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Seattle Kraken Sign Antoine Bibeau

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The Seattle Kraken had just three goaltenders in the organization, meaning they needed to add at least one more before the season began just for depth purposes. Today they’ve done just that by signing Antoine Bibeau to a one-year, two-way contract that will carry an NHL cap hit of $750K. GM Ron Francis released a short statement on the signing:

After a strong season in Chicago last year, we’re excited to add Antoine to our mix of goaltenders. His experience at both the NHL and AHL levels make him a valuable addition to our organization.

There’s no doubt that the Kraken goaltending tandem to start the year will be Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger, but every team needs third and fourth-string options in case of injury. Seattle also has Joey Daccord under contract after selecting him from the Ottawa Senators, but he is both inexperienced enough to still need development time in the minor leagues and coming off a serious injury. If you need someone to call up as a backup for a few games, Daccord isn’t really the best option as he needs playing time to continue his transition to professional hockey.

Bibeau on the other hand is very experienced at the professional level, having played nearly 200 games at the AHL level. The 27-year-old is coming off a season with just eight appearances for the Chicago Wolves, though he did post a .912 save percentage in those games. He also has four appearances at the NHL level, including two for the Colorado Avalance in 2019-20.

Though he’ll need waivers to go to the minor leagues, that shouldn’t be an issue for Bibeau who has cleared several times in the past including once in January. The interesting part will be where he plays if he does go to the AHL, as the Kraken were only expected to provide one goaltender for the Charlotte Checkers this season. Because they don’t have a primary affiliate until next season, Seattle is giving just a handful of players (and a coach) to the Checkers, who are the affiliate of the Florida Panthers.

Roster Crunch Coming For Seattle Kraken

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The Vegas Golden Knights expansion draft took place on June 21, 2017. That night, the league announced ten trades that the Golden Knights had made with expansion draft considerations in mind, but they weren’t done there. Over the next two weeks, they completed seven more trades to fix the roster construction. After all, an expansion process usually doesn’t leave you with a perfect mix of players, and free agent frenzy had also provided some opportunities to add to that initial group.

Starting with Trevor van Riemsdyk, the Golden Knights shed the extra defensemen they selected in the expansion draft, collecting a number of draft picks in the process. There was van Riemsdyk, David Schlemko, Marc Methot, and Alexei Emelin to move, since they simply couldn’t keep all the NHL defensemen that were targeted in the draft.

The Seattle Kraken, now nearly a month after their own expansion draft, have made three trades. One of those was to send goaltender Vitek Vanecek back to his original team, while Kurtis MacDermid and Tyler Pitlick were also flipped for fourth-round picks. But the problem that Vegas faced four years ago now faces Seattle as well–there are still just too many defensemen.

Not even counting Dennis Cholowski, who is currently an unsigned restricted free agent the Kraken have ten defensemen under contract for the 2021-22 season. None of them, not even 22-year-old Cale Fleury, are waiver-exempt. That means unless they’re going to carry more defensemen than any other team in the league this season (even playing a couple of them at forward) some will have to be either traded or exposed on waivers before the season begins. Sure, Connor Carrick, the team’s lone defensive free agent signing can likely clear without worry after a disappointing season in New Jersey, but even he has 241 games of NHL experience. None of the other defensemen are risk-free when it comes to waivers, meaning something has to give in the next few months.

The odd balance here is that, even though they’re facing a roster crunch, the actual depth chart isn’t very long. Because the Kraken won’t have a full-time minor league affiliate this season and are just sending a handful of players to the Charlotte Checkers, the list of defensemen actually ends at Carrick–number ten on the chart (until Cholowski is signed). A few training camp injuries and suddenly you’re looking extremely thin on the back end, scrambling for some insurance options just to make an active roster. While that situation might solve the issue of waivers for a while, when those players healed the Kraken would be in trouble once again, having to push players through midseason. Worse, what if they were to lose one or two players on waivers and then suffer a few injuries in the early part of the season?

A potential fix is to sign a few more players like Carrick—with NHL experience but likely to clear waivers at the start of the season—while also trading a few of the current options in the meantime. The problem is that many of the league’s teams have basically locked their rosters and may not be jumping to trade for another defenseman after spending in free agency. Perhaps the plan is to wait for training camp injuries to happen around the league, but it is a tricky situation that Seattle finds themselves in right now, with a risky depth chart that essentially is both too full and too short at the same time.

