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Kraken Ownership Eyeing Possible NBA Expansion

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Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff is reporting that Vancouver Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko will be out of the lineup through at least game 4 of the Canucks second-round series against the Edmonton Oilers. The netminder is making progress and is back on the ice skating, but his earliest return would be for game 5.

The 28-year-old hasn’t played since suffering a lower-body injury in game 1 of the Canucks first-round series against the Nashville Predators. His work in practice thus far has consisted of skating sprints, working side-to-side, and some work on his butterfly. The Vezina Trophy finalist hasn’t taken part in any live drills as of yet, but if he continues to progress it could happen sooner than later.

In other Pacific Division notes:

  • Vegas Golden Knights forward William Karlsson told reporters today that his hamstring bothered him through the first round of the playoffs and caused issues with his skating. The lower-body issue didn’t keep Karlsson out of the lineup, but it certainly limited the 31-year-old’s effectiveness as he posted just two assists in seven playoff games after registering 30 goals and 30 assists in 70 regular season games. Karlsson has three years remaining on his eight-year $47.2MM contract and will likely continue to be a middle-six option for Vegas next season.
  • Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times writes that the Seattle Kraken ownership group continues to discuss a new umbrella company that would encompass the Kraken, major projects, as well as a potential NBA team in Seattle. The NBA is eyeing expansion in the near future and the city of Seattle as well as Las Vegas are reportedly among the frontrunners to land an expansion team. Seattle has been without an NBA team since the SuperSonics moved to Oklahoma City back in 2008, but with the Kraken making moves to form an umbrella company it would put them in a good position to enter into NBA expansion.

Hockey Canada Releases 2024 World Championship Roster

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May 7: Celebrini and Fantilli have returned home from Czechia, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. The former will participate in tonight’s 2024 NHL Draft Lottery, while Fantilli’s reasons for departing are undisclosed. It’s unclear whether they’ve been removed from the roster entirely. In a corresponding transaction, the team added Kings center Pierre-Luc Dubois and Lightning forwards Brandon Hagel and Nick Paul to the roster.

May 3: Hockey Canada has released its roster of 22 players who will wear the maple leaf at the 2024 World Championship, which begins next week in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia. There are three open spots left to be filled throughout the tournament as more teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Much like the initial World Championship roster that USA Hockey released weeks back, it’s almost completely made up of NHL talent – a rarity for the top-level countries at this tournament recently. The return and promise of future best-on-best international tournaments in the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off and the 2026 Winter Olympics has players and front offices looking at this year’s Worlds as a tune-up and initial evaluation for those events.

In fact, the only non-NHL player on Canada’s tournament-opening roster will be in the league next season. That’s presumptive 2024 first-overall pick Macklin Celebrini, who continues his 2023-24 campaign after taking home the Hobey Baker Award for the top collegiate player in his freshman season with Boston University. Their offense is highlighted and led by Blackhawks rookie phenom Connor Bedard and Kraken sniper Jared McCann, while Sabres defenders Bowen Byram and Owen Power highlight the back end. Blues netminder Jordan Binnington is expected to serve as the team’s starter.

The full roster is as follows:

F Connor Bedard (Blackhawks)
F Michael Bunting (Penguins)
F Macklin Celebrini (2024 draft-eligible)
F Dylan Cozens (Sabres)
F Adam Fantilli (Blue Jackets)
F Ridly Greig (Senators)
F Dylan Guenther (NHL Utah)
F Andrew Mangiapane (Flames)
F Jack McBain (NHL Utah)
F Jared McCann (Kraken)
F Dawson Mercer (Devils)
F Brandon Tanev (Kraken)

D Bowen Byram (Sabres)
D Kaiden Guhle (Canadiens)
D Jamie Oleksiak (Kraken)
D Colton Parayko (Blues)
D Owen Power (Sabres)
D Damon Severson (Blue Jackets)
D Olen Zellweger (Ducks)

G Jordan Binnington (Blues)
G Nico Daws (Devils)
G Joel Hofer (Blues)

Kraken Fire Head Coach Dave Hakstol

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The Kraken are firing head coach Dave Hakstol, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Assistant coach Paul McFarland will also not return to the team next season, the team confirmed.

