Brian La Rose

Pacific Notes: Hiller, Canucks, Romani, Pettersson

May 15, 2025 at 8:29 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 2 Comments

Speaking at his introductory press conference today (video link), Kings GM Ken Holland revealed that head coach Jim Hiller will remain with Los Angeles for next season. Hiller just completed his first full season as head coach of the team with the Kings picking up 105 points in the standings, tying their franchise record set back in 1974-75. However, they weren’t able to shake their recent playoff struggles, falling to the Oilers in the first round for the fourth straight year, leading some to wonder if Holland would opt to go in a different direction. However, that won’t be the case and Holland added that he has no intention of rebuilding or retooling this roster, meaning that Hiller should have largely the same group of core players for 2025-26.

Blackhawks Interview Jeff Blashill For Head Coaching Vacancy

May 15, 2025 at 7:28 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 19 Comments

As Chicago has searched for its next bench boss, they’ve been linked to very few candidates. Aside from potentially retaining interim head coach Anders Sorensen, the only external candidate they were known to speak with was David Carle who instead is remaining at the University of Denver.

However, another coach has popped up in the search. Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports (video link) that the Blackhawks have interviewed Jeff Blashill for their head coaching position.

Blashill has only been the bench boss once at the NHL level but it was a fairly lengthy stint as he spent seven years at the helm of Detroit, running from 2015-16 to 2021-22. While the Red Wings made the playoffs in his first year with the team, they failed to do so in the other six (and haven’t since he was let go, either). Under the 51-year-old’s tutelage, Detroit played to a 204-261-70 record, good for a points percentage of just .480.

Blashill has spent the last three seasons as an assistant coach with the Lightning and has been a speculative candidate for other roles before now. It appears that Chicago isn’t the only team potentially interested in him as Seravalli added that Seattle is believed to be considering him as well. At this point, it certainly feels like Blashill is going to get another opportunity to run an NHL bench but whether Chicago, a team that’s looking to emerge from its rebuild and become much more competitive in a hurry, is the right fit for his services remains to be seen.

Chicago brought in Luke Richardson as their head coach in 2022 with an eye on more of a development-focused approach. However, the team struggled mightily with him at the helm, winning just 57 of 190 games, resulting in Sorensen being brought up from AHL Rockford back in early December to take over the rest of the way but the Blackhawks only won 17 of 56 games following the change, resulting in a coaching search that is nearing the one-month mark.

Senators Opt To Retain 2025 First-Round Pick

May 14, 2025 at 4:35 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 22 Comments

May 14: The Senators have indeed retained their 2025 first-round pick and will push the forfeiture penalty down the road to 2026 in hopes of having the penalty reduced, per PuckPedia.

May 11: After a strong second half of the season, the Senators worked their way into a playoff spot for the first time since 2017. While they fell in six games to Toronto, it was certainly a step in the right direction for them.

However, they are still required to forfeit their own first-round selection either this year or next. That stems from failing to disclose Evgenii Dadonov’s no-trade clause when they moved him to Vegas back in 2021. That was realized less than a year later when the Golden Knights tried to flip him to Anaheim at the 2022 trade deadline, but the Ducks were on his no-trade list which eventually came to light. Upset about the matter, Vegas asked the league to investigate, eventually leading to the Sens having to forfeit a pick in 2024, 2025, or 2026.

Given that they held the seventh overall pick last year, it made perfect sense to hold onto that one and the Sens used it on blueliner Carter Yakemchuk. But with their run up the standings, Ottawa is set to pick 21st overall in next month’s draft. Since it’s the first time since 2017 that their top pick fell in the 20s, there’s a case to make that this might be the right time to pay that penalty.

However, that doesn’t appear to be the case. Speaking with reporters earlier this week including Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch, GM Steve Staios indicated that it’s “highly likely” that they keep the selection and push the forfeiture penalty into next season.

