2024-25 Kraken Roster discussion

[Fuhrious]

Best acquisition in team history !

Enh I dunno, Bjorkstrand was a pretty good trade

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Enh I dunno, Bjorkstrand was a pretty good trade

I give Francis a lot of grief but he hasn't been a "bad" GM. Just mediocre. However, depending on how. this TDL and off-season go, my opinion can change drastically.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

You mean after Stephenson, ofcourse.

Cups dude
That's our boy...

 

[EXTRAS]

Sending kartye down on conditioning. Should give him 10 games in the minors and tell him to work on his offense. Get his confidence back there, then try again.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Sending kartye down on conditioning. Should give him 10 games in the minors and tell him to work on his offense. Get his confidence back there, then try again.

Couldn't hurt. Kartye has been disappointing this season. He could easily be replaced by Meyers, Stephens or other AHL players we have. Will get tougher for him next season if Nyman, Winterton, etc. are ready for the NHL jump.

 

[gstommylee]

Couldn't hurt. Kartye has been disappointing this season. He could easily be replaced by Meyers, Stephens or other AHL players we have. Will get tougher for him next season if Nyman, Winterton, etc. are ready for the NHL jump.

nyman shouldn't be playing in the nhl as a 4th line player though...

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

nyman shouldn't be playing in the nhl as a 4th line player though...

Nyman is the kind of player who could work in that role to start. Jumbo started as a 4th line player on the Bruins back in the day. Nyman has the size to make it work.

 

[kihei]

Sending kartye down on conditioning. Should give him 10 games in the minors and tell him to work on his offense. Get his confidence back there, then try again.

Every team has its Kartyes, cheap bottom six players that help teams cope with the salary cap. To paraphrase Ringo, he does not loom large in our legend.

 

[Fuhrious]

Sending kartye down on conditioning. Should give him 10 games in the minors and tell him to work on his offense. Get his confidence back there, then try again.

I’m not super sure there’s a deep reservoir of “offense” for him to tap into. His breakout season melded into the teams magical playoff run but may have been just as much of a flash in the pan?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

I’m not super sure there’s a deep reservoir of “offense” for him to tap into. His breakout season melded into the teams magical playoff run but may have been just as much of a flash in the pan?

For sure. He is a cheap 4th liner but like @kihei said, almost every team has a few of those. Also, Stephens, Meyers, etc. can do the same job.

 

[EXTRAS]

Every team has its Kartyes, cheap bottom six players that help teams cope with the salary cap. To paraphrase Ringo, he does not loom large in our legend.

Maybe. He's young. Had a really offensively good rookie AHL season.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Let's all remember that Kartye was an undrafted guy who made it to the league within two years.

If a guy like that gives you 100+ games)which he nearly has) you've done a fantastic job.

And he could still become a solid bottom six guy for a few more seasons.

 

[The Marquis]

I’m sure most of us saw the Kartye move coming a mile away. It needed to happen. In fact, the club has needed to do this far more frequently with players it’s sitting.

 

[majormajor]

Well they said it, we're going into year five, and that was our original plan of when we wanted to be contending. So we're going to just blindly try and follow through with that, despite our original expansion core all now entering their 30s and the club looking less competitive?

Did they expect to contend in 2026 with a roster with like two players between the ages of 24 and 28?

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Well they said it, we're going into year five, and that was our original plan of when we wanted to be contending. So we're going to just blindly try and follow through with that, despite our original expansion core all now entering their 30s and the club looking less competitive?

Did they expect to contend in 2026 with a roster with like two players between the ages of 24 and 28?

I understand that the plan may have changed once we made it to the playoffs in our 2nd year but if the idea was to truly contend right after then sticking with Francis was not the right decision. I have been lukewarm on Francis through his tenure here but I really am starting to hold the ownership/management group accountable for our current state.

 

[CLW]

I understand that the plan may have changed once we made it to the playoffs in our 2nd year but if the idea was to truly contend right after then sticking with Francis was not the right decision. I have been lukewarm on Francis through his tenure here but I really am starting to hold the ownership/management group accountable for our current state.

Marketing bs should be disregarded. Playoff success in year 2 should be seen as a bonus. If the Kraken truly wanted to contend immediately then they should have followed the Vegas plan, but they didn't. Maybe that's the fault of Francis, maybe it isn't. In my view it's not realistic since Vegas managed to build a much more solid foundation to start from (this has been thoroughly discussed). Like it or not reality is that the real Kraken core is growing into the game right now, and that core is far from complete. I'm not preaching to you guys, I'm just pointing out the discrepancy between the narrative from the club and what we see for ourselves.

