2024-25 Kraken Roster discussion

[gstommylee]

looking at what we'll have next season, tanev, gourde and borgen probably gone and the only guy we need to re-sign is evans. we'll have cap space to work with. Assuming we move schwartz that puts us at 14.3m of cap space. 8.8m with out moving schwartz. Evans probably gets 1.5mish contract so that would leave us 7.9m (thats with out moving any contracts).

Replace borgen with Ottavainen, fill out the bottom end of the roster with league salary minimal players or prospects.

I don't think cap management is gonna be a issue next season.

 

[Fuhrious]

Yeah, it's early going...but I'm going to say it.

Lost 6 of their last 7
Shutout in their last 2 games
Going to Colorado on Tuesday night when one or both of the above streaks could easily continue.

Is Francis on the hot seat yet? If not, what does it take?

 

[gstommylee]

Yeah, it's early going...but I'm going to say it.

Lost 6 of their last 7
Shutout in their last 2 games
Going to Colorado on Tuesday night when one or both of the above streaks could easily continue.

Is Francis on the hot seat yet? If not, what does it take?

And what exactly is replacing Francis gonna do about the roster? Its not going to suddenly make it better automatically could make it worse especially when it comes to drafting.

Only 3 guys of those we drafted have made it to the squad full time. Next couple seasons we'll start seeing more prospects come up.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Yeah, it's early going...but I'm going to say it.

Lost 6 of their last 7
Shutout in their last 2 games
Going to Colorado on Tuesday night when one or both of the above streaks could easily continue.

Is Francis on the hot seat yet? If not, what does it take?

I said this before the season started but Francis will be on the hot seat if we miss the playoffs this season.

We just changed coaches, so that is out of the question, but maybe we should look at moving out some vets (Gourde, Tanev) to kickstart the dressing room. A trade makes sense for so many reasons. It creates cap space to give us more roster flexibility. Gives us a chance to start bringing up kids to see how ready they are to help.

I went in positively into the season but was prepared that we may miss the playoffs. On the bright side, we would have another decent 1st round pick in a good draft and likely get some additional picks for moving out the likes of Gourde, Tanev, etc. at the TDL.

 

[Fuhrious]

I said this before the season started but Francis will be on the hot seat if we miss the playoffs this season.

We just changed coaches, so that is out of the question, but maybe we should look at moving out some vets (Gourde, Tanev) to kickstart the dressing room. A trade makes sense for so many reasons. It creates cap space to give us more roster flexibility. Gives us a chance to start bringing up kids to see how ready they are to help.

I went in positively into the season but was prepared that we may miss the playoffs. On the bright side, we would have another decent 1st round pick in a good draft and likely get some additional picks for moving out the likes of Gourde, Tanev, etc. at the TDL.

I dunno, I don't have a ton of confidence that he'll make those moves. That's honestly the real concern here.

I suspect a fair few VGK fans would say "yeah, that looks about right" yet Francis threw 7 x $6.25m at him.

 

[finnishflash13]

looking at what we'll have next season, tanev, gourde and borgen probably gone and the only guy we need to re-sign is evans. we'll have cap space to work with. Assuming we move schwartz that puts us at 14.3m of cap space. 8.8m with out moving schwartz. Evans probably gets 1.5mish contract so that would leave us 7.9m (thats with out moving any contracts).

Replace borgen with Ottavainen, fill out the bottom end of the roster with league salary minimal players or prospects.

I don't think cap management is gonna be a issue next season.

lol good luck getting anyone on Schwartz's 16 team list to take his 5.5M hit. Kraken would need to retain maybe as much as half to make it even palatable.

 

[majormajor]

I dunno, I don't have a ton of confidence that he'll make those moves. That's honestly the real concern here.

View attachment 926133

I suspect a fair few VGK fans would say "yeah, that looks about right" yet Francis threw 7 x $6.25m at him.

It looks like 9 of 13 games with a negative game score.

I'd love to know who in the front office thought this contract was a good idea. It looked like a horrendous idea the minute we signed it.

 

[kihei]

In some ways the Ottawa loss is the most disturbing. Getting outplayed by Carolina, Dallas and Boston is one thing, but getting outhustled by the Senators? That shouldn't happen.

Whether Francis has the stomach for it or not, he is going to have to make some moves. Caution right now will rightfully be seen as paralysis.

The only potential positive is if our current play is indicative of the season, we will likely generate a high draft pick. Even that feels like a lousy consolation prize at the moment, though. No one wants to contemplate an unsuccessful season in the first week of November.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

I dunno, I don't have a ton of confidence that he'll make those moves. That's honestly the real concern here.

View attachment 926133

I suspect a fair few VGK fans would say "yeah, that looks about right" yet Francis threw 7 x $6.25m at him.

Well.
He's our $6.25M faceoff specialist.
And he won two cups. You need cup winners in the locker room....

It looks like 9 of 13 games with a negative game score.

I'd love to know who in the front office thought this contract was a good idea. It looked like a horrendous idea the minute we signed it.

I guess someone locked away that supposedly huge analytics departmend, so that the good 'ol boys were able to bring in that cup experience.