Late last year, team owner Michael Andlauer publicly admitted he’s hoping that Commissioner Gary Bettman will eventually reduce or eliminate that penalty altogether. That approach isn’t entirely without precedent as a similar outcome happened with New Jersey’s penalty for the initial 17-year contract they gave Ilya Kovalchuk, one that was ruled as salary cap circumvention. The deal was later reworked to a 15-year agreement and approved; had that deal been played out in full, it would have expired this summer.

At the time the initial penalty was assessed, New Jersey was required to forfeit a first-round pick over a three-year stretch. But after not doing so in the first two years, Bettman opted for a lesser punishment, simply moving the first-round pick in the third year to the back of the round instead of parting with it altogether. Speculatively, Andlauer may be hoping for a similar outcome here although Bettman’s public comments to Garrioch from November indicate that’s not being considered.

Accordingly, it appears the game of chicken, so to speak, will go on into the third and final year as the Sens will hope for a lesser penalty at that time. In the meantime, barring a change of heart or a strong trade offer, it appears that they’re set on making the 21st selection on the opening night of the draft next month.

Snapshots: Ekholm, Domi, Rodrigues, Berard

May 12, 2025 at 9:00 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

Oilers defenseman Mattias Ekholm has resumed skating as he works his way back from an undisclosed injury, relays YEG Sports Talk’s Tom Gazzola (Twitter link). However, it’s still believed that he’s still weeks away from returning. Already ruled out for this round, it appears that the 34-year-old might be in tough to suit up in the Western Conference Final if Edmonton were to make it there. Ekholm is a critical cog on their back end, playing a key shutdown role while also being a solid secondary contributor after notching 33 points in 65 games this season. However, it looks like he’s still not particularly close to returning.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

The Department of Player Safety announced that Maple Leafs winger Max Domi has been fined $5K, the maximum allowable under the CBA, for a boarding incident against Florida on Sunday. The incident occurred in the dying seconds of regulation on a hit on Aleksander Barkov. Domi received a major penalty on the play but won’t receive any further discipline beyond the fine.
It appears a decision on Evan Rodrigues’ availability will come closer to game time on Tuesday. Team reporter Rob Darragh mentions that Panthers head coach Paul Maurice indicated that the winger hasn’t been cleared to play in the fifth game against Toronto but hasn’t been ruled out yet either. Rodrigues left Sunday’s game early in the third period following a hit from Oliver Ekman-Larsson and did not return. He has three assists in nine games so far this postseason.
Rangers forward Brett Berard has withdrawn from Team USA’s roster at the Worlds, relays Mollie Walker of the New York Post. The injury is believed to be a minor one and he’s expected to have a full offseason of preparation and be ready for the start of training camp in the fall. The 22-year-old made his NHL debut in late November and got into 35 games with the big club, notching six goals and four assists. Berard also added 23 points in 30 games with AHL Hartford.

Kraken Expected To Sign Tyson Jugnauth

May 12, 2025 at 8:28 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 1 Comment

It appears that one of Seattle’s prospects has changed his development plan. After previously committing to Michigan State, Nathaniel Bott of the Lansing State Journal and Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek report (Twitter links) that defenseman Tyson Jugnauth won’t return to college and will instead sign with the Kraken.

The 21-year-old actually spent parts of two seasons at the University of Wisconsin but elected to move to the WHL early in the 2023-24 season, joining Portland. After notching just two assists in 13 games with the Badgers, he was a point-per-game player with the Winterhawks in 41 outings while adding 16 points in 18 postseason contests.

As it turned out, Jugnauth had a new level to get to offensively. He potted 13 goals and 76 assists in 65 games, finishing 13th in WHL scoring while leading all blueliners. He found yet another gear in the playoffs, picking up four goals and 29 assists in just 18 games, good for a share of fourth in WHL postseason scoring while once again leading all defenders.

Not surprisingly, that performance earned him WHL Defenseman of the Year honors. With how things went, it’s not surprising that Jugnauth will now be seeking a new challenge by turning pro rather than returning to college to finish up his eligibility. Assuming he ultimately puts pen to paper on a contract, he’ll likely begin next season with AHL Coachella Valley.

Offseason Checklist: Anaheim Ducks

May 12, 2025 at 7:23 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those eliminated in the first round. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Anaheim.