Seattle Kraken Sign Carsen Twarynski, Cale Fleury

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One of the more surprising moves from this summer’s expansion draft was the Seattle Kraken selecting Carsen Twarynski from the Philadelphia Flyers. The team immediately defended the pick though, saying they felt the young forward could help the depth of the organization, and now he’s agreed to a contract. The Kraken have signed Twarynski to a one-year, two-way contract worth $750K in the NHL.

He’s not alone in inking a deal with the Kraken though, as CapFriendly reports that the team has also signed Cale Fleury to a one-year, two-way deal worth $750K at the NHL level. Both players were restricted free agents but not eligible for salary arbitration.

Twarynski, 23, was a third-round pick of the Flyers in 2016 and has 22 games of NHL experience under his belt. Seven of those came this season, but he was held scoreless meaning his total of a single goal remains. The 6’2″ forward is likely never going to be a big scoring threat at the NHL level, but does bring some size and physicality to the lineup in a bottom-six role. Kraken GM Ron Francis released a short statement on the young forward:

Carsen plays a physical, high-energy game. We like his tenacity and willingness to compete. He plays a responsible game and we like his motor.

Those aren’t things that will make you jump out of your seat, but every team does need depth options like Twarynski to fill out the organizational chart. On an expansion team, he very well could get regular minutes if he manages to make the opening day roster. Given he is no longer waiver-exempt, that seems like a real possibility.

Fleury on the other hand was the team’s selection from the Montreal Canadiens after deciding to pass on Carey Price. It seems like it will be much harder for him to see any real NHL time this season given how many NHL defensemen the Kraken still have on the roster, but he too is eligible for waivers. The 22-year-old played 41 games for Montreal in 2019-20, but spent this year entirely in the minor leagues or on the taxi squad. The brother of fellow Kraken defenseman Haydn Fleury, he hasn’t quite yet managed to reach his potential as a two-way defender.

If either of these two clear waivers and is sent to the minor leagues, they’ll be joining the Charlotte Checkers, where the Kraken are going to send some players this season. In fact, in the original announcement of the AHL partnership, Seattle indicated that they would be sending “between eight and 12 players” to the Checkers. At this point, the team has only seven players under contract to send if they want to keep a 23-man roster. More work is still left to do for Francis and company, and those moves will shed more light on whether Twarynski or Fleury will see NHL time this season.

Seattle Kraken Announce Coaching Hires

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The announcement came with a plan when the Seattle Kraken signed an agreement with the Charlotte Checkers to share them as an AHL affiliate during the 2021-22 season. The Kraken would provide a certain number of players to the minor league team, which is the primary affiliate of the Florida Panthers, but would also hire an assistant coach to join the Checkers staff. That way their prospects would be overseen by someone directly connected to the NHL organization.

Today they’ve made that hire, adding former Jack Adams winner Dan Byslma as an AHL assistant. Kraken GM Ron Francis released a statement explaining the move:

Dan joins our organization with an impressive resume and his experience speaks for itself. He has a proven track record and we look forward to him coaching our prospects in Charlotte alongside Geordie Kinnear.

Bylsma served as an assistant with the Detroit Red Wings for the last three seasons and will probably be the most overqualified AHL assistant in the league. His record as an NHL head coach is 320-190-55, including a Stanley Cup championship in 2009 with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He won the Jack Adams in 2011 when he led the Penguins to a 49-25-8 record despite Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each playing no more than 43 games. Since the Kraken are only using the Checkers for one season before their own Palm Springs AHL team begins play, it will be interesting to see if Bylsma is the choice for their minor league coach a year from now.

The Kraken have also officially announced Andrew Allen as the team’s goaltending coach. Allen had originally joined the team as a pro scout, but will transition to the coaching role now that they are approaching their inaugural season. Interestingly enough, Allen actually received his first NHL coaching job under Bylsma in Buffalo during the 2015-16 season. He spent four years as the goaltending coach for the Sabres, after previously working with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL.

John Quenneville Signs Tryout In Switzerland

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One of the head-scratching choices by the Seattle Kraken at last month’s expansion draft came from the Chicago Blackhawks. Instead of taking RFA Nikita Zadorov, who was flipped by the Blackhawks for a third-round pick a few days after the draft, or Adam Gaudette, who accepted his $997K qualifying offer, the Kraken basically decided to forfeit the pick. They selected minor league forward John Quenneville, who was a Group VI unrestricted free agent and quite a bit removed from his first-round draft pedigree.