It's an absolutely aweful deal and most likely gets worse over time.

But hey, I guess Francis did the good old GM thing and said to himself. That's the problem of the next GM.

In some ways the Ottawa loss is the most disturbing. Getting outplayed by Carolina, Dallas and Boston is one thing, but getting outhustled by the Senators? That shouldn't happen.

Whether Francis has the stomach for it or not, he is going to have to make some moves. Caution right now will rightfully be seen as paralysis.

The only potential positive is if our current play is indicative of the season, we will likely generate a high draft pick. Even that feels like a lousy consolation prize at the moment, though. No one wants to contemplate an unsuccessful season in the first week of November.

The problem I see is that this team still isn't just not good enough for the playoffs, but also not bad enough for a really high pick.

So I guess you end up with a pick in that 8 - 14 range and have to hope to make a good pick.

Looking at all things Kraken, I think we've got to hope that Catton really pans out(no matter if that's at center or wing) and can become our point producing offensive player.

I said this before the season started but Francis will be on the hot seat if we miss the playoffs this season.

We just changed coaches, so that is out of the question, but maybe we should look at moving out some vets (Gourde, Tanev) to kickstart the dressing room. A trade makes sense for so many reasons. It creates cap space to give us more roster flexibility. Gives us a chance to start bringing up kids to see how ready they are to help.

I went in positively into the season but was prepared that we may miss the playoffs. On the bright side, we would have another decent 1st round pick in a good draft and likely get some additional picks for moving out the likes of Gourde, Tanev, etc. at the TDL.

I'm actually not sure about the trade part.
Unless we're clearly out of it I'm not so sure Francis would actually trade those guys given that he's under pressure and needs results.

Though, I hope I'm wrong about that one.

 

[Fuhrious]

Well.
He's our $6.25M faceoff specialist.
And he won two cups. You need cup winners in the locker room....

lol I ACTUALLY thought that sarcastically to myself the other night as Ottawa was thoroughly dominating them..."But there's no Cups in the Senators locker room!"

 

[The Marquis]

The often trotted out message is that ownership wants the team to be competitive because of the return of the Sonics possibly overshadowing the Kraken a little too much (It will anyway, even if the Kraken won a cup). This season is going to really show if that's happening or not. It's still early, but they are going to have to stop getting shut out.

This was their 3rd time being shut out this season. Already. That's 23% of games. 23%!!!!!!

That means they are on pace to be shut out 18 times this season. They better stop sharting.

 

[gstommylee]

Can we stop bringing up the sonics... Its a stupid narrative that the media keeps harping on. Sonics 2.0 is not going to be great for a long while. Team shouldn't be making decisions that more than likely will backfire and make the team worse in the long run just cause of a NBA team...

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I'm actually not sure about the trade part.
Unless we're clearly out of it I'm not so sure Francis would actually trade those guys given that he's under pressure and needs results.

Though, I hope I'm wrong about that one.

Maybe just me, but there are a few players on this team that are leaving at the end of the season. Tanev, Gourde, Borgen are three of them. Losing Borgen is not preferable until Dunn returns, and we are comfortable rolling with Mahura as our #6D and calling up Ottavainen or Fluery as the #7D. Another concern I have is if the impending trades (or not re-signing) have something to do with the locker room.

But is going to with Winterton that bad of an option compared to Gourde, given its 4th line minutes? Tanev is easily replaceable, too.

I was listening to ECH, and they were talking about that yesterday. The coaching change appears to have helped right at the beginning when the players did what they were asked. Going in front of the net, playing a fast aggressive game. They have returned to their bad habits. I don't know what exactly is going on in the locker room, but I am starting to wonder if these issues go beyond coaching and falls on the players. It's one thing not to play the system when you are an elite talent and can outskill other teams but another if you are an average team trying to improve.

We have too many passengers on this team. And most of them are forwards.

 

[gstommylee]

Maybe just me, but there are a few players on this team that are leaving at the end of the season. Tanev, Gourde, Borgen are three of them. Losing Borgen is not preferable until Dunn returns, and we are comfortable rolling with Mahura as our #6D and calling up Ottavainen or Fluery as the #7D. Another concern I have is if the impending trades (or not re-signing) have something to do with the locker room.

But is going to with Winterton that bad of an option compared to Gourde, given its 4th line minutes? Tanev is easily replaceable, too.

I was listening to ECH, and they were talking about that yesterday. The coaching change appears to have helped right at the beginning when the players did what they were asked. Going in front of the net, playing a fast aggressive game. They have returned to their bad habits. I don't know what exactly is going on in the locker room, but I am starting to wonder if these issues go beyond coaching and falls on the players. It's one thing not to play the system when you are an elite talent and can outskill other teams but another if you are an average team trying to improve.

We have too many passengers on this team. And most of them are forwards.

We wouldn't be replacing gourde with winterton. Winterton has been playing on the wing. He would replace tanev. Meyers would be replacing gourde.

 

[The Marquis]

Can we stop bringing up the sonics... Its a stupid narrative that the media keeps harping on. Sonics 2.0 is not going to be great for a long while. Team shouldn't be making decisions that more than likely will backfire and make the team worse in the long run just cause of a NBA team...