After a rocky showing in 2023-24, the Ducks bounced back relatively well this year with a 21-point jump in the standings. However, that still left them well short of a playoff spot and GM Pat Verbeek acted quickly, firing Greg Cronin and two assistant coaches while Joel Quenneville has taken over behind the bench. Even with that big item checked off, Anaheim has a lot to accomplish this summer.

Make A Decision On Zegras

This was a topic in last year’s checklist and frankly, not a lot has changed since then. Coming off an injury-riddled year that saw him struggle when he was healthy, Trevor Zegras was in all sorts of trade speculation last summer. There were some more intensive talks at the draft but nothing got across the finish line, giving Zegras a chance to make a better second impression on Cronin and his staff.

Unfortunately, this season was largely more of the same. He missed more than 20 games with a knee injury and potted 12 goals and 20 assists in the 57 games he played, only a small uptick in points-per-game compared to the year before. For a player with two 60-plus-point seasons under his belt already, it’s fair to say this was another underwhelming year.

That means the trade speculation is likely to pick up once again in the near future. Zegras now has just one year left on his bridge deal, one that carries a $5.75MM qualifying offer in 2026 when he’ll be a year away from UFA eligibility. An early extension makes no sense for either side so Verbeek has two choices here, hold again and hope things will improve under Quenneville or pull the trigger on a trade over the coming months.

Of course, with the way the last two years have gone, Zegras isn’t exactly at peak trade value. Teams will view him as more of a buy-low candidate and will likely structure their offers accordingly. However, is Anaheim in a spot where a positive-value return that isn’t the best better than running the risk of him having another down year and seeing his value degrade further or even fall into non-tender or club-elected arbitration territory? That’s what Verbeek will be looking to weigh over the next little while.

Bridge Or Long-Term Deals?

The Ducks have two of their intended future core players up for new deals this summer. Armed with more than $38MM in cap space per PuckPedia, Verbeek is in a spot where he can choose which direction to take with them rather than having their cap situation dictate those plans. That cap space largely insulates them from being a target for an offer sheet as well, given their easy ability to match.

The first is center Mason McTavish. The 22-year-old was the third-overall pick in 2021 with the hopes that he could become their top center of the future. (Leo Carlsson was picked a year later and now holds that particular distinction.) Over his first three seasons, his development has largely been gradual but he did set career highs across the board this year and finished second on the team in scoring with 20 goals and 32 assists on a team that had an awful lot of trouble scoring. Still just 22, McTavish is certainly tracking to be at least a core player even if he doesn’t wind up as the high-end number one center his draft status might have suggested.

Having said that, this could be a bit of a trickier negotiation. With the year McTavish had, he wouldn’t want to sign a long-term deal on the basis of him being a 50-point player; he’s going to expect that there’s still more improvement on that front and will want to be paid accordingly. Meanwhile, Verbeek might not want to pay that type of price tag until he sees more from McTavish. He pushed for the bridge deal for Zegras and that decision looks particularly wise at the moment. If it is a shorter-term agreement, it should check in around the $4MM mark.

Then there’s goaltender Lukas Dostal. This was the year when the label of the goalie of the future changed to goalie of the present as he took over as the primary starter. On the other hand, his overall numbers were still relatively pedestrian (3.10 GAA and a .903 SV%) but he was playing behind a relatively weak defensive group. He’s two years away from UFA eligibility so it’s hard to see a two-year deal being the solution here even if it might be the safer way to go normally.

Verbeek’s options here are probably opt for a one-year contract if he needs to see more from Dostal or to pay him like a secondary-tier starter even though his career numbers might not warrant it just yet. In that instance, deals like ones signed by Karel Vejmelka (five years, $4.75MM AAV), Joey Daccord (five years, $5MM AAV), and Mackenzie Blackwood (five years, $5.25MM AAV) look like the range for Dostal’s next price tag.

Find A Trade For Gibson

Another theme from last year’s column, not a lot has changed here either. For years now, Gibson has been in trade speculation and while there have been times when it looked like one might be possible, it hasn’t happened yet. But the environment might be more favorable for a move this time around.