The Kraken never signed Quenneville, and now the 25-year-old forward is looking for work overseas. He has signed a tryout with the ZSC Lions to help them with their Champions League games later this month. Whether it goes beyond that remains to be seen, but it seems obvious that Quenneville won’t be helping the Kraken anytime soon.

A talented junior player, Quenneville was originally picked 30th overall by the New Jersey Devils in 2014. He made his NHL debut during the 2016-17 season, but has just 44 games under his belt overall. With just two points in 16 AHL games for the Rockford IceHogs in 2020-21, his status has never been further from the NHL. Now he’ll try to get that career back on track overseas, playing for one of the most popular and successful teams in Europe.

Kraken Notes: Giordano, Barnes, Goaltending Coach

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During the lead-up to this year’s expansion draft, the rumor mill was in high gear. Speculation surfaced that Mark Giordano, the Calgary Flames captain who would be selected by the Seattle Kraken, may not be on the expansion roster very long. When the Kraken brought him out to the stage during the event itself, it seemed to confirm that wouldn’t be the case. Now, speaking with TSN’s Salim Valji, Giordano explained that not only is he looking forward to playing for the Kraken, but intends on taking a leadership role in the team’s inaugural season:

Yeah, I think myself, obviously being the oldest guy on the team, you go in and you want to embrace those leadership qualities. You want to help out the young guys as much as you can, but with the NHL today, most of the superstars are anywhere from low- to mid-twenties, to be honest. So I’m looking forward to being around the young guys on our team and having good leaders, guys like Jordan Eberle are there, and a bunch of different guys I should mention but will leave it for later. I’m just looking forward to being around a good, solid, young core group who’s going to provide a lot of energy for me. I’m looking forward to that, just as much as hopefully guys are looking forward to playing with me.

Giordano, 37, will likely be looked at as the team’s de facto captain this season, even if he isn’t given the letter. It is also unclear how long the veteran defenseman will actually be there. His contract expires after the 2021-22 season and he will be 39 before the 2022-23 season starts, likely with more than 1,000 games played.

  • The Kraken have said goodbye to one of their pro scouts, as Stu Barnes leaves the organization to take the head coaching role with the Tri-City Americans. Barnes is a co-owner of the WHL team and played there for two seasons before his long NHL career. In fact, Barnes holds the second and third-best offensive seasons in Tri-City history. A veteran of more than 1,100 NHL games, he served as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars for two different periods since his retirement and was hired by the Kraken last summer.
  • Speaking of hirings, the Kraken are expected to make a decision on a goaltending coach within a week according to Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times. Baker assumed that Andrew Allen, currently working as a pro scout, would take that role given he held it with the Buffalo Sabres previously, but also notes there are few other prominent names like Mike Buckley—recently fired by the Pittsburgh Penguins–out there right now.

Seattle Kraken Sign Kole Lind

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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.

Vince Dunn Avoids Arbitration, Signs With Seattle Kraken

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The Seattle Kraken have avoided arbitration with restricted free agent defenseman Vince Dunn, agreeing to a two-year contract worth $8MM. Dunn was scheduled for an arbitration hearing on August 14, but will no longer need it. GM Ron Francis released a short statement:

Vince is a mobile, puck-moving defenseman that can help generate offense from our blueline. He’s a smooth skater that helps drive possession and plays a physical game.

Dunn, 24, was the team’s selection from the St. Louis Blues in the expansion draft, picked over the exposed Vladimir Tarasenko and other options. The reason for it, and for this hefty raise, is the offensive upside that Dunn has demonstrated in the early part of his career. Since entering the league in 2017-18, Dunn’s 32 goals actually tie him for 27th among NHL defenders, despite averaging just over 17 minutes a night.

Even with a handful of healthy scratches this season for the Blues, that average ice time actually increased to more than 19 minutes a night as he began to earn more trust from the coaching staff. Make no mistake, Dunn can be a polarizing player and still will have his fair share of defensive lapses, but on a team like Seattle that will be looking for someone to run the top powerplay, he should find plenty of success.

In fact, there’s a good chance that Dunn leads all Kraken defensemen in scoring in their first season, given the alternatives. Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, and Carson Soucy are all much more defensive options, and though Mark Giordano–the 2019 Norris winner–has obvious offensive talent, he’ll also be 38 when the season starts. In that context, paying Dunn $4MM might make some sense, but it also comes with some significant risk for the Kraken.

