What free agents could come to Seattle

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While four teams are still competing in the National Hockey League playoffs – and trying to figure out what NHL refs consider a penalty- most teams, including the Seattle Kraken, are preparing for the off-season.

The NHL free-agent window opens on July 1 with a flock of free-agent signees announced on that day. For the Kraken it’s an opportunity to bring back Daniel Sprong, which would delight many fans, or Alex Wennberg, which probably wouldn’t please too many Kraken followers.

The Kraken are likely to dip their toes into free-agent waters, but the question is how deep are the pockets of Kraken brass. Currently the team has $1,331,742 in salary cap space with an expected cap increase of $4 million for NHL teams this summer.

In non-free agent news, Rob Brind`Amour has signed a contract extension with the Carolina Hurricanes. Brind’Amour was believed to be a top choice of the Kraken in a search for their new head coach.

A lack of scoring punch was the Kraken’s downfall this season and here are a few high-priced treats in this year’s free-agent class. Topping the list are Florida Panther forward Sam Reinhart, Vegas’ Jonathan Marchessault and Jake Guentzel, who the Carolina Hurricanes acquired at the trade deadline from the Pittsburgh Penguins. There are also a few old-timers at the top of the FA forward list – Tampa Bay’s Steven Stamkos (34), Patrick Kane (36) and Joe Pavelski (40). Seattle’s interest in those greybeards is doubtful, but you never know. They would provide veteran leadership.

Reinhart will probably stay in Florida – benefiting from playing alongside Alexander Barkov. Guentzel, a 30-goal scorer, would be an intriguing possibility for the Kraken. Daily Faceoff writer Frank Seravelli projects that the 30-year-old Guentzel should earn $6 to $8 mil. on the open market.

Marchessault finished with 42 goals, but at age 34, he’s not as valuable a commodity as Guentzel. Marchessault’s projected in the $3 to $6.25 range, comparable to Toronto’s Todd Bertuzzi, who’s five years younger.

Bertuzzi scored 21 goals for the Leafs a year ago, but would bring some grit and physicality to the forward lines which the Kraken were lacking a season ago. Bertuzzi’s teammate Max Domi plays a similar game and would be a fan favorite in Seattle, although he’d also be a favorite of new Maple Leaf coach Craig Berube (Bertuzzi and Domi both signed one-year contracts to join Toronto this past season).

Vancouver’s Dakota Joshua could be a younger version of Bertuzzi. The 28-year-old had a breakout season with 18 goals and would still be relatively cheap at $3 million. Joshua coming to Seattle would add spice to the Pacific Northwest rivalry. Of course, if the Kraken really wanted to yank the chain of Canuck faithful they would sign free-agent defensemen Nikita Zadarov and/or Tyler Myers, a Kraken nemesis.

Along with possible newcomers, forwards Pierre-Edouard Bellemare and Tomas Tatar and defenseman Justin Schultz have likely played their last shifts in Seattle. Maybe the team will keep Spokane native Kailer Yamamoto around, who was a bit of an underachiever a year ago and only 27 heading into next season.

While $1,33 million sounds like a huge cap space, the Kraken have to sign several of their own players in the next three years. Yamamoto, Matty Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen are currently restricted free agents (RFA’s) meaning they would receive compensation if they signed with another team, highly unlikely in Beniers and Tolvanen’s case.

Players unsigned as unrestricted free agents (UFA’s) heading into 2025-2026 include Brandon Tanev, Adam Larsson, Brian Dumoulin, Will Borgen and Joey Daccord. Players whose contracts run out in 2026-27 are Jared Schwartz, Oliver Bjorkstrand, Jordan Eberle and Jamie Oleksiak.

Chances are many of those players will be gone by 2027 but the top Kraken prospects- Shane Wright, Ryan Winterton and Ryker Evans along with players still in juniors or the minors, Jagger Fergus, Edouard Sale, David Goyette - will need contract extensions at that point.

Everyone is off the books by 2027-2028 except for (no surprises here) Philipp Grubauer, Jared McCann, Andre Burakovsky (who could be trade bait), Vince Dunn and probably Beniers when he gets a contract extension.

But for now, it’ll be interesting to see what moves the Kraken’s make before the puck drops on the 2024-2025 season. 


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