Proposal: New Jersey - Seattle

[Maurice of Orange]

New Jersey acquires: C Yanni Gourde and RD Cale Fleury

(Seattle retains: $1.2mil of the final season of Gourde’s contract).
(Gourde waives M-NTC for New Jersey).

Seattle acquires: LD Topias Vilen, RW Nathan Bastian, and a conditional* 2026 or 2027 1st round pick

(Conditions: New Jerseys 2026 1st round pick* would be top 10 protected to (SEA), If Calgary picks with New Jersey’s 2026 1st round pick from Markstrom trade (NJ 2025 1st, top 10 protected to CGY) then Seattle would receive New Jersey’s 2027 1st round pick* unprotected).

New Jersey gets: A versatile solid 2 way center in Gourde, that will sacrifice his body to make a hit or block a shot, also can play on both special teams, is a leader in the locker room and has a championship pedigree with extensive playoff experience, the Devils also get a depth defender in Fleury for Utica as a experienced recall option and enough cap room left over to sign RFA’s Dawson Mercer (bridge at $3.5mil x 2 seasons) and Nolan Foote $775k to new deals with an additional $775k left over to keep Max Willman or another player that makes around $775k.

Seattle gets: A sturdy defensive defenseman prospect in Vilen, that is a good stick-checker off the rush with good positioning and a decent shot that’s still developing, the Kraken also get a former Seattle expansion player in Bastian, a tall grinding depth winger that can play either side, Seattle also gets some cap room to sign Matt Beniers to a long term contract while comfortably sitting underneath the cap to make additional moves, this deal allows roster space for Shane Wright and other forward prospects to make the Kraken roster while also adding a 1st round pick.

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[Gurglesons]

Seems like Seattle could get more for Gourde if they move him at the deadline.

 

[Brodeur]

Our top 9 seems set for the time being or at least I'd be a little apprehensive to give up another 1st round pick. We already gave Nick DeSimone a one way contract and he seems likely to be sent down at this rate, somebody like Fleury would seem redundant even if they don't exactly profile as the same type of D.

My best guess at lines:

Meier-Hughes-Bratt
Tatar-Hischier-Mercer (we'll see if the new staff reunites this line which was good together in 2022-23)
Palat-Haula-Noesen
Cotter-Lazar-Bastian

Barring injury, I just don't know if there's a fit for Gourde. Plus as an expiring deal, that wouldn't be the type of guy I'd be giving up a 1st for in the Devils position.

 

[Poppy Whoa Sonnet]

I'd like to see the Devils comfortably established as a perennial playoff team before moving that 2026/27 1st.

 

[tmg]

Seems like Seattle could get more for Gourde if they move him at the deadline.

I don’t disagree, but I think the Devils’ first need right now is a top 6 winger and I think if they are spending a first for an acquisition right now, that’s what they should pursue.

I think Haula is a perfectly fine 3c as long as the Devils don’t feel they need him to play up, either because of injuries or because they never address that need. I don’t think they should get Gourde as 3c just for the ‘luxury’ of moving Haula up into a top 6 wing position - they should outright get someone suited for a top 6 wing position. Someone to do as Toffoli did last year before he was shipped out.

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Our top 9 seems set for the time being or at least I'd be a little apprehensive to give up another 1st round pick. We already gave Nick DeSimone a one way contract and he seems likely to be sent down at this rate, somebody like Fleury would seem redundant even if they don't exactly profile as the same type of D.

My best guess at lines:

Meier-Hughes-Bratt
Tatar-Hischier-Mercer (we'll see if the new staff reunites this line which was good together in 2022-23)
Palat-Haula-Noesen
Cotter-Lazar-Bastian

Barring injury, I just don't know if there's a fit for Gourde. Plus as an expiring deal, that wouldn't be the type of guy I'd be giving up a 1st for in the Devils position.

Gourde would be on the roster for an entire season and would go along way since it seems like New Jersey is going for a good playoff run with the team that’s been assembled.

My NJ lines with this move.
Line 1 LW Haula C J. Hughes RW Bratt
Line 2 LW Tatar C Hischier RW Mercer
Line 3 LW Palat C Gourde RW Meier
Line 4 LW Cotter C Lazar RW Noesen

1st Pair LD L. Hughes RD Pesce
2nd Pair LD Siegenthaler RD Hamilton
3rd Pair LD Dillon RD Nemec

Goalies:
Starter: Markstrom
Backup: Allen

Scratches:
LW Foote
RD Kovacevic

LW Millman < Waived to AHL
LW MacDermid < Waived to AHL
RD Fleury < Waived to AHL

RW Bastian < Traded
LD Vilen < Traded

This roster would give NJ some incredible depth down the middle and on defense for a deep playoff run, while accruing cap space throughout the season for another depth move before the deadline.

