Montreal Canadiens: Full Mock Seattle Kraken Expansion Draft

The Montreal Canadiens have left some very interesting players available to the Seattle Kraken in tonight’s expansion draft.

Will the Kraken build a team to win right away with Carey Price in goal? Will they go more conservative and take a young bruising blue liner like Cale Fleury? Will they take a gamble on Jonathan Drouin’s health?

We won’t find out for certain until tonight, but just for fun let’s take a look at our mock expansion draft for the Seattle Kraken.

Anaheim Ducks – Haydn Fleury

The Ducks don’t have a lot to pick from. Adam Henrique is an option, and so is Kevin Shattenkirk but they make far more money. Ron Francis regularly built from the blue line out when he ran the Carolina Hurricanes and that included selecting Haydn Fleury 7th overall in the 2014 NHL Draft so the pair reunite.

Arizona Coyotes – John Hayden

So you have to pick a place from every single team? Christian Fischer scored three goals last season… Niklas Hjalmarsson, Alex Goligoski and Jason Demers would be okay but they’re all UFAs…. Tyler Pitlick maybe? John Hayden is big and can play centre, let’s go with him.

Boston Bruins – Connor Clifton

The Bruins would be losing Ondrej Kase here if he was anywhere near healthy but he’s played nine games since March of 2020. Chris Wagner is a decent option for fourth line forward but Francis leans to defence once again and takes rugged Connor Clifton.

Buffalo Sabres – William Borgen

So, we established you have to take a player from every team? Maybe Cody Eakin because he’s been here before but he costs too much to be a fourth line centre so it’s young William Borgen on defence.

Calgary Flames – Mark Giordano

The Flames were caught in a bind with four defender they wanted to protect and they can’t keep them all. No brainer to take Mark Giordano to be the team’s top pairing left defenceman and probably captain.

Carolina Hurricanes – Jake Bean

Another former first round pick by Francis when he was with the Hurricanes. It’s possible he takes Nino Niedereitter here but his $5.25 million cap hit makes him easier to pass on for the skilled Bean.

Chicago Blackhawks – Nikita Zadorov

Not a ton to choose from in Chicago. Nikita Zadorov could step into a second pairing role and Francis is likely to load up on defenders.

Colorado Avalanche – Joonas Donskoi

The Avalanche were stacked last season and it would be nice for the Kraken if they could poach Gabriel Landeskog away who is slated to be a free agent next week. For now however, they grab Joonas Donskoi who had a nice 17 goal and 31 point season in 51 games.

Columbus Blue Jackets – Dean Kukan

A lot of people want to go with Max Domi here but he is coming off shoulder surgery and could miss a chunk of the season. He will be an unrestricted free agent following next season so why not get someone who is guaranteed to play instead? Plus, is Domi worth his $5.3 million cap hit after nine goals and 24 points in 51 games? Go with Dean Kukan instead and add another reliable depth defender.

Dallas Stars – Tanner Kero

Not much to choose from in Dallas aside from a few depth forwards. Kero it is!

Detroit Red Wings – Troy Stecher

The Red Wings picked up Nick Leddy last week and were forced to expose Troy Stecher. He’s a reliable third pairing right shot defender so the Kraken add him.

Edmonton Oilers – Devin Shore

The Oilers would lose Oscar Klefbom if his health wasn’t in question. However, if he was healthy he’d likely be protected. Instead, the Kraken add another depth forward with Devin Shore.

Florida Panthers – Chris Driedger

This already sounds like a done deal as it has been rumoured goaltender Chris Driedger has agreed to a three year contract with a $3.5 million cap hit already.

Los Angeles Kings – Brendan Lemieux

The Kings have exposed a couple of interesting young pieces in Brendan Lemieux and Kale Clague. With plenty of young left shot defenders available, the Kraken go with Lemieux here to play on their third line and add size and toughness.

Minnesota Wild – Kaapo Kahkonen

Kaapo Kahkonen is attractive because he is a good young goaltender but also because he is eligible to be sent to the AHL without going through waivers. He’s the perfect number three option for an expansion team.

Montreal Canadiens – Carey Price

How can Ron Francis start a franchise and ignore the best goalie of his generation, and a guy who just took an underdog team to the Stanley Cup Final? How do you explain to the new and casual fans of the city that you want to draw in that you passed on the opportunity to bring Carey Price to town? He can’t. So, he takes Price and even if he misses the start of the year, Driedger and Kahkonen can hold the fort until he returns.

