The Seattle Kraken have joined in on the NCAA free agent market, signing forward Lleyton Roed out of Bemidji State University. The team has confirmed the deal as a two-year, entry-level contract with a $950K average-annual value (Twitter link – corrected to a two-year deal by CapFriendly). The deal was first reported by FloHockey’s Chris Peters.
Roed is turning pro after his sophomore season with Bemidji. He’s been the team’s top scorer in both seasons, totaling 61 points across 74 appearances. In fact, his career 0.82 points per game marks the highest rate a Bemidji player has scored since Owen Sillinger in 2022 – and Matt Read in 2011 before him.
Roed, 21, joined Bemidji after just one season in juniors hockey, scoring 41 points in 60 games with the USHL’s Tri-City Storm. He’d otherwise primarily played in Minnesota high school hockey and went undrafted through his eligibility in the 2020, 2021, and 2022 drafts. He moved to college in the subsequent season and has been performing well ever since, flaunting fantastic play when the puck is on his stick. Roed has great agility and is able to control the puck and his skating to work out of awkward positions and find his teammates. It makes him a great set-up man, though his eye for plays often lands him in a scoring position as well. While his game could afford more explosivity off of the puck, Roed has adapted well to the harder-hitting and defensive-minded NCAA. That could help him a lot as he now moves to the AHL, though he’ll still need to adjust to the pace of a pro game.