Not only could he struggle enough defensively to offset his offense and make him a net negative, but if the team goes through some growing pains he will be much harder to trade at that number. Right now, Dunn represents a ton of untapped offensive potential. If he is given more responsibility and the numbers don’t improve, the Kraken are looking at an expensive, underperforming asset.

That gamble is one that Francis and company is willing to take, especially with the amount of cap space they have right now. Even after signing Dunn and Marcus Johansson earlier today, the team is still nearly $10MM under the cap ceiling. Dennis Cholowski, Carsen Twarynski, Kole Lind and Cale Fleury remain unsigned, but none of the four are arbitration-eligible.

Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet broke the deal on Twitter

Seattle Kraken Sign Marcus Johansson

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The Seattle Kraken have added another top-nine forward, signing Marcus Johansson to a one-year, $1.5MM contract. The unrestricted free agent joins the expansion team after one year with the Minnesota Wild. Kraken GM Ron Francis released a short statement:

Marcus plays a fast game and brings us another veteran presence with a significant amount of playoff experience. His speed, skill and versatility will help our forward group.

Johansson, 30, was one of the few proven players left in free agency, even if he is coming off a poor year in Minnesota. The veteran forward has played nearly 700 regular season games in the NHL and has twice broken the 20-goal mark. This season with the Wild he recorded just six goals and 14 points in 36 games, but he has been valued for his versatility and two-way play in the past.

Things haven’t gone that well since he left the Washington Capitals organization in 2017 though. Johansson was traded to the New Jersey Devils for two relatively high draft picks, and immediately ran into injury trouble. He’d play just 29 games in the 2017-18 season, redirecting 14 points. The next season was better, but he’d be flipped to the Boston Bruins at the deadline when New Jersey was out of it. It’s in Boston where he flashed his high ceiling again, recording 11 points in 22 playoff games. That postseason performance landed him a two-year, $9MM contract from the Buffalo Sabres, which–perhaps unsurprisingly because of the struggles Buffalo has endured–didn’t go well.

Now on a one-year deal at a low cost, Johansson bears all the markings of a potential bounce-back player. There will be plenty of opportunities for offensive minutes in Seattle and he’s still young enough to take advantage of them. The fact that he has experience at all three forward positions will only help head coach Dave Hakstol as he’s filling out a lineup card, which will likely always have Johansson’s name somewhere on it.

The Kraken still have plenty of cap space to spend and this is exactly the type of chance they should be taking. Even if the team struggles to put it all together in year one, players like Johansson can be easily flipped at the trade deadline for a future asset.

Will Borgen Agrees To Terms With Seattle Kraken

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The Seattle Kraken have agreed to terms with one of the players they selected in the expansion draft and will sign Will Borgen to a two-year deal. The contract will carry an average annual value of $900K. Borgen was the team’s choice from the Buffalo Sabres at last month’s draft. Kraken GM Ron Francis released a short statement:

Will is a responsible, defensive defenseman who’s size and physical style of play can add a spark to a lineup. He’s still young and developing. We believe in his upside.

Borgen, 24, ended up being left unprotected by the Sabres in order to secure the substantial return they received for Rasmus Ristolainen a few days later. Even with Jeff Skinner waiving his no-movement clause, the team decided to protect seven forwards and three defensemen, leaving the inexperienced blueliner on the outside. The Kraken snapped him up and now have him signed through 2022-23 for a very reasonable amount.

Of course, it would have been hard for Borgen to negotiate much more, given he’s played just 14 NHL games and doesn’t have a single point to his name. The 6’3″ defenseman was a fourth-round pick by the Sabres in 2015 and is only just emerging as an NHL option. Whether he gets regular playing time in Seattle isn’t even clear, given how many other defensemen the team still has under contract. The Kraken already had six defensemen on one-way contracts, plus Vince Dunn, Cale Fleury and Dennis Cholowski still to sign as restricted free agents. They brought in Connor Carrick yesterday as well, meaning things are quite crowded on the Seattle back end.

That long defensive depth chart actually suggests that the Kraken will have to make a move or two before the start of the season, given that none of them are waiver-exempt. Whether that will be Borgen or someone else isn’t clear, but an acquiring team would at least know what to expect in terms of his contract now.

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