 

[StreetHawk]

Seems like Seattle could get more for Gourde if they move him at the deadline.

Also, Seattle took Bastian in the ED and then waived him. Don't think they'd be looking to get him back.

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Also, Seattle took Bastian in the ED and then waived him. Don't think they'd be looking to get him back.

Had to put Bastian in the deal to make the cap work for both teams with resigning their respective RFA’s

Seattle ran out of roster space, so Bastian was the casualty of Francis’ mismanagement, if he had a chance to get Bastian back as a secondary piece in a hockey trade that benefits Seattle then maybe it’s a possibility as throughout history teams often turn to reacquired retreads.

I doubt they’d worry about Bastian anyway as an extra forward, if Francis has an easy avenue to open up cap space to sign Beniers long term while also adding draft capital in a future 1st, Seattle it would be wise to take it for a pending UFA at seasons end.

It’s a win - win for both teams in a hockey trade.

 

[Gurglesons]

Had to put Bastian in the deal to make the cap work for both team with resigning their respective RFA’s

Seattle ran out of roster space, so Bastian was the casualty of Francis’ mismanagement, if he had a chance to get Bastian back as a secondary piece in a hockey trade that benefits Seattle then maybe it’s a possibility as throughout history teams often turn to reacquired retreads.

I doubt they’d worry about Bastian anyway as an extra forward, if Francis has an easy avenue to open up cap space to sign Beniers long term while also adding draft capital in a future 1st, Seattle it would be wise to take it for a pending UFA at seasons end.

It’s a win - win for both teams in a hockey trade.

Devils or Kraken fan? Or neutral?

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Devils or Kraken fan? Or neutral?

Neutral.

From East side

 

[Gurglesons]

Neutral.

From East side

Same. I just don’t see why Seattle would do this. They can probably get a Lindholm type return for Gourde if not more at 50%.

 

[AfroThunder396]

Value is good I suppose, but this would make much more sense for NJ as a deadline deal.

It's really in NJ's best interest for Haula to be the 3C, if he's playing in the top-6 then that means the top-6 needs help and that's where the resources should be going.

 

[Jared Dunn]

Does New Jersey have cap space for that? Also agree with what others have said, feel like Gourde could get a haul at the deadline he's a player a lot of teams would want to add for a push

 

[tmg]

Until Mercer signs it’s unclear how much cap space the Devils have.

But yeah it would make a tight situation a *lot* tighter.

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Value is good I suppose, but this would make much more sense for NJ as a deadline deal.

It's really in NJ's best interest for Haula to be the 3C, if he's playing in the top-6 then that means the top-6 needs help and that's where the resources should be going.

Haula has played minutes on Jack Hughes LW as a way better faceoff option I presume since Jack is only a career 35.7% at the faceoff dot, maybe Gourde could fill that void on Hughes LW and leave Haula at 3C.

I assume the plan going forward would be to keep Haula as a 3C but if Hughes were to fail at the dot again this season, maybe it would be in the Devils best interest to keep a good faceoff man on Hughes line or outright switch Hughes to LW which a lot of Devils fans and myself would disagree with since Hughes handles every other center responsibility with relative ease.

McLeod was their best faceoff option in the defensive zone, Nosek and Tierney are also gone that leaves Hischier and Haula to take the difficult draws this season.

It wouldn’t hurt to have another center who can take faceoffs that is defensively responsible which could take a bit off of Haula and Hischier, it would create match up issues with the opposition as well, as having Hughes, Hischier, Haula, Gourde, Lazar or even Mercer down the middle could give opposing teams many different looks.

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Does New Jersey have cap space for that? Also agree with what others have said, feel like Gourde could get a haul at the deadline he's a player a lot of teams would want to add for a push

Until Mercer signs it’s unclear how much cap space the Devils have.

But yeah it would make a tight situation a *lot* tighter.

If Mercer were to sign a bridge at $3.5mil the cap would work as Seattle would retain $1.2mil on Gourde but New Jersey would have to waive MacDermid and Willman to the AHL for the cap to work, if NJ were to only carry a 22 man roster and also waive Cale Fleury to AHL it would save an additional $775k, which would leave NJ with around $1.1mil in cap to recall a 23rd player to the roster.

New Jersey could accrue cap space throughout the season with this proposal, while beating other teams for Gourde’s services.

Maybe Seattle could get a better deal for Yanni Gourde but this deal would give Francis something to think about as it benefits the Kraken as well with cap space to resign Matty Beniers to a long term deal while also getting a defensive prospect, a roster player and a future 1st round pick.

Edit: Forgot Nolan Foote at $775k 1 yr deal as he was in my calculations when going over New Jersey’s payroll for the season at a new deal at $775k.

