Kraken 2024 Offseason chatter (2024)

Fuhrious said:

I guess we can say he’s not doing the whole “take on bad contracts for sweeteners, accept sucking for a while” approach, since he apparently wasn’t in on the Walman or Mikheyev dumps. Don’t know if that’s good or bad, though…

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Yeah. But he has not exactly done a great job with those anyway.

I think he has eyes on some big fish, don't know where, but it has to be via trade. I don't see Guentzel or Reinhart wanting to come here even if throw money at them. Plus they don't fit that great from an age perspective since they will likely want max term.

My opinion around FA/trades is just going big, or staying pat. We can get mid-tier players in UFA (or trade) but all it does it add more to those type of players already on the roster.

Fuhrious said:

I guess we can say he’s not doing the whole “take on bad contracts for sweeteners, accept sucking for a while” approach, since he apparently wasn’t in on the Walman or Mikheyev dumps. Don’t know if that’s good or bad, though…

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Fistfullofbeer said:

Yeah. But he has not exactly done a great job with those anyway.

I think he has eyes on some big fish, don't know where, but it has to be via trade. I don't see Guentzel or Reinhart wanting to come here even if throw money at them. Plus they don't fit that great from an age perspective since they will likely want max term.

My opinion around FA/trades is just going big, or staying pat. We can get mid-tier players in UFA (or trade) but all it does it add more to those type of players already on the roster.

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I dunno dude, he got Bjorkstrand in a camp dump deal. Excellent at that. That's the kind of cap dump trade I want a GM to be going after, not Walman or Mikheyev.

The Marquis said:

I dunno dude, he got Bjorkstrand in a camp dump deal. Excellent at that. That's the kind of cap dump trade I want a GM to be going after, not Walman or Mikheyev.

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I wouldnt say he's "excellent" because he did it all of one time...especially when the one time he did it, the stakes/expectations were as low as they've ever been for the team.

I get why he didnt do either trade, honestly. I do rate Walman ahead of both Oleksiak and Dumoulin but the fact is they're stuck with those guys and adding another LD without moving one (i wish both) and further blocking Evans is even more counterproductive.

The Marquis said:

I dunno dude, he got Bjorkstrand in a camp dump deal. Excellent at that. That's the kind of cap dump trade I want a GM to be going after, not Walman or Mikheyev.

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I wouldn't consider Bjorkstrand a cap dump. Yeah, we got good value on that trade but it was not a bad contract and we did not pay too much.

But 3 years on a new team and only 1 trade to talk about is not the best either.

Fuhrious said:

I wouldnt say he's "excellent" because he did it all of one time...especially when the one time he did it, the stakes/expectations were as low as they've ever been for the team.

I get why he didnt do either trade, honestly. I do rate Walman ahead of both Oleksiak and Dumoulin but the fact is they're stuck with those guys and adding another LD without moving one (i wish both) and further blocking Evans is even more counterproductive.

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That seems like Francis' MO to me. There was no reason for him to sign Dumoulin and even lesser to re-sign Eberle but he seems focused on leadership a little too much.

Man those other teams are doing stuff.

Meanwhile in Seattle...

Teravainen will become a free agent.

He can play some center, which would help play McCann on the wing again, and is a guy Francis is familiar with.

Calling it now, he'll be our "big fish" this offseason.....

RainyCityHockey said:

Teravainen will become a free agent.

https://x.com/i/web/status/1806074763258786139

He can play some center, which would help play McCann on the wing again, and is a guy Francis is familiar with.

Calling it now, he'll be our "big fish" this offseason.....

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I was legitimately just looking at him and wondering if he'd be our "Burakovsky" this off-season.

And by that I'm including idle speculation two years from now how badly Francis overpaid.

Fuhrious said:

I was legitimately just looking at him and wondering if he'd be our "Burakovsky" this off-season.

And by that I'm including idle speculation two years from now how badly Francis overpaid.

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I don't think Burakovsky was an overpayment. He just can't stay healthy enough.

