Could the Devils and the Kraken be a potential match when it comes to aligning on a trade?
The Devils might be on pause at the moment due to the Four Nations Tournament, but that doesn’t mean that we’re taking a break here at All About the Jersey when it comes to content as we inch closer to the NHL Trade Deadline.
After taking a look at Vancouver and Nashville over the past few weeks, we shift our attention to the Pacific Northwest with the NHL’s newest franchise in the Seattle Kraken (sorry, I’m not counting Utah as a ‘new franchise’).
Seattle will once again not be heading to the playoffs after starting this season with a 24-29-7 record, but that doesn’t mean they don’t have pieces that could potentially address some of the Devils needs, whether its center, secondary scoring, or bottom of the lineup energy guys. Let’s take a look at the Kraken and determine who they might have that would be worth looking into.
Can the Kraken Solve the Devils Center Issues?
I would say potentially, but probably not.
Seattle is set up down the middle with Matty Beniers, Chandler Stephenson, and Shane Wright as their Top 3 centers for the foreseeable future, so I think its unlikely any of those players are going anywhere any time soon. And Seattle’s plans to trade pending UFA Yanni Gourde took a significant hit with the recent news that he’ll be out 5-7 weeks following sports hernia surgery.
Sports hernia surgery isn’t necessarily a season-ending injury. That timeline could put Gourde on track to return in late March, with a couple weeks of runway to get up to speed with any new team before the playoffs begin.
There was talk that Gourde could fetch a first round pick in a trade, but that was all prior to this injury and that thought process has likely changed. I’m not saying he definitively won’t be traded now because of the injury, because like I said, its not a season-ender. If anything, there might be an opportunity to pick up a quality player at a discount.
Is a healthy Gourde worth a look? I think so.
We’re talking about a player who prior to this injury, has been extremely durable. He plays a solid two-way game, he consistently puts up offensive stats that you would expect from a 3C, and he had a ton of big game experience as a key role player on the back-to-back Stanley Cup champion Lightning teams.
Gourde is your classic Jack-of-all-trades, master of none type of player, which is why he was as coveted as he was. He can play anywhere in your bottom six and not be out of place. He can play special teams. He brings physicality despite his 5’9” frame. I would guess that Gourde is on the Devils UFA shortlist this summer, but I don’t know that he’s going to necessarily be traded here thanks in part to his injury. Maybe they’re comfortable enough to take a chance on someone who might not be ready until close to the playoffs but I have my doubts.
Another potential center option could be Jared McCann, who has settled into a LW spot for the Kraken over the last couple years.
McCann is an intriguing option for a few reasons. First and foremost, he’s not a rental, as he’s under contract through the 2026-27 season at a reasonable $5M AAV. He does have a 10-team no-trade list.
McCann isn’t quite a natural center, hence why he has bounced between center and wing the last few years. But he is a player capable of putting the puck in the back of the net as he’s scored 110 goals since joining the Kraken four years ago. McCann is also capable of playing in all situations, giving the Devils lineup a little more flexibility.
My hangup with McCann is that I don’t necessarily think the Devils would actually play him at center. I could see him playing on Jack’s wing and taking faceoffs there, and while McCann isn’t known for his prowess in the dot, he’d still be an upgrade in that respect. McCann’s versatility gives the Devils another option while they’re shorthanded, so I could see him filling in at center and looking better than Dawson Mercer when he cosplays as a center.
Still, I have a hard time believing that the Devils wouldn’t be a better hockey team with a Jared McCann somewhere in their middle six. And he actually might be available, if SportsNet’s Jacob Stoller is correct. If he actually is available, the Devils would be smart to get in on that.
What About Secondary Scoring?
We’ve talked about McCann already but the Kraken have some other options when it comes to secondary scoring that the Devils should at least be checking in on.
Oliver Bjorkstrand is a name that should be familiar to Devils fans, as he has a reputation for being one of the biggest Devils killers of them all from his time in Columbus. Bjorkstrand is putting up a typical Bjorkstrand type of season and is well on pace for another 20-goal season, which would be the sixth of his career. He’s intriguing in the sense that he too isn’t a rental, as he’s signed through next season at $5.4M AAV. Like McCann, he can only block trades to 10 teams.
Seattle is an interesting team in that I don’t know how attached they should be to any of their wingers given where they are as a franchise. Jordan Eberle, who is on LTIR anyways, is their captain, so I wouldn’t expect him to go anywhere, and Seattle might’ve found a way to unlock a next level out of Kappo Kakko, who has 17 points in 24 games since being traded from the Rangers. Those guys aren’t going anywhere for now.
