In this final installment of a four part series, with the NHL draft right around the corner, I will explore one final major addition the Kraken could make to their roster via trade this offseason.
Trade Target: Alex DeBrincat, LW, Ottawa Senators
Fit with Seattle: DeBrincat's calling card is his goalscoring, which would undoubtedly be welcome in Seattle. The Kraken had great success with their scoring by committee approach last season, and adding a sniper of DeBrincat's caliber would greatly enhance that. He had a down season last year but was a 40+ goalscorer previously in his career. However, DeBrincat also contributes in the playmaking and defensive departments, and that's key for fitting in on a Seattle team that values two-way forwards. On the Kraken, DeBrincat would slot into the top six, meaning Schwartz slides down into the bottom six and one of the bottom six forwards, in this case Sprong, would be dealt to clear roster space.
Making the money work: At first, getting DeBrincat onto the roster was more complicated, even more so than fitting Karlsson onto the roster. This is because Seattle has quite a few decently paid forwards, and DeBrincat will be making quite a lot on a new deal. I was looking at moving sending one of them to Ottawa, but I couldn't find anyone making enough that both A) Seattle would be willing to trade and B) Held enough trade value for Ottawa. Eventually I figured out a workaround by sending Sprong to Ottawa as a replacement goalscoring forward and salary dumping Driedger. This didn't end up leaving any wiggle room to externally replace Soucy on the defense, but a Fleury/Megna tandem could probably hold down the fort until Ryker Evans is ready. These moves left enough space to extend DeBrincat. For the record, I think Seattle would only trade for DeBrincat if they were able to get him inked to a long-term contract; if he ends up playing on a one year QO, they wouldn't make this deal.
Let me know your thoughts, as always helpful feedback is welcome. The draft is tomorrow, the fireworks will begin soon!
Ottawa is a team looking on the rise, so they'd probably want at least one piece who could contribute to their team right away. Sprong provides that as a RW who, while not on DeBrincat's level, was a 20+ goalscorer last season and would help replace some of his scoring. The Sens also get the 20th overall pick in a good draft and a future third, which when coupled with Sprong means they recoup most of what they paid for DeBrincat last year.
This sort of situation, where Seattle adds a high-priced player, is about the only one where they'd need to trade Driedger to shed salary. In this case a team gets an asset to take on Driedger's cap, and Driedger gets a chance to re-establish himself as an NHL goalie with a rebuilding club. Chicago is the team here, but this could be any team in the middle of a rebuild with cap space to spare.
Personally if I was Seattle I would move one of those top 6 wingers for a top-4 d-man Kartye and Wright should get some consistent middle 6 playing time next year and I don't l o v e that d-core going up against high power offensive groups like the Avs or Oilers. Seattle already has the best offensive depth in the league they can afford moving out one of Burakovsky,Eberle,Bjorkstrand,Schwartz, Gourde or Wenberg for a top-4 RD to just put them in a much better position.
Personally if I was Seattle I would move one of those top 6 wingers for a top-4 d-man Kartye and Wright should get some consistent middle 6 playing time next year and I don't l o v e that d-core going up against high power offensive groups like the Avs or Oilers. Seattle already has the best offensive depth in the league they can afford moving out one of Burakovsky,Eberle,Bjorkstrand,Schwartz, Gourde or Wenberg for a top-4 RD to just put them in a much better position.
Seattle has the future assets and cap flexibility to add a top-four defenseman without sacrificing a piece of the top six, so I think if they do go after someone of that ilk, they'll be more inclined to keep their group of forwards together at least for the time being. Having a lot of forward depth is never a bad thing; injuries happen, so if the Kraken have guys like Kartye and Wright who can step up and provide good production, so much the better.
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