No we cannot, because it’s a reality. I don’t disagree with the rest of what you said at all, it’s quite correct, but the Sonics are a potential impact to the Kraken I. The short term and long term. The NBA is the single biggest rival to the NHL because they share a season calendar. We need to always remember that the NBA will be taking some attention away from the team.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

We wouldn't be replacing gourde with winterton. Winterton has been playing on the wing. He would replace tanev. Meyers would be replacing gourde.

I did not mean it literally. I meant he would be a player who could replace Gourde's production in the lineup.

 

[Fuhrious]

Forslund popping up on a lot of broadcast crews this season, tonight on Amazon’s NJD/EDM crew. Wouldn’t be surprised to hear his name pop up to fill one of these higher profile retirements. Dude’s easily my favorite broadcaster in sports right now and I’ll be shocked if he doesn’t end up in a major market before long.

 

[Scomerica]

No we cannot, because it’s a reality. I don’t disagree with the rest of what you said at all, it’s quite correct, but the Sonics are a potential impact to the Kraken I. The short term and long term. The NBA is the single biggest rival to the NHL because they share a season calendar. We need to always remember that the NBA will be taking some attention away from the team.

and sports money. If you have finite money to attend an event do you go to a mediocre Kraken team or the shiny new NBA team that you previously had a long history with. There will be a shiny new toy aspect to it. We don't like to admit it but sports fans are fair weather. Even the Seahawks this year have had large numbers of away fans at games. I think the Sounders have also suffered from the Kraken to an extent. Only way that changes is if the team is good or ticket prices drop. This isn't unique to Seattle.

 

[horner]

Gourde how is he playing someone said that he has lots a step not as fast as he used to be.

 

[The Marquis]

Gourde how is he playing someone said that he has lots a step not as fast as he used to be.

That might be accurate, but it isn’t too noticeable. He still works super hard, is very aggressive and does a lot of the right things. He’s centering the 4th line, so there aren’t a whole lot of expectations on production.

 

[horner]

I dunno, I don't have a ton of confidence that he'll make those moves. That's honestly the real concern here.

View attachment 926133

I suspect a fair few VGK fans would say "yeah, that looks about right" yet Francis threw 7 x $6.25m at him.

That might be accurate, but it isn’t too noticeable. He still works super hard, is very aggressive and does a lot of the right things. He’s centering the 4th line, so there aren’t a whole lot of expectations on production.

Thanks

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Can we stop bringing up the sonics... Its a stupid narrative that the media keeps harping on. Sonics 2.0 is not going to be great for a long while. Team shouldn't be making decisions that more than likely will backfire and make the team worse in the long run just cause of a NBA team...

Yeah, well, we actually can't.

The Sonics 2.0 could win a combined 60 games throughout their first three season but would still generate way more money and interest than the Kraken.

That's just how it is comparing the NBA and NHL in the US.

BTW: I do agree(and most others as well) that the Kraken shouldn't make decisions based on a potential return of the NBA and that this isn't a good idea.

I think we're also able to see how it's "backfiring" given that we're now basically fielding a middling roster(maybe even at the lower end of that) while having very little cap flexibility thanks to Francis going big in free agency.

Maybe just me, but there are a few players on this team that are leaving at the end of the season. Tanev, Gourde, Borgen are three of them. Losing Borgen is not preferable until Dunn returns, and we are comfortable rolling with Mahura as our #6D and calling up Ottavainen or Fluery as the #7D. Another concern I have is if the impending trades (or not re-signing) have something to do with the locker room.

But is going to with Winterton that bad of an option compared to Gourde, given its 4th line minutes? Tanev is easily replaceable, too.

I was listening to ECH, and they were talking about that yesterday. The coaching change appears to have helped right at the beginning when the players did what they were asked. Going in front of the net, playing a fast aggressive game. They have returned to their bad habits. I don't know what exactly is going on in the locker room, but I am starting to wonder if these issues go beyond coaching and falls on the players. It's one thing not to play the system when you are an elite talent and can outskill other teams but another if you are an average team trying to improve.

We have too many passengers on this team. And most of them are forwards.

My "fear" is just that Francis feels the heat a bit too much and rather just sticks with his guys(ore even trades an asset) to try and make somewhat of a push for the playoffs or look more competitive.

That could result in losing those guys for nothing because we tried to fight for a playoff spot even though that wasn't all that realistic.

Gourde how is he playing someone said that he has lots a step not as fast as he used to be.

He's doing his think, playing hard etc.
Though, he's in his 30's and won't get any faster etc.

So he's basically a bottom six center with playoff and cup experience.
I hope some GM thinks that's worth something at the TDL and our GM is intelligent nough to make a deal.

 

[Scomerica]

I like that the Kraken are trying something different bring up Winterton.

 

[finnishflash13]

Bjorkstrand and Kartye likely healthy scratches tonight. Yikes.

 

[majormajor]

Bjorkstrand and Kartye likely healthy scratches tonight. Yikes.

That's so weird.

I didn't think Bjorky looked at his best but he's the last guy who needs to be scratched. It is hard to make sense of this.