I would guess Seattle would listen on Jaden Schwartz, Andre Burakovsky, and perhaps Eeli Tolvanen, but I don’t know how much any of those guys interest me. Schwartz somewhat intrigues me as he’s having an excellent season but he’s making $5.5M through next season and can block trades to half the league. He’d be a player where I’d want the Kraken to retain some salary on. Same goes for Burakovsky who is signed at the same AAV as Schwartz through 2026-27 but he hasn’t really been the same player he was in Colorado. If I were Tom Fitzgerald, I wouldn’t be rushing to bail the Kraken out of that deal. That leaves Tolvanen, who has been found money for Seattle since coming over via waiver claim late in 2022. Tolvanen has scored at about a half PPG rate since joining Seattle and is on a team-friendly deal, so it might take Ron Francis a little more convincing to pry him away.
What If the Devils Decide to Double Down on Sandpaper?
That would bring us to Brandon Tanev, a player who has been recently linked to the Devils as a potential option for their bottom six.
Tanev has been with Seattle since their inception as a franchise and would be an upgrade for their 4th line. He’s a responsible two-way forward, he can play on the penalty kill, and he plays a heavy, playoff-style game.
Granted, the Devils have added a few of those types this offseason, but I don’t think you can have enough of those types of players in your lineup once the calendar shifts to April. Tanev is a guy who brings it and has a well-earned reputation for not being a whole lot of fun to play against.
Tanev is a rental with a high AAV (and a 10-team no trade), so that might be one where you hope the Kraken retain 50%, but he’d go a long way towards helping the Devils match up better against the Carolinas and Washingtons of the world come playoff time.
Final Thoughts
Seattle is a weird franchise in general.
I’m of the opinion that they botched their expansion draft four years ago and have been doubling down on questionable, win now-ish moves since. Granted, I can understand wanting to be respectable out of the gate as an expansion franchise to keep fan interest high, and they did make it to the second round of the playoffs in their second season. But they’ve struggled to replicate that success and are probably at a crossroads of what direction they want to take as a franchise. Should they retool and rebuild around their center duo of Beniers and Wright, or do they keep doubling down with free agent signings.
Seattle isn’t a black hole in terms of prospects….they came in #10 in Scott Wheeler’s midseason prospect pool rankings a few weeks ago. They do have some pieces to work with long-term. But you’re also building a farm system from scratch and you’re only four years in as a franchise. You’re just now starting to see the fruits of those labors with players like Wright and Ryker Evans on the NHL roster. I’m not saying those aren’t solid pieces to work with, but when you’re in a division with teams like the Oilers and Golden Knights, you need more elite-level talent that they’re just lacking. Forget guys like McDavid and Draisaitl though….does Seattle have an answer to Quinn Hughes? Or Macklin Celebrini? These are the teams and players that Seattle is going to have to compete against.
The Kraken aren’t going anywhere anytime soon, so in my opinion, they’d be smart to cash in on some of their assets on the wing, reset their timeline, try to get some bad contracts off the books like Phillip Grubauer and the aforementioned Burakovsky, and aim for contention in 2028 or so. They probably should be shopping anyone over the age of 30 on their roster, and while McCann and Bjorkstrand aren’t quite 30 just yet, they could get a healthy return for both players. Bjorkstrand seems like your typical “here’s a 2nd and 3rd” at the deadline for a veteran scoring winger trade waiting to happen, and while I have my doubts that McCann is a perennial 40 goal scorer, he’s exactly the type of player who could give the Devils a jolt offensively. Just don’t expect him to come cheap since he is under team control at a fair AAV for two more seasons.
I think if Tom Fitzgerald came away with McCann, Bjorkstrand, or Tanev at the deadline, that would be a solid pickup. McCann probably isn’t the answer at 3C but he is capable of moonlighting there while providing secondary scoring. It’s also worth keeping in mind that McCann is having one of his worst seasons in terms of shooting percentage. A bounceback to his career norms could make him more of a primary scoring option somewhere in the Devils Top Six, which is worth exploring. Bjorkstrand is also capable of finding the back of the net, and while I don’t think Tanev will help much in that regard, I do think having another miserable person to play against towards the bottom of the lineup could pay dividends in a playoff series. I’d include Gourde on that list as well, although his recent surgery and the uncertainty surrounding that clouds that situation.
That’s how I view the Kraken heading towards the trade deadline. Perhaps you view things differently. Please feel free to leave a comment below, and thanks for reading.