Speaking to reporters early last week, general manager Ron Francis declined to confirm whether Hakstol would be back with the team in 2024-25 despite a two-year extension kicking in on July 1. Francis released a statement on Hakstol’s firing today:

I thank Dave for his hard work and dedication to the Kraken franchise. Following our end-of-the-season review, we have decided to make a change at our head coach position. These decisions are never easy, but we feel this is a necessary step to help ensure our team continues to improve and evolve. Dave is a good coach and a terrific person. We wish him and his family all the best. We will begin our search for the Kraken’s next head coach immediately.

Hakstol, now 55, was hired as the first head coach in Kraken history in June 2021, four months before the puck dropped on their inaugural season. The former Flyers bench boss had been working on Sheldon Keefe’s bench in Toronto as an assistant after getting fired by Philadelphia in 2018-19, partway through his fourth season with the club.

While the Kraken weren’t able to catch lightning in a bottle like their older expansion siblings, the Golden Knights, they’ve still reached a competitive standard of play in short order. They were nowhere near contention in their inaugural season, finishing with a 27-49-6 record, but the understaffed roster managed decent possession results at even strength in Hakstol’s system and was largely doomed by below-average seasons from goalies Chris Driedger and Philipp Grubauer.

Goaltending didn’t improve much in 2022-23 with Martin Jones entering the fold, but another season of above-average 5-on-5 possession and a second-place 11.6 shooting percentage earned Seattle a 100-point season and, with it, their first playoff berth. Despite missing 40-goal scorer Jared McCann for nearly half of their playoff games, the Kraken upset the defending champion Avalanche in the first round and took the 108-point Stars to seven games in the second before finally bowing out. It showed what the team could do against strong competition with even just average goaltending, supported by Grubauer’s .903 SV% and 2.7 goals saved above expected in 14 games, per MoneyPuck. Hakstol earned a nomination for that year’s Jack Adams Award as a result.

This season saw Joey Daccord give the club some much-needed stability between the pipes, but a major drop in offense (289 GF in 2022-23, 217 GF in 2023-24) doomed the club to a finish just below the .500 mark, 17 points back of a playoff spot. The drop in offense was mainly due to a 2.5% drop in their finishing to 9.1%. Seattle still managed solid possession numbers across the board at 5-on-5, controlling 51.8% of shot attempts, 51.2% of scoring chances and 50.6% of high-danger chances despite top defenseman Vince Dunn and top-six winger André Burakovsky missing significant time with injuries.

Across the board, those results suggest the Kraken are what they’ve been in all three seasons – a solid two-way team without a truly game-breaking offensive talent. It’s hard to fault Hakstol for a roster construction issue, but as Seattle is set to graduate prospects like Ryker Evans and Shane Wright to full-time NHL roles, it’s evident Francis wants a different voice to oversee the club as they shift their aim toward becoming more consistent playoff challengers. They’ll add to an already solid prospect pool with the eighth overall pick in this year’s draft, although that position may change based on the results of next week’s draft lottery.

Luckily for Hakstol, there are plenty of vacancies on the market that he could be considered for. The Blues, Devils, Kings, Senators and Sharks either fired their coach after the season ended or finished the campaign with interim bench bosses without a full-time replacement named.

For Seattle, it’s fair to wonder if Hakstol’s replacement may come from within. Assistant Jay Leach has drawn documented interest for head coaching vacancies in the past and will do so again with multiple positions open. If not, though, the recent rash of coach firings leaves Francis with an experienced list to pick from, as well as multiple up-and-coming candidates like University of Denver head coach David Carle.

Like Hakstol, McFarland had been with the Kraken since their inception. He was previously the GM and head coach of the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs and has held assistant roles with the Maple Leafs and Panthers.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Kraken Re-Assign Eduard Sale To AHL

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In recent days, Seattle has been signing some of their junior prospects and then assigning them to the AHL to keep their seasons going.  When it comes to Eduard Sale, he was already under contract but he will also continue his 2023-24 campaign as the Kraken have re-assigned him to AHL Coachella Valley, per the AHL’s transactions log.