For starters, Gibson quietly had a solid season. His .911 SV% was his highest mark since 2018-19 while his 2.77 GAA was his best since 2017-18, numbers that were better than Dostal. After putting up numbers that were below the NHL average for several years, this was a big step in the right direction and should help quell some concerns that he isn’t capable of playing at that level anymore. That should open up a couple more potential trade avenues at least.

The contract is also more manageable. Yes, his $6.4MM AAV is still on the high side (ranking 11th as things stand for next season) but there are only two years left on the contract. It should be more palatable for Anaheim to hold back at least some money on that deal. If they retained even 20% ($1.28MM), his revised cap hit would be $5.12MM which would be 21st league-wide. That’s more the range he should be in and the Ducks wouldn’t have to eat a lot of dead money to get him there now.

Then there’s the free agent market. Aside from Jake Allen, it’s a particularly weak class, making Gibson more enticing as a trade candidate. If you’re looking for a short-term goalie upgrade, it might be more palatable to trade something for Gibson than commit to a likely lesser option on the open market.

Is this enough to make a trade likely? Probably not, and it should be noted that there is a 10-team no-trade list to contend with as well. But there’s a path to a suitable trade this offseason which hasn’t been the case too often. And if it doesn’t happen, this could very well make another appearance on next spring’s checklist.

Add Some Firepower

Offense has been hard to come by for Anaheim lately. This season, they were 30th in the league with just 217 goals. That was actually an improvement on the previous year when they were also 30th but with only 203 tallies. In 2022-23, they were 31st with 206 goals. If you want to go back to the last time the Ducks were even in the top 20 league-wide in that department, it was the 2017-18 season. If we change that to the last time they were in the top half of the league in goals, that came back in 2014-15.

Suffice it to say, this has been a long-standing issue for Anaheim and one that hasn’t really been addressed, even in spite of some decent additions in Frank Vatrano and Ryan Strome in recent years.

If you’re in the glass-half-full category, there’s reason for optimism. With so many young players in key roles, there’s hope that there will be some internal improvement from all of them which should give them a boost. Playing for a more proven coach in Quenneville might also give them a bit of a lift. But expecting that alone to be enough to get them closer to even being league average would likely be foolhardy.

Anaheim has had one of the more restrictive budgets in recent years with the team trying to spend much closer to the floor than the cap. But last week, team owner Henry Samueli indicated that Verbeek won’t have to penny pinch as much as he did before. That’s especially noteworthy with their favorable cap situation.

At this point, Verbeek shouldn’t be too picky when it comes to searching for potential offensive upgrades. But after spending big on Alex Killorn as a culture-building pickup two years ago and striking out on his targets last summer, Anaheim needs to be a lot more successful in its recruitment class this time around and add some much-needed scoring help to this group.

Photo courtesy of Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images.

Islanders To Interview Jarmo Kekalainen For GM Position

May 12, 2025 at 6:49 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 3 Comments

Several candidates have interviewed or will soon be interviewed for the Islanders vacant general manager position including Ken Holland, Marc Bergevin, Mathieu Darche, and Kate Madigan. There’s at least one more candidate for the spot as Arthur Staple of The Athletic reports (subscription link) that former Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen is also expected to interview for the job this week.

Kekalainen was one of the NHL’s more longer-tenured GMs until last spring when he was let go after spending parts of a dozen seasons running the Blue Jackets. Over that time, Columbus made the playoffs only five times and only once did they make it past the first round. Having said that, a large chunk of the Blue Jackets’ current core was either acquired or drafted by Kekalainen.

The 58-year-old also has spent time working with Ottawa and St. Louis before joining Columbus. With the Sens, he started out as a European scout before becoming their Director of Player Personnel in 1999. Three years later, he joined the Blues as their top amateur scout before moving to an assistant GM role three years after that.

