The Kraken have two notable expiring contracts in the forward group with UFA’s (unrestricted free agents) Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev. Best case scenario; Seattle GM Ron Francis unloads one or both of them at the trade deadline.
Recently acquired winger Kaapo Kakko is an RFA (restricted free agent) and is obviously a wait-and-see. He’s been here less than a week. Same thought process for Tye Kartye, making the minimum and providing depth and some grit up front.
Along the blueline, the club will likely want to re-sign inexpensive UFA Josh Mahura for depth and give Gustav Olofsson another two-way deal for the same reason.
Which brings us to the Kraken’s most important contract negotiation, one that won’t start in earnest for awhile, involving pending RFA D-man Ryker Evans.
“There’s no rush at this point,” Evans’s agent Brian Bartlett told Seattle Hockey Insider. “We briefly talked about it for five minutes this past summer, but otherwise, there’s a lot of hockey to be played this season, Ryker is doing well, and he’s only going to get better.”
On one hand this is a pretty standard approach for a player coming out of an entry-level deal. Both sides want to see how the all-important 3rd season plays out. (He played the 1st full season of the two-way deal in the AHL). It behooves Evans to wait, grow his ice time and increase his value.
There’s no rush for the team either as they ultimately have all the leverage. Evans isn’t arbitration eligible.
On the other hand, this is a key player for the Kraken moving forward, and Francis might want to think about locking him up before season’s end with a fair, but generous offer. He can solidify what’s becoming a weak area on this roster, while having plenty of other accounting and line-up homework to take care of.
Length of contract really becomes the interesting topic in this case.
Even if it comes in the form of a bridge deal, usually in the neighborhood of two to four years as opposed to long term, Seattle should avoid the concept of sticky summer negotiations, or even, God forbid, an unlikely offer sheet from another NHL club.
It appears Evans is 11 NHL games away from being eligible, or vulnerable, to such a move.
Even with an increasing salary cap in mind, money management hasn’t exactly been a strong suit for this club’s hierarchy. This year’s roster limit stranglehold to start the season is a perfect example. Jordan Eberle’s long-term-injury status provided operational wiggle room.
Time on ice is ultimately the true sign of a blueliner’s value. Evans has been minute munching this season. The 23-year-old lefty, a former 2nd-round NHL Draft pick from 2021, has played more than 20-minutes in a game 18 times this season. He eclipsed the 24-minute mark three times, including a season-high 25:31 in regulation time in Toronto on Halloween.
Yes, at the time there was no Vince Dunn in the line-up due to injury, but the fact Evans became “the man” in that scenario, provides a glimpse at his importance and his potential.
Evans is a half-a-point-a-game guy from the blueline.
Aside from Evans not having arbitration rights at this point, the Kraken have one other thing working in their favor.
“I love it here, I’ve really enjoyed playing and developing here,” Evans told SHI last week. “Everything about it has been great. The management, coaching, time in Coachella Valley.”
He echoed words expressed by his agent, who suggested Seattle is the place Evans wants to be.
So we wait and see. Standard operating procedure. But as the new year turns, and the team potentially continues to slide, it’ll be up to Francis to start looking ahead and taking care of business. His future actually depends on it.
A smart move would be to “buck-up buttercup”, for a D-man whose potential play well exceeds standards.
Has Kakko cut the line to get paid? Seems he will get the extra CAP the NHL is looking to add next year…
Kakko is a restricted free agent (RFA) at the end of the season, with arbitration rights. So the Kraken can make him an offer, if he doesn’t like it, he can go to arbitration, and if the team doesn’t like the decision, they can let him walk as an unrestricted free agent. If they don’t want him at all and don’t make him a qualifying offer, he also becomes a UFA. With his size and scoring touch, he’ll get a good look this season before the team makes a decision. He’s making $2.4-million this season. Whether or not he gets a raise or moves on after this season depends entirely on his performance, not the cap space. The cap space only really matters if he absolutely crushes it the rest of the season and deserves a raise.