Seattle
Notable UFA’s: Riley Sheahan, Victor Rask
Notable RFA’s: Ryan Donato, Daniel Sprong, Morgan Geekie, Kole Lind, Karson Kuhlman, Haydn Fleury
Draft Picks: SEA 1RD, SEA 2RD, NAS 2RD, TOR 2RD, FLO 2RD, SEA 3RD, SEA 4RD, WAS 4RD, CAL 4RD, SEA 5RD, SEA 6RD, SEA 7RD.
Why did they miss the playoffs.
The Kraken are in their inaugural season and that may have something to do with their poor play. The Kraken had their expansion draft in July and they were supposed to put together a good team but unlike the Golden Knights in their expansion draft where they made a lot of great trades and got a lot of young, whereas the Kraken took a lot more veterans and AHL players and they didn’t get any trades so that was one of the problems having a poor season. Also even though they signed guys like Wennberg and Schwartz in free agency, and got some decent forwards in the expansion draft their offense is not at all that which Vegas had in their inaugural season, as they have Jared McCann is the only player to surpass 20 goals, and him and Yanni Gourde are the only two who have reached 40 points and they are 4th lowest in the NHL in goal scoring so they have had a atrocious offense this year, but a lot of people though they might have a weaker offense and a lot of pressure was for them to defend their way out of problems. And that was another nightmare as they had signed Philip Grubauer to a long term extension and had him paired with Chris Dreidger who was signed as there expansion pick and these two were supposed to be the backbone of a good defensive game but wound up playing badly up until recently so they needed some help but weren’t getting it and those two goalies both are playing a bit better now but early in the season it was awful, so these are the reasons they missed the playoffs and are just playing like a normal expansion team.
#1) Bring Beniers and whoever they draft with their first round pick this year.
As the Kraken look to a better younger future I see them starting next year with the bringing up of Matthew Beniers. Now there has been some talk about Beniers maybe wanting to stay in college another year but I think he will definitely consider turning pro as early as this year, and I think he should and should get a taste of NHL action before the end of the year. If he does enter the NHL he should automatically get a top 6 spot as a 2nd line Center and should be a piece Seattle can build around for years to come. And as for their first round pick I think with the ability to put Beniers, Gourde, Wennberg and McCann at the Center position that unless they win the draft lottery and get the top pick where they would be able to select Wright, I think they draft a winger or defensemen and use them in next years season. If they wanted a winger I would say Juraj Slafkovsky who i think would be the best for in Seattle out of all the draft prospects and could insistently be a middle six winger in Seattle, or Simon Nemec who would be a great young addition to their blue line and could help them be better in front of the goalies, so whoever they draft 1st this year and Beniers I think will play in the NHL next year.
#2) Put their 12 picks they have for this draft to good use.
The Kraken sold off a lot of players both in the offseason and in season before the deadline and got a lot of picks including 6 in the first three rounds and 12 picks in this years draft as well as 13 picks in next years draft. Now I think they will spend some on actually drafting players cause being the newest NHL team means that their depth especially after the moves is basically dry so they really need to restock the cupboards. But I don’t believe that all of these draft picks will go to drafting players. I think they could use some to trade to other teams for a draft pick next year or the year after because they have a plethora of draft capital for the next two years but I think there is a 2nd more likely option for Seattle. And that is that they trade some picks to teams for some good players. The Kraken have a very depleted roster right now and could use some upgrades and using this years and next years draft capital to do it makes complete sense to me. Just think about 2RD picks, they have 7 over the next two years and while they could use all of them on young players I think they should use 1 or 2 to trade to a team for a player who could help for next year and in the future but I believe doing a combo of drafting and trading for other NHL ready players is the smartest thing for this organization.
#3) Sign or trade for a couple of top 9 forwards.
As I have said the Kraken lack some real solid offensive firepower and they could use some more and I think they will sign or trade for some top 9 talent. Now like I said earlier the Kraken have enough at the Center position with Gourde, McCann, Wennberg and Beniers but they could use some wing help. I think getting 1 or 2 top 9 wingers would help this team and they shoud get some really good players as they have over $25 Million in cap space for next year and I could see them shipping out forwards who aren’t playing quite well to try to sign some of the top free agents like a Gaudreau, Forsberg or Rust or use that draft capital I was talking about to trade for a younger top 9 forward who can be a great player for Seattle for years to come but in my opinion they must get at least a couple top 9 wingers or they won’t improve much offensively at all next year.
