with lower-body injuries in December and March, in addition to healthy scratches, limiting Mahura’s year to just 30 games and nine assists. He was much more productive last year, his first year in Florida, recording a career-high 16 points in 82 games. It stands as his only full year in the NHL up to this point. In total, he’s managed 45 points across 191 games – enough to hold Mahura in the limbo of a seventh-defender for both the Florida Panthers and Anaheim Ducks since 2018.
Mahura will now look to bounce back from ailment and absence with a prove-it deal in Seattle. He’ll stand to benefit from Seattle’s departure from Brian Dumoulin, though Mahura will still need to compete with players like Ryker Evans and Jamie Oleksiak for ice time. This deal will also reunite Mahura with Brandon Montour, who he occasionally played alongside with the Panthers. Montour signed a much heftier seven-year, $50MM deal with the Kraken on July 1st.
Despite meager scoring through his first stint in the NHL, Seattle’s pass-first style could be a nice match for Mahura, as he looks to regain the strong scoring he boasted in juniors.