The 19-year-old was a first-round pick by the Kraken last year, going 20th overall.  He was rated considerably higher than that heading into the season but a quiet season with HC Kometa Brno of the Czech Extraliga hurt his stock despite good showings playing against his own age group in the World Juniors and World Under-18s.

This season, Sale decided to try his hand in North America, coming to the OHL where Barrie held his rights.  He was a bit quieter than expected offensively, collecting 20 points in 25 games with them before being moved to Kitchener at the trade deadline where his output dipped a bit more to 18 points in 24 contests.  In between, he did well again at the World Juniors, averaging a point per game.  Sale finished up his junior campaign on a high note, notching 12 points in 10 games before Kitchener was swept in the second round.

Now, Sale will join the Firebirds for his first taste of North American professional hockey.  Having been drafted out of his native Czechia, he’s not subject to the usual NHL/CHL transfer restrictions.  Accordingly, Sale will be eligible to play in the minors full-time next season if Seattle decides they want to test him at a higher level so a good showing in the coming weeks could certainly make a difference in their plans for him.

Kraken Announce New Television Deal

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Harman Dayal of The Athletic tweeted that Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet downplayed Brock Boeser’s early exit from practice today. Boeser had left the ice after taking a shot up high on the wrist during a powerplay drill. Tocchet said that Boeser was fine as far as he knew and added that Boeser hadn’t said anything about a potential ailment.

The Canucks are already dealing with a significant injury with goaltender Thatcher Demko out of the lineup and can ill afford to lose more key pieces from their team. Boeser has just one assist through the first two games of round 1 but is coming off a career year having posted 40 goals and 33 assists in 81 regular season games.

In other Pacific Division notes:

  • Speaking of Demko, the netminder travelled with the Canucks to Nashville (according to SportsNet’s Dan Murphy). Although he made the trip, there doesn’t appear to be any change to his status as he remains week-to-week. Patrick Johnston of Postmedia writes that his sources tell him that Demko wouldn’t be able to return from injury until the Conference Finals, while Donnie & Dhali of CHEK TV believe he could return late in round 2 if the Canucks can survive until then.
  • The Seattle Kraken announced a new partnership today that will see their local broadcasts shift from ROOT Sports over to TEGNA-owned stations KONG as well as KING 5. KONG will broadcast all non-nationally televised Kraken games while KING 5 will simulcast 15 games as well. The deal effectively ends the Kraken’s relationship with ROOT Sports, who had broadcast Seattle games for their first three seasons. In addition to the new local television deal, the Kraken will also see all non-nationally televised games broadcast on Amazon Prime Video for people in Washington State, Oregon, and Alaska at no extra cost. Seattle becomes the first NHL team to strike a deal with Prime and could become a model for other franchises going forward.

Kraken Sign Caden Price

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While Seattle’s season is over, they’ve been keeping busy on the transactions front in recent days with some of their prospects.  That continued today as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve signed defenseman Caden Price to a three-year, entry-level contract.  The deal will carry an AAV of $908K.

The 18-year-old was a third-round pick by the Kraken last June, going 84th overall after a productive year with WHL Kelowna that saw him collect 40 points.  Price built on those numbers this year, tallying 13 goals and 42 assists in 62 regular season games with the Rockets, plus a goal and ten helpers in 11 playoff contests.  That was good enough to earn him a spot on the All-WHL Second Team after the season.

With Kelowna being eliminated in the WHL playoffs, Price is eligible to join AHL Coachella Valley for their playoff run.  However, he will not be eligible to play for the Firebirds next season; his options will be to play with Seattle or go back to junior with the Rockets.  The latter is the likeliest scenario and as long as Price doesn’t play in ten or more NHL games next season, his contract will slide and still have three years left on it heading into 2025-26.