As far as candidates go, Kekalainen is certainly one of the most experienced options available. He also has plenty of familiarity with the division from his time with Columbus and would have seen or scouted most of New York’s current roster. On the flip side, missing the playoffs in each of the last four years with the Blue Jackets might hurt his candidacy to replace outgoing GM Lou Lamoriello.

Staple also touches on how Lamoriello might be impacting the team’s efforts to replace him. He relays that owner Scott Malkin is actually hoping to keep the 82-year-old past the end of his contract on June 30th in an advisory role. While the belief is that Lamoriello would act as an advisor to Malkin and not the new GM, his continued presence could act as a deterrent to potential candidates who might be unnerved at the prospect of shaking up the roster that Lamoriello built while Lamoriello still has some involvement with the team.

To that end, Staple notes that the search is not running as fluidly as it first seemed though it’s unclear how much is tied to Lamoriello’s potential advisory role. Holland appeared to be their top choice but he’s interviewing for the same role in Los Angeles and may prefer to remain on the West Coast. Staple suggests the door isn’t entirely closed on Holland getting the job if he doesn’t join the Kings but at the moment, it’s unlikely he’d take the role.

For now, Kekalainen joins Darche and Bergevin as those expected to formally interview for the job in the coming days so if one of those emerge as the successful candidate, the search will be over. Otherwise, they might have to start widening their search to find their next general manager.

Oilers Recall Collin Delia

May 12, 2025 at 5:44 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

With Calvin Pickard remaining unavailable for the Oilers due to an undisclosed injury, they’ve opted to bring up some extra depth. Per the AHL’s transactions log, they’ve recalled netminder Collin Delia from AHL Bakersfield.

The 30-year-old spent the season with the Condors after signing a one-year, two-way deal last summer, not getting any recalls to Edmonton. Delia played in 25 games with Bakersfield, putting up a 2.81 GAA and a .905 SV%, a significant improvement on the 3.55 and .872 marks he had with AHL Manitoba last season.

Delia also has 52 career NHL appearances under his belt over parts of five seasons. The first four of those came with Chicago but his most significant opportunity at the top level came back in 2022-23 with Vancouver when he got into 20 games, posting a 3.28 GAA and a .882 SV%.

Delia is now the fourth goalie up with the Oilers, joining Pickard, Stuart Skinner, and Olivier Rodrigue, who was Delia’s netminding partner with Bakersfield this season. Delia will likely serve as the emergency third goalie in case of injury until Pickard is cleared to return.

Snapshots: Fiala, Norringer, Bertucci, Hemming, Terness

May 11, 2025 at 1:59 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose Leave a Comment

Kings winger Kevin Fiala’s season hasn’t come to an end just yet. After originally being unable to play at the Worlds due to some travel issues, the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation announced that Fiala will indeed be able to join the squad, filling their final spot. The 28-year-old was the tournament MVP last year, notching seven goals and six assists in just eight games. This season, Fiala had a career-high 35 goals in 81 games for Los Angeles while recording seven points in six games in their first-round exit at the hands of Edmonton.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

Predators prospect Viktor Norringer has decided where he’ll play college hockey as he announced on his Instagram page that he has made a verbal commitment to Boston University. The 18-year-old was a fourth-round pick last year, going 127th overall. Norringer had a dominant showing in Frolunda’s junior system this season, tallying 24 goals and 33 assists in just 39 games. It’s expected that Norringer will debut at BU in 2026-27 so for next season, he could remain at home or look to play in the USHL.
Two of Dallas’ top prospects have seen their seasons extended. Per the AHL’s transactions log, defenseman Tristan Bertucci and forward Emil Hemming have been assigned to AHL Texas. Bertucci was a second-round pick in 2023, going 63rd overall, and spent the season with OHL Barrie, notching 37 points in 52 regular season games while adding 18 more in 16 playoff contests. Hemming, meanwhile, was a first-round pick (29th overall) by the Stars last June. The 18-year-old had 48 points in 60 games with Barrie during the regular season but also improved his output in the playoffs, collecting 15 more points in those 16 playoff outings.
Still with the Stars’ farm team, they’ve added some goalie depth for their playoff run. Per an announcement from Ohio State (Twitter link), Texas has signed Logan Terness to an ATO agreement. The 22-year-old split his college career between UConn and Ohio State and saved his best performance for last, putting up a 2.46 GAA and a .917 SV% in 25 outings this season. Terness will use this stint to try to earn himself a pro deal for 2025-26.