Nashville Predators – Calle Jarnkrok

The 28 year old can play left wing or centre and scored 28 points in 49 games for a low scoring Predators team last season. He is an ideal candidate to step in and play third line centre.

New Jersey Devils – Nathan Bastian

Bastian is just 23, adds tremendous size at 6’3 and scored ten points in 41 games for the Devils last season. He’s not an All-Star but someone has to play fourth line wing and he is signed for less than a million dollars for the next two seasons.

New York Islanders – Jordan Eberle

For some reason, the Islanders protected Matt Martin and Cal Clutterbuck but not Josh Bailey or Jordan Eberle. It’ll be a toss up for the Kraken, but Eberle puts a few more pucks in the net himself so he gets the selection.

New York Rangers – Colin Blackwell

Colin Blackwell had a surprisingly strong season for the Rangers this season. After toiling in the minors for years, he scored 12 goals and 22 points in 47 games. Makes just $725,000.

Ottawa Senators – Evgeni Dadonov

Dadonov didn’t have a great season in Ottawa, but he was a regular 25 goal scorer for the Florida Panthers before that. He’ll get a huge opportunity in the top six and on the power play in Seattle and could reach 25 goals easily once again.

Philadelphia Flyers – James van Riemsdyk

The only thing that would stop the Kraken from taking JVR is his cap hit. He is signed for two more years at $7 million. Still, the Kraken could use a net front presence on the power play and a guy who scored 17 goals and 43 points in 56 games this season.

Pittsburgh Penguins – Marcus Pettersson

The Penguins could lose goaltender Casey DeSmith, but with Carey Price available, the Pens look to add a top four defender instead.

San Jose Sharks – Dylan Gambrell

Not a very deep list in San Jose, so the Kraken take a depth forward who is just 24 years old, starred for the University of Denver and scored at nearly a point per game pace in the AHL in 2018-19 and 2019-20.

St. Louis Blues – Vince Dunn

It would be difficult to pass up on Vladimir Tarasenko, but his health concerns have been well reported and the Kraken could use a top four defender like Vince Dunn. He is just 24 years old while Tarasenko scored just four goals in 24 games this season.

Tampa Bay Lightning – Yanni Gourde

The Lightning have a plethora of good options up front. The Kraken go with Gourde since he can play centre and proved in the postseason he can head to head with the opposition’s best players every night and shut them down while adding plenty of offence.

Toronto Maple Leafs – Jared McCann

McCann had a breakout season last year for the Pittsburgh Penguins scoring 14 goals and 32 points in just 43 games. That’s a 60 point pace in a full season. He could very well turn into the Kraken’s top centre.

Vancouver Canucks – Jonah Gadjovich

The Canucks have some depth options like Antoine Roussell and Jay Beagle but they cost too much for their role. Jonah Gadjovich is just 22 years old and though he only played one NHL game so far he scored 15 goals in 19 AHL games last season.

Washington Capitals – Justin Schultz

Once again there is a tough choice to make but Francis leans toward the blue line. He could add a depth forward like Nic Dowd, Conor Sheary or Garnet Hathaway but he takes defenceman Justin Shcultz instead.

Winnipeg Jets – Mason Appleton

Dylan DeMelo is an intriguing option especially for the defensively conscience Francis, but a 25 year old Appleton who scored 12 goals and 25 points in 56 games for the Jets from a third line role is too difficult to pass up on.

Forwards

van Riemsdyk – Gourde – Eberle

Dadonov – McCann – Donskoi

Lemieux – Jarnkrok – Appleton

Gadjovich – Blackwell – Bastian

extras: Gambrell, Shore, Kero, Hayden

Defence

Giordano – Schultz

Dunn – Zadorov

Pettersson – Stecher

extras: Bean, Fleury, Kukan, Clifton, Borgen

Goaltenders

Price

Driedger

extra: Kahkonen

This team would have a decent offence, leaning heavily on JVR, Dadonov and Eberle to put pucks in the net. Their defence would be deep, but expecting Giordano and Schultz to be a great top pairing isn’t ideal. They can’t handle 26 minutes per night so the ice time would have to be more balanced.

The extra defensemen, or anyone really would have their name thrown out there as trade bait. You can’t have 29 players on a roster so five of them would need to be dealt before the season and Kahkonen would head down to the minors without waivers.

There are many different ways that Ron Francis can go with this draft, but I just can’t see him passing on Price and going with a Chris Driedger – Kaapo Kahkonen combination instead, or taking a different veteran like Braden Holtby.

I guess we will have to tune in tonight to find out when the expansion draft takes place at 8:00 PM EST.