West Notes: Kraken, Barron, Girard

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Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis told reporters today (via Sound of Hockey) that he intends to start talking with restricted free agents Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen and fully expects that the sides will be able to come to agreements. Beniers is the reigning Calder Trophy winner but suffered a dramatic drop in his offensive production, posting just 15 goals and 22 assists in 77 games after posting 57 points in 81 games last season. While his play dropped off this season, he should still receive a sizeable raise on his $897,500 cap hit. Tolvanen was acquired off waivers by the Kraken back in December 2022 and developed into a solid depth scorer posting 16 goals and 25 assists in 81 games this season. He is also due a raise on his $1.45MM cap hit.

Francis added that the Kraken will have to decide whether or not to qualify forward Kailer Yamamoto, who suffered through another difficult offensive season posting just eight goals and eight assists in 59 games. While a $1.5MM qualifying offer seems steep for a player who tallied just 16 points this season, Yamamoto’s age and previous production could be enough to entice Francis to roll the dice one more time and qualify the 25-year-old.

In other Western Conference notes:

  • Winnipeg Jets color analyst Mitchell Clinton is reporting that forward Morgan Barron has yet to begin skating as he deals with a lower-body injury and will be out of the lineup for at least another week. The 25-year-old reportedly suffered the injury in the Jets second-last game of the regular season back on April 16th and it will likely keep him out of the first four games of their series against the Colorado Avalanche. The Halifax, Nova Scotia native just completed his fourth NHL season and set career highs in games played with 80 and goals with 11. He posted 122 hits while averaging 10:30 of ice time per game.
  • Meghan Angley of DNVR Avalanche tweeted that Colorado Avalanche defenseman Samuel Girard was a full participant in practice today, but Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar would not confirm his availability for Game 2 tomorrow. The 25-year-old hasn’t played in over a week and skated for just 3:26 in a 7-0 loss to the Jets on April 13th. In his last 28 games, the native of Roberval, Quebec has just three assists.

Kraken Notes: Hakstol, McCann, Dunn

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The Kraken haven’t yet decided whether to bring head coach Dave Hakstol back next season, GM Ron Francis said Monday (via Geoff Baker of The Seattle Times). Seattle signed Hakstol to a two-year extension prior to the season, ensuring he’ll be paid by the club through 2025-26.

In 246 games for the Kraken over the franchise’s first three seasons, Hakstol has a 107-112-27 record and a .490 points percentage. Most viewed the Kraken as underachievers in year one, doomed by a nearly unplayable season from goalie Philipp Grubauer, and overachievers in year two, when they were among the best finishers in the league and took the Stars to Game 7 of the second round.

They were somewhere in the middle this season, finishing two games below the .500 mark and seeing their offense come crashing back down to Earth. Goaltending and team defense were a strength – Grubauer, while still below average, wasn’t awful by any means in a 1B role as Joey Daccord took over the Seattle crease. The pair saved 13.6 goals above average this season, and the Kraken were a good possession team at 5-on-5, controlling 51.8% of shot attempts and 51.2% of scoring chances. After shooting 11.6% as a team last season, though, they shot 9.1% this season, more a reflection on luck than coaching style.

Francis said the Seattle front office is evaluating the entire coaching staff, which includes assistants Jay Leach, Dave Lowry, Paul MacFarland and goaltending coach Steve Briere.

Other updates from Francis’ end-of-season availability today:

  • Seattle would prefer to have Jared McCann slot in on the wing long-term, Francis said (via ROOT Sports Northwest’s Alison Lukan). The 27-year-old has flipped between center and wing throughout his tenure with the Kraken, but has struggled in the dot with a 45.3 FOW%. He took less than 100 draws in 2022-23 but took over 300 this season, slotting in more frequently after the club traded away Alexander Wennberg. It should be a feasible accomplishment next season with Matthew Beniers, Yanni Gourde, and now Shane Wright looking to center down their top three lines after the latter had a strong end to the season.
  • The injury star defenseman Vince Dunn sustained late in the season after a hit from Flames winger Martin Pospisil was to his neck, Francis confirmed (via The Seattle Times’ Kate Shefte). He sustained the injury in early March and returned for two games in early April to try and play through it, but decided he wasn’t truly healthy enough to return to game action down the stretch. In the first season of a four-year, $29.4MM extension, his season ended with 46 points and a +8 rating in 59 games while averaging over 23 minutes per game for the second straight season.