Offseason Checklist: Seattle Kraken

May 11, 2025 at 12:56 pm CDT | by Brian La Rose 4 Comments

Expectations were high for the Kraken heading into 2023-24, perhaps a bit too lofty after an impressive second season. The team struggled, resulting in a new coach and some big free agent splashes. That didn’t move the needle, however, as the struggles continued, leading to another coaching search while the front office has been shaken up. Accordingly, new GM Jason Botterill has plenty on his checklist in the weeks and months ahead.

Find A New Coach

After Dave Hakstol was let go last year, the Kraken promoted from within, naming veteran Dan Bylsma as their new head coach. Considering that he had some NHL success in the past with Pittsburgh and had fared quite well with AHL Coachella Valley, it was a reasonable decision. But now, they’re on the lookout for a new bench boss again following the decision to move on from him quite quickly.

It would be a bit surprising to see recent history repeat itself with another promotion from the Firebirds. Derek Laxdal took over from Bylsma this season in the minors and while he has a decent track record as a head coach there (and in the OHL where he was Coach of the Year last season), it feels like this is a situation where they’re going to be looking for someone more experienced that can get them back to the playoffs next season.

Rick Tocchet’s name has surfaced as a strong candidate. He’s more than familiar with the division having been with Vancouver the last couple of years and he also has some familiarity with Botterill dating back to their days in Pittsburgh. Last year’s Jack Adams Award winner, Tocchet is also a strong candidate for several other openings. On the other side of the front office, Ron Francis has worked with Peter Laviolette before from their days in Carolina which could help his cause when it comes to being considered.

One under the radar option that has some ties to Seattle is Jay Leach. He was one of the finalists for the top job last year and was an assistant with them until this season. It would be a little surprising to see a first-time head coach get the job but Leach having worked with a lot of the team before could give him a leg up in discussions. If management wants to go with a younger coach with some experience, Jay Woodcroft could be a fit as well.

With several openings around the league, the potential exists for this to drag out a bit, especially if teams have their eyes on assistants who are currently still working which could slow the market down. But if Botterill and company have their eyes on someone who’s available now, they could move relatively quickly to get this hire done.

Decide Grubauer’s Fate

When Seattle signed Philipp Grubauer to a six-year, $35.4MM contract back in 2021, it looked like they might have their goalie situation settled for a while. While there was some risk in signing someone coming off a career year with Colorado (one that made him a Vezina finalist), his overall track record was still pretty solid with a 2.30 GAA and a .920 SV% in 214 games up to that point.

Let’s just say things have not gone as planned for Grubauer since then. Over the first half of the deal, he failed to post a save percentage above .899 and ultimately lost the starting job to Joey Daccord. This season, it got even worse. His GAA jumped to a career-high 3.49 while his SV% dropped to a career-low .875, numbers that were significantly worse than the league average. By MoneyPuck’s Goals Saved Above Expected mark, he failed to crack the top-100 league-wide which also says a lot. Unsurprisingly, he cleared waivers in late January and played in seven games with Coachella Valley where his numbers were a bit better but still below average.

With Daccord beginning his five-year, $25MM contract next season, Seattle is now primed to be one of the top-spending teams in goal. Given their cap situation (they have over $21MM in space per PuckPedia), they can afford it. On the other hand, that’s a lot of money to pay a goalie they don’t have much faith in, making a buyout a potential option.

Should Seattle buy Grubauer out this summer, they would take on dead cap charges of $1.983MM in 2025-26, $3.083MM in 2026-27, and $1.683MM in 2027-28 and 2028-29. Still, that would free up nearly $4MM in space next season and $3MM the year after that before adding on extra money the following two seasons. Meanwhile, unless he’s being moved as salary ballast to offset a pricey contract coming back the other way, a trade is probably an unrealistic outcome.