#4) Sign a top 4 defensemen in free agency.
The Kraken could use some more veteran defensemen and I think that in free agency the will add yet another good defensemen. Now earlier in the season they were linked to Morgan Reilly with Toronto but he has signed a extension since so they would have to look at another defensemen who could help them. There are a couple of good players they could wind up signing like Brett Kulak, Josh Manson, Colin Miller or Nikita Zadorov who have put up relatively good numbers and could possibly take on top 4 minutes but the one guy who is far apart from the rest of them and has been linked to Seattle the most is John Klingberg. Klingberg is a great point producer on the backend which is exactly what Seattle needs and with their cap space and possibility of a quick turnaround in my opinion I think the Kraken could use a lot of cap space on a player like Klingberg to help their team but I am in favour of them getting a top 4 defensemen and I really think it should be Klingberg.
#5) Keep the goalie duo together for next year.
I know that this is not what some people say they should do but I think they should keep their tandem next year. The goalies started out shaky but have done better and I feel that, while they both could be moved the contract length and cap hit of Grubauer plus his recent struggles this season will make any Grubauer trade a almost impossible thing to do, and while Driedger has not had the season he had last year with Florida, I feel he was the better of the two goalies and the Kraken would be a fool if they traded away a cheaper backup signed for two more seasons who is still playing decent hockey and could definitely help them next year. So as much as they both haven’t played perfect and have had rough patches, I would stick with them at least through next year.
Arizona
Notable UFA’s: Phil Kessel, Alex Galchenyuk, Antoine Roussel, Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, Dmitrij Jaskin, Anton Stralman.
Notable RFA’s: Lawson Crouse, Christian Fischer, Barret Hayton, Kyle Capobianco, Ivan Prosvetov
Draft Picks: ARI 1RD, CAR 1RD*, COL 1RD*, ARI 2RD, NYI 2RD, PHI 2RD, SJ 2RD, ARI 3RD, ARI 5RD, ARI 6RD
Why did they miss the playoffs.
Unlike the Flyers or Canadiens who we have talked about, the Coyotes didn’t have a major problem with injuries but there were other bigger issues that caused them to miss the playoffs. The roster they iced this year had a lot to do with them being a bad team this season as they had a lot of older veterans who would normally play bottom 6 minutes were given more minutes and their defence was the same except they had a lot of AHL players play in their top 6 consistently so with the inexperienced defenders and the more minutes to some older bottom 6 forwards is a key reason in my opinions to why they did so bad but it wasn’t the only reason. Their were a couple of injuries during the year that posted great threat to team success as Connor Timmins, Jacob Chychrun, Jay Beagle, Andrew Ladd, Dmitrij Jaskin, Johan Larsson, Liam O’Brien Barrett Hayton and more recently Clayton Keller have all missed significant time due to injury and was another reason as to why the Coyotes did so bad. And also in my opinion all though the goaltending did better then most thought with rookie Vejmelka being a stabilizing force in net withe the young inexperienced defenders and Chychrun missing time due to injury this defence did absolutely atrocious as they have given up 254 goals as of right now which is 5th lowest in the league so all of these factors are why I think the Coyotes missed the playoffs.
#1) Move Jacob Chychrun.
Chychrun was one of the players who was in play at the deadline but the asking price and the injury sustained just before the deadline sort of scared teams off. Now I know there are still people who wonder if Chychrun will be moved given his age and contract and the amazing player he is but I am sure he will be moved just given the fact that it sounds as though he wants to win now and the Coyotes are heading toward a full rebuild so the haul they will get by trading Chychrun would be better in my opinion then keeping Chychrun for right now. After all of the defensemen trades before the deadline where most teams got quite a haul for defensemen I think that the Coyotes could get a huge haul for a guy like Chychrun. I would be looking at the Hampus Lindholm Trade as the closer recent comparable trade to a Chychrun Trade. Basically Boston got Lindholm and extended him for 8 years in exchange for John Moore, Urho Vaakanainen, a 1RD pick and 2 2RD picks. So while Lindholm is joe a Bruin for the next eight years Chychrun is younger then him and on a cheaper contract so if I was Arizona I would be looking for a top prospect most likely a defensemen or goalie, a young former first rounder who is just getting to the NHL, a 1RD pick either this year or next, a lower pick like a 2RD or 3RD pick or a mid level prospect, and if need be a player on a not so hot contract but I think moving Chychrun this offseason maybe before the draft to a team in need of a top 4 defensemen who can be a dominant player like Chychrun should be something they need to do.