Kraken Sign Carson Rehkopf, Assign David Goyette To AHL

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While Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf is certainly disappointed that his OHL playoffs came to an end, there was some good news for him.  The Kraken announced today (Twitter link) that they’ve signed the forward to a three-year, entry-level contract.  The deal will carry an AAV of $950K; CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that the deal breaks down as follows:

2024-25: $775K salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K ’B’ performance bonuses
2025-26: $855K salary, $95K signing bonus
2026-27: $855K salary, $95K signing bonus

The 19-year-old was a second-round pick by Seattle back in 2023, going 50th overall.  Early indications are that the Kraken got good value with that selection.  Rehkopf finished second in the OHL in goals this season, posting 52 in just 60 games with Kitchener while chipping in with 43 assists.  He also was productive in the playoffs, notching six goals and five helpers in 10 contests before being swept in the second round by London.

As a result of his elimination in junior, the Kraken can assign Rehkopf to AHL Coachella Valley if they so desire to keep him skating during the Firebirds’ postseason.  However, that will not be an option for him for the start of the 2024-25 campaign; he’ll either have to stick with Seattle or return to junior.  If the latter happens and he plays in fewer than 10 NHL games, his contract will slide and not start until 2025-26.

While they finalize their plans for Rehkopf, they have elected to send another OHL prospect to the Firebirds.  CapFriendly reported on Saturday (Twitter link) that the Kraken re-assigned forward David Goyette to Coachella Valley.  The 20-year-old center led the OHL in points this season, tallying 40 goals and 77 assists with Sudbury before adding five goals and five assists in ten playoff contests prior to their elimination at the hands of North Bay in the second round.  It’s the second straight year that Goyette has been loaned after the OHL postseason so he’ll get a chance to get some more experience before playing at that level full-time next season.

Kraken Reassign Ryker Evans

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The Kraken sent defenseman Ryker Evans to AHL Coachella Valley on Sunday, per a team announcement. With Seattle wrapping up their season last week, the rookie blue-liner returns to the minor leagues to suit up in playoff action with the Firebirds.

Evans, 22, was passed over when he was initially eligible for the NHL Draft in 2020, but his follow-up campaign with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats in 2020-21 made him a second-round pick by the Kraken the following offseason. The Calgary native has immediately cemented himself as the organization’s best up-and-coming defenseman, making a seamless transition to professional hockey after his major junior career wrapped up with Regina in 2022.

Last year on the farm with Coachella Valley, Evans immediately logged top-pairing minutes on one of the best teams in the AHL, taking home All-Rookie Team honors, an All-Star Game nod, and leading all minor-league rookies in assists with 38. His playoff run was exceptional, recording 26 points and a +13 rating in 26 games as the Firebirds lost to the Hershey Bears in the Calder Cup Final.

After another strong start in the minors, Evans received his first NHL call-up in December. He ended up playing more for the Kraken this season than the Firebirds, making 36 NHL appearances compared to 25 AHL games. Coachella Valley has one contest left on their regular-season schedule, a tilt against San Diego in a few hours, that Evans may suit up in before playoff action gets underway later this week.

Evans was strong in his first NHL showing, consistently receiving top-four minutes down the stretch with top blue-liner Vince Dunn injured. He had a goal and nine points in 36 games, and despite his -5 rating, had strong possession metrics. Seattle controlled 54.05% of shot attempts with Evans on the ice at 5-on-5, per Natural Stat Trick, the most of any qualified Kraken defenseman this season. As a result, the left-shot defender has likely locked down a spot on the 2024-25 opening night roster.

Coachella Valley has clinched first place in the Pacific Division and the first-round bye that comes with it. Their playoff run will begin with a best-of-five division semifinals series against the lowest-seeded Pacific team to win their best-of-three First Round series. He’s got one season left on his entry-level contract, which carries an $897.5K cap hit.

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