The Seattle Kraken, according to Dom Luszczyszyn of The Athletic, are the least efficient team in terms of salary in the NHL. Dom’s advanced analytics take age, salary cap, quality of competition and past results into consideration when ranking efficiency.
The Kraken are at the bottom of his list.
“Here’s the best way I can describe how bad Seattle’s cap sheet looks,” Luszczyszyn began. “If you used the remainder of Seattle’s cap space ($7 million) and added another million bucks with careful accounting to add the league’s best contract, Jack Hughes at $8 million, you still wouldn’t have a playoff team. What exactly is this team paying for if it’s not even getting mediocrity?”
Free Agent Contracts Dooming Kraken
The biggest issue with the Kraken’s salary, Luszczyszyn says, lies with their free agency contracts. “Countless free-agent gaffes have added up over time to the point that the Kraken are spending nearly $35 million on the following core of players: Chandler Stephenson, Jaden Schwartz, Brandon Montour, Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, Ryan Lindgren and Philipp Grubauer.”
Former general manager Ron Francis signed all but Ryan Lindgren to these contracts. Of all the deals listed, only two received above a D+ grade: Oleksiak and Schwartz. The best deal goes to Jared McCann, who has two years left on his contract making $5M a season.
Botterill Brings Different Approach
The good news is that now-general manager Jason Botterill doesn’t seem as keen on free agency finds as Francis. This offseason, he added Mason Marchment (who received a B grade) and Frederick Gaudreau (C+) to the team’s offensive core. On the blue line, he added Ryan Lindgren (D+) and Cale Fleury (N/A).
The biggest difference in these players is that they’re all on short-term deals. Marchment has one season left. Gaudreau has three. Lindgren, Botterill’s longest contract, comes in at four years but costs the Kraken just $4.5M per season. If Botterill’s introductory press conference is to be taken at face value, the team is aiming for a youth movement.
Kraken Prioritizing Youth Movement
In his inaugural press conference, Botterill made his focus bringing in young talent. “[I] will look close at different opportunities to bring in players, whether that’s from a free agent standpoint or from a trade standpoint, but a big part of how we’re going to move the organization forward is our young players stepping in.”
While they’ve moved on from older players like Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand, players like Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson have six years left on their contracts. Stephenson received a D- grade from The Athletic, joined by goaltender Phillip Grubauer.
These types of contracts are a worse-case scenario for the Kraken. Stephenson and Montour are too talented for the team to tank, but their contracts are too hefty to move. Thus, a rush to the middle seems all but inevitable for the Kraken.
“You’ve heard the old adage that you can’t build a winner through free agency?” Luszczyszyn says in his concluding statement. “Well, if you also overpay each free agent, you can’t even build average, apparently. That’s where the Kraken stand.”
Like Heavy Sports’s content? Be sure to follow us.
This article was originally published on Heavy Sports
The post NHL Insider Ranks Kraken Least Efficient Team appeared first on Heavy Sports.