 

[majormajor]

Marketing bs should be disregarded. Playoff success in year 2 should be seen as a bonus. If the Kraken truly wanted to contend immediately then they should have followed the Vegas plan, but they didn't. Maybe that's the fault of Francis, maybe it isn't. In my view it's not realistic since Vegas managed to build a much more solid foundation to start from (this has been thoroughly discussed). Like it or not reality is that the real Kraken core is growing into the game right now, and that core is far from complete. I'm not preaching to you guys, I'm just pointing out the discrepancy between the narrative from the club and what we see for ourselves.

There is indeed a discrepancy between reality and the PR from ownership. Our asset position looks more like a team that is rebuilding. But I'm not entirely sure that these owners aren't pushing us into making bad moves along the way.

 

[CLW]

There is indeed a discrepancy between reality and the PR from ownership. Our asset position looks more like a team that is rebuilding. But I'm not entirely sure that these owners aren't pushing us into making bad moves along the way.

That's my fear too. This TDL should be revealing. They do have a lot of opportunity for hockey trades if they chose. There is demand for the type of veterans the Kraken have beyond the obvious UFAs.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Marketing bs should be disregarded. Playoff success in year 2 should be seen as a bonus. If the Kraken truly wanted to contend immediately then they should have followed the Vegas plan, but they didn't. Maybe that's the fault of Francis, maybe it isn't. In my view it's not realistic since Vegas managed to build a much more solid foundation to start from (this has been thoroughly discussed). Like it or not reality is that the real Kraken core is growing into the game right now, and that core is far from complete. I'm not preaching to you guys, I'm just pointing out the discrepancy between the narrative from the club and what we see for ourselves.

The "Vegas plan" was never a possibility for the Kraken because of Vegas and their success.
Teams were aware of how stupid they looked after that one and did everything not to do that.

The problem, to me, seems to be ownership expecting. to be nearly as competitve as Vegas even though the outcome of the expansion draft should've shown everyone that this is never going to happen that way.
The Kraken never aquired anything near as much in terms of assets and never had a chance to be competitive the way Vegas was right out of the gate.

Francis should've made that clear tot he front office after talking to other GM's for over a year before the expansion draft.
Though, maybe he's too much of a yes man and I also doubt he was the right choice for an expansion team and the kind of way you have to work everyone in order to get some deals done.

That's my fear too. This TDL should be revealing. They do have a lot of opportunity for hockey trades if they chose. There is demand for the type of veterans the Kraken have beyond the obvious UFAs.

Well, Francis is still in charge and I'm not happy about that.

Though, let's see what happens until next Friday and if he has the guts(and green light by ownership) in order to do more than trade Gourde and Tanev.

 

[RainyCityHockey]

Moving this to the roster discussion thread.
I think it's more appropriate to discuss it on this thread.

Leadership signings makes sense for teams like Chicago and/or San Jose. Teams that were committed to a rebuild. If you are a team that is "playing for the playoffs" and have the likes of Eberle, Bjorkstrand, McCann, Schwartz already on the roster, burning a spot of leadership makes no sense.

I think the whole picture itself shows the state the Kraken are currently in. We are "fighting for the playoffs" but are also thinking of re-signing players for just leadership roles.

If they really re-sign him it makes it even more clear that they're not serious about building a winning/championship caliber team.

Gourde's 33, on the decline and missing more and more games due to injury.

We also have two young centers already on the team in Beniers + Wright and another one waiting in juuors(Catton) while the team has also signed Chandler "Cups" Stephenson for another six seasons.

A well run team, looking at the results over the past four years, would use that 4th line center spot for a younger guy and start building around the younger guys cause the expansion draft core can not get it done.

BTW: Lebrun's now also reaporting that the Kraken are "debating" on re-signing Gourde.

Morning Notes: O’Reilly, Gourde, Evans

The Predators have received trade calls on veteran center Ryan O'Reilly. Read more at Pro Hockey Rumors.

www.prohockeyrumors.com

 

[kihei]

Yeah, if the Kraken hold on to Gourde at the trade deadline, that will be disappointing. I really hope we see multiple veterans traded--that would be an indication of intention anyway. I guess it is an indication of intention either way, but I just want one way more than the other.

 

[Fistfullofbeer]

Yeah, if the Kraken hold on to Gourde at the trade deadline, that will be disappointing. I really hope we see multiple veterans traded--that would be an indication of intention anyway. I guess it is an indication of intention either way, but I just want one way more than the other

I think it's worse than disappointing to me. Not the part where we don't trade Gourde. This is disappointing for sure but what this would signal to me about ownership and management is the worse part. This team think they can still make the playoffs and that vets like Eberle and Gourde can actually help.