#2) Give the young guys a chance at the NHL.
The Coyotes have a lot of pending UFA’s and not a lot of guys signed past this season so with all of the gaps in their roster they should definitely try to give their younger players some more playing time. They will have a couple of more veteran players next year like Keller and Schmaltz but I could see young players play for Arizona next year. In the Forward group I could see Jan Jenik, Ben McCartney and Matias Maccelli who were both AHL players got a majority of this year get consistent NHL playing time, as well as Dylan Guenther and Jack McBain who are both players who played in college and juniors this year and both are future top 6 forwards that I think could play consistent NHL roles next year. And on defence Vladislav Kolyachonok, Janis Moser and Dysin Mayo, Cam Dineen are all defensemen who did play some time at the NHL level this year but I believe they have full time roles next year as well as Victor Soderstrom who is the Coyotes top D prospect and while he is their top prospect he hasn’t been able to find a full time role, but I think next year is his year.
#3) Draft well, especially with the 7 picks they have in the first 2 rounds.
They Coyotes have a really great opportunity here to make headway in their rebuild by drafting some really good top end talent in the draft this years draft. The Coyotes currently have as much as 10 possible draft picks but 7 of those ten picks will be in the first two rounds so the possibility for getting multiple talented players who could be studs for the future is a really possibility. Now their 1st round pick should be top 5 and should take which forward they feel best with cause they will have the possibility of selecting Wright, Cooley, Slafkovsky and Savoie so depending on their spot drafting the best forward would be great, and I think Cooley would for the best with Arizona. Now their other two 1RD picks are pegged to be late as the Avalanche and Hurricanes are two of the top teams in the NHL, and it seems that all of their second round picks will be within the first 15 picks of the second round so having seven of the first 48 picks and basically drafting a seventh of the first 49 picks gives them a real solid opportunity to draft future NHL Talent so they have to draft well.
#4) Use their cap space to take guys on contract.
Just like this past year the Coyotes in my opinion should move their cap space which they have plenty of to acquire players who are underperforming their current contracts. This past offseason they acquired high picks or mid level prospects for taking on bad contracts like the final year of Anton Stralman’s contract, the final year of the trio of depth forwards forwards from Vancouver that includes Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, the final two years on Andrew Ladd and Shayne Gostisbehere’s contracts, and in season they made deals to take on Nick Ritchie and Bryan Little fia a lot of young players and draft picks mostly 2RD picks but I think they should definitely do it again. And with them having around $35 Million dollars in cap space for next year and as well as that they don’t have very many players signed for next year and with them planning to go to the small ASU arena next year they could have a problem getting NHL talent to sign there so using some of that cap space for NHL contracts would make a lot of sense for them.
#5) Sign depth players who they can give more of a opportunity to.
The Coyotes new they were selling off many piece in the offseason and before the Deadline, and not many players wanted to play in Arizona during a rebuild so the Coyotes signed a lot of players who were depth players and gave them a more prominent role in their organization and I think that they should do that. The best examples about the depth players getting a lot more playing time are Liam O’Brien and Travis Boyd. Both were players who were very low on the depth chart the year prior but after signing with Arizona they thrived playing a lot better then anyone thought as O’Brien tied his career high with 3 points and played triple as much games as he had ever played, and for Boyd he surpassed his career high as before his high was 5 goals and 15 points in 53 games and now he has 13 goals and 29 points in 62 games so these are both prime examples and they both got extended so I would think that some veterans who aren’t getting playing time and could be moved at the deadline or a younger player needing a bigger role should sign with Arizona and help the Coyotes round out their roster for the foreseeable future.
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