Could the Kraken find a better goaltender for the savings from a Grubauer buyout? Even with a thin UFA market, there’s a good chance they could do so and potentially even free up a bit of space to put toward filling another spot on the roster. Is that improvement enough to justify adding dead cap money in 2027-28 and 2028-29? That’s what management will need to decide over the next six-plus weeks.

Re-Sign Key RFAs

A decent chunk of Seattle’s current cap space is going to be required to keep their RFA class intact. Tye Kartye has earned a small raise off his entry-level deal which is pretty straightforward but their other two restricted free agents of note have a bit more complicated cases.

Last offseason, both the Rangers and Kaapo Kakko opted to kick the can down the road, so to speak, with the winger preemptively accepting what would have been his qualifying offer. It was a chance for more evaluation time for both sides. That evaluation eventually led to the 24-year-old getting a fresh start with Seattle, one that did him a lot of good. After notching just 14 points in 30 games to start the season, Kakko was more productive following the swap, tallying 10 goals and 20 assists in 49 outings with the Kraken.

Notably, this is his final RFA-eligible year. Kakko could simply opt to file for arbitration, go to a hearing, and probably get a $1MM or so raise from his $2.4MM qualifying offer while setting himself up to hit the open market next summer at the age of 25, an outcome we rarely see. But if both sides are happy with how things went following the swap, a multi-year agreement could be worked out. With Kakko’s inconsistency, a long-term deal feels unlikely for both sides but effectively another bridge contract that buys up a UFA year or two might make sense for both player and team. In that case, the price tag could jump closer to the $4MM per year range.

Then there’s Ryker Evans. The defenseman played his first full NHL campaign this season and fared quite well, notching 25 points while logging over 19 minutes per game while seeing a bit of action on both special teams units. Already basically a top-four piece, he’s the type of player Seattle would likely want to sign to a long-term agreement. A max-term deal could push the AAV past the $6MM range while a six-year pact that only buys out a couple of UFA seasons could start with a five. Alternatively, if one side wants a bridge agreement, the price tag would probably land in the $3MM territory which would give them a bit more cap flexibility to add pieces this summer although they’d be paying a higher price tag for Evans down the road. They’ll have to decide which is the better option over the coming weeks.

Look Into Moving A Forward

Considering that it appears the goal for next season is to make the playoffs, this might seem a little odd. However, there aren’t many open roster spots (once Kakko and Kartye sign, they’ll have 10 forwards locked up) and it seems likely that management will once again try to add a piece or two on the open market. On top of that, they have some forwards including Jani Nyman and 2024 first-rounder Berkly Catton who are close to being NHL-ready. Integrating them into the lineup will also require some spots to be opened up.

The way to open up a spot or two will likely have to come through a trade. Forward Jaden Schwartz is about to enter the final year of his contract and while he’s extension-eligible, it doesn’t feel like the Kraken would want to do an early extension. He stayed healthy this season and finished third in team scoring with 49 points in 81 games but injuries plagued his first three years with the team. Given that he has dabbled at center a bit in the past and is on a manageable $5.5MM cap charge, there could be some trade interest in him from a team looking just for a short-term addition up front that doesn’t want to commit to a longer-term deal on the open market.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see Botterill look into moving Andre Burakovsky as well. He has two years left at $5.5MM and like Schwartz, injuries have been an issue since signing that deal as he missed 33 games in each of his first two seasons. However, he had a 37-point effort this year and had 39 points in 49 games in 2022-23 with them so there is still some offensive upside to work with. Similar to Schwartz, a team looking for a shorter-term addition might be more interested in flipping something to get Burakovsky on a short-term deal.

Jordan Eberle and Eeli Tolvanen are on expiring deals but Eberle being their captain probably takes him out of consideration at this point while Tolvanen is someone that they may try to keep around.

Moving out a forward isn’t something they necessarily have to do but with two straight disappointing seasons now, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to shake up their forward group while simultaneously making room for some new free agents and a prospect or two.

Photo courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.

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