2021-2022 Season Projections
For all my season previews, we’ll be utilizing my 2021-2022 team and player projections. You can find much more background on these models here, along with more on assessing value of contracts here. Today, I’m starting with the expansion Seattle Kraken. Now, let’s get Kraken!
2021 Offseason
With the opportunity to assemble the team of their choosing at the expansion draft, the Kraken signed free agents Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak and Chris Driedger ahead of the draft. Their picks at the draft were widely panned as it seemed there were plenty of more opportunistic picks that they left on the board that could have been used to gain additional assets via the trade market. Following the expansion draft, Kraken brought in Philip Grubauer, Alex Wennberg and Jaden Schwartz in free agency.
2021-2022 Season Preview
Roster Strength
While the Kraken lack high end talent, they assembled a team that appears to be relatively deep. Their top line and top defense pair just meet the minimum benchmark, but the rest of the lineup scores well in the roster strength plot and their goaltending tandem looks solid.
Forwards
As we saw in the roster strength plot, the Kraken appear to be fairly deep but lack high end talent for the top line. Jordan Eberle is a proven top six forward and will likely be looked to as an offensive leader. Joonas Donskoi and Jared McCann have excellent projected impacts for the 21/22 season and look like good candidates to break out in expanded roles.
The Kraken seemed to be very mindful of detrimental cap hits during the expansion draft. They managed to build their forward depth with average or better cap efficient contracts. Alex Wennberg, signed in free agency, seems to be the outlier and the Kraken may have overpaid for Wennberg’s shooting percentage bender last season.
Defensemen
Similar to the forward group, the Kraken’s defense corps appears to have good depth. While the top pair just meets the minimum benchmark based on the current projected lineup, some line shuffling through the preseason may improve it.
The Kraken did well with cap efficiency during the expansion draft, although it appears they overpaid to land free agents Larsson and Oleksiak during the expansion process.
Goalies
The Kraken have set themselves up with a strong goaltending tandem in Philip Grubauer and Chris Driedger. While they may have overpaid a bit to sign Grubauer away from the Avalanche, Driedger’s contract look like it could be a steal.
Team Performance
The Kraken’s strong depth and solid goaltending has them projected as the top team in the Pacific Division for the 2021-22 Season.
2021-2022 In Season Projections
Make sure to subscribe and check back for updates to the 2021-2022 season projections throughout the season. Watch for updates and enhancements to the models, updated player projections using 2021-2022 season data, analysis of trades and injuries, and more.