If RFA Mercer goes over $3.5mil and RFA Foote over $775k the cap will be really tight especially with a 23 man roster by my predicted salaries within this proposal thread.

 

[Imgoingtowork]

Goalies:
Starter: Markstrom
Backup: Allen

Correct.

 

[Baksfamous112]

Didn’t Seattle make move this summer to be more competitive? Wouldn’t that be counter productive for them to turn around and sell some assets even before the season start

 

[majormajor]

This feels more like a deadline move for both clubs.

Seattle will give it a go this year. Though from my perspective of where Seattle is at, I'd be tempted to get it done now and collect the 1st rounder.

 

[garmonbozia]

Ignoring the unnecessary Fleury for Vilmen component (the Kraken would prefer to keep Fleury as they might lose Larsson and/or Borgen after next year).

Gourde (with retention lol) is worth more than Bastian and a 1st that is likely 3 drafts away. Gourde is closer to Captaincy than to cap dump. There are easier ways to free up cap for Beniers, if even necessary. If Francis doesn't intend on resigning Yanni I suspect he'll get much better trade compensation at the deadline than anything offered here.

 

[majormajor]

Ignoring the unnecessary Fleury for Vilmen component (the Kraken would prefer to keep Fleury as they might lose Larsson and/or Borgen after next year).

Gourde (with retention lol) is worth more than Bastian and a 1st that is likely 3 drafts away. Gourde is closer to Captaincy than to cap dump. There are easier ways to free up cap for Beniers, if even necessary. If Francis doesn't intend on resigning Yanni I suspect he'll get much better trade compensation at the deadline than anything offered here.

Gourde isn't in his prime anymore, he's just a good checking center but not outstanding in that regard, he's really only outstanding in terms of experience and leadership. I'm sure the Kraken don't expect to get more than a late 1st for him.

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Didn’t Seattle make move this summer to be more competitive? Wouldn’t that be counter productive for them to turn around and sell some assets even before the season start

Not necessarily, getting Wright into a middle 6 center spot would probably be more productive then keeping Gourde long term at a much higher cap hit in the short term as the Kraken were only 29th in goals for last season.

Wright has proven he’s ready to be in the National and could make for an entertaining 1-2-3 punch with Beniers, Wright and Stephenson down the middle.

Bastian was a throw in this deal for salary purposes but wouldn’t be entirely useless to Seattle as he would bring a little grit as a 4th line grinder as a 13th forward so to speak.

The proposal gives Seattle cap room even after resigning Beniers to a long term deal to make additional moves before the season starts or at the deadline depending how Seattle’s season goes.

 

[Ledge And Dairy]

I think the Kraken's free agency was pretty evident they aren't sellers

 

[Djp]

I don’t see Gourde getting traded now. Maybe in feb before deadline

I don’t see him getting a 1st in return. It could be a 2nd that becomes a 1st based on final 4 run.

I don’t see Gourde getting traded now. Maybe in feb before deadline

I don’t see him getting a 1st in return. It could be a 2nd that becomes a 1st based on final 4 run.

 

[Maurice of Orange]

Ignoring the unnecessary Fleury for Vilmen component (the Kraken would prefer to keep Fleury as they might lose Larsson and/or Borgen after next year).

Gourde (with retention lol) is worth more than Bastian and a 1st that is likely 3 drafts away. Gourde is closer to Captaincy than to cap dump. There are easier ways to free up cap for Beniers, if even necessary. If Francis doesn't intend on resigning Yanni I suspect he'll get much better trade compensation at the deadline than anything offered here.

The Fleury - Vilen component of this proposal isn’t unnecessary as it still serves a purpose to a lesser extent.

Vilen is a 21 year old Finnish defensive prospect that played in his 1st full season as a professional in North America and made a good account of himself as Vilen offers much more upside than Fleury who will be 26 years old in November.

Clearly Cale Fleury isn’t full time NHLer at this point in his career and will most likely be waived again to stay in the AHL as an injury recall player, he has no bearing on NHLers Larsson or Borgen, moving Fleury does allow for Seattle to get their RD prospects Ville Ottavainen and Lukas Dragicevic a look at the NHL level before being returned to Coachella Valley for the season.

Gourde with 1 season of retention at less then 25% is not a cap dump, Gourde’s value as a pending UFA is debatable as anyone could offer more then what being offered but my offer stands as a fair offer in value as a hockey trade.

As for Seattle’s vacant captaincy maybe the franchise is waiting on a younger player to take the reins in a long term capacity as Eberle, Schwartz are within 2 seasons of UFA and Larsson is a pending UFA at the end of this season just like Gourde.

Seattle fans would have a better insight into this topic as I’m not sure if any other player wears a letter for the Kraken or who is the front runner for the vacant captaincy.