Six-foot-2 and a 190-pounds is a good starting point for Kraken prospect defenseman Lukas Dragicevic (“drag-a-sev-ick”). The big righty who played three exemplary seasons along the blueline for the Tri-City Americans in the Western Hockey League, signed his three-year entry level contract with Seattle on Thursday.
His two-way contract (AHL/NHL) includes a $950,000 annual cap hit at the NHL level. He’d make $82,500 in the minors.
“We are excited to have Lukas officially sign with our organization,” Kraken General Manager Ron Francis said in the official announcement. “Lukas’ WHL career has already reached historic feats, and we are looking forward to seeing him take the next step in his development.”
There is plenty of reason for optimism outside of the fact he’s probably still growing, the fact he’s a righty, and the fact he put up sterling numbers in the WHL. The Kraken took him in the 2nd-round of the NHL Draft last summer.
“Aggressive offensive blueliner with great mobility and a heavy shot,” touts Dobber Prospects. “Needs to continue to develop defensively but possesses top-four potential at the NHL level.”
Offensively Dragicevic finished this past major junior season with 50-points, an effort that followed a 75-point campaign.
In that previous season, he recorded a 27-game point streak from October 14th to December 30th, 2022, which set a Tri-City franchise record and was the longest point streak by a WHL defenseman in 25 years.
NHL veteran Justin Schultz is an unrestricted free agent this summer at age-33 while Adam Larsson is 31 with one year remaining on his contract in Seattle. That’s two right-handed blueline regulars. 27-year-old Will Borgen also has a year remaining. Regardless of contract status, the Kraken want to start building up some reliable young D-depth, with recent NHL drafts needing to pay dividends.
All eyes will be on Dragicevic to see if he can make that development happen. The Richmond, British Columbia native turns 19 next month and could return to Tri-City next fall.
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