Another thing with our team is that we have so many middle-6 players that Hakstol would love shuffling them around when things were not going well, instead of trying to ride it out and/or actually fix the issues. With Gourde, Burakovsky, Schwartz, Tolvanen, Eberle still on the roster, I would not be surprised this continues to be the case this season. Maybe Bylsma does things differently.

Fistfullofbeer said:

I don't think Burakovsky was an overpayment. He just can't stay healthy enough.

Another thing with our team is that we have so many middle-6 players that Hakstol would love shuffling them around when things were not going well, instead of trying to ride it out and/or actually fix the issues. With Gourde, Burakovsky, Schwartz, Tolvanen, Eberle still on the roster, I would not be surprised this continues to be the case this season. Maybe Bylsma does things differently.

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He wasnt an overpayment at signing, no. I think he's starting to look like one now because as you say, he cant stay healthy and it's starting to look like some of those injuries are having long-term effects on his game.

I think Francis has a track record of mildly/moderately overpaying guys, however. I think he was hellbent on getting guys like Gru, Oleksiak, and Schwartz and gave them more money/term than anyone else was going to offer. It wouldnt surprise me if he does similar with a player like Teravainen.

Fuhrious said:

I was legitimately just looking at him and wondering if he'd be our "Burakovsky" this off-season.

And by that I'm including idle speculation two years from now how badly Francis overpaid.

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I mean, he's a good player that can play both center and wing and produces at a solid rate.

It's just that he's going to be 30 once the season starts, will certainly look for a five year deal(maybe even Francis special of 5x5) and would be another middle six guy.

He wouldn't make much sense cause he's too old to build with Beniers/Wright and too good to not make us a middling team.

RainyCityHockey said:

I mean, he's a good player that can play both center and wing and produces at a solid rate.

It's just that he's going to be 30 once the season starts, will certainly look for a five year deal(maybe even Francis special of 5x5) and would be another middle six guy.

He wouldn't make much sense cause he's too old to build with Beniers/Wright and too good to not make us a middling team.

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Do you think Teravainen could be our team's #1 or #2 forward? I would want the player we sign to be better than any other forward on our roster. Not thinking about ceilings of our players but more with where they are right now. I rate McCann, Beniers and Bjorkstrand as our top forwards and the only one who is borderline top-line is McCann. I would like at least a McCann level player, if not better.

Not sure if Teuvo is that player or not.

Fistfullofbeer said:

Do you think Teravainen could be our team's #1 or #2 forward? I would want the player we sign to be better than any other forward on our roster. Not thinking about ceilings of our players but more with where they are right now. I rate McCann, Beniers and Bjorkstrand as our top forwards and the only one who is borderline top-line is McCann. I would like at least a McCann level player, if not better.

Not sure if Teuvo is that player or not.

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No, he's not.

Like I've said, he would be another good, $5M middle six guy. The ones Francis seems to collect with great interest.

Personally I don't want him on the Kraken but realistically he actually fits what Francis talked about when he said "we need to find a way to play McCann on the wing again".

It's basically Ronnie doing his lip services to the ownership in bringing in a couple of solid guys to not roll out the AHL backup all-stars(like Chicago, Arizona or San Jose have done in the past couple of years), look at least somewhat competitive and be able to show the ownership that he tried.

RainyCityHockey said:

No, he's not.

Like I've said, he would be another good, $5M middle six guy. The ones Francis seems to collect with great interest.

Personally I don't want him on the Kraken but realistically he actually fits what Francis talked about when he said "we need to find a way to play McCann on the wing again".

It's basically Ronnie doing his lip services to the ownership in bringing in a couple of solid guys to not roll out the AHL backup all-stars(like Chicago, Arizona or San Jose have done in the past couple of years), look at least somewhat competitive and be able to show the ownership that he tried.

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Yeah. The thing, though, could end up being his downfall. If ownership asks you to be competitive and you are doing it just for "show" and providing lip service, missing the playoffs would be an F grade even if you did sign players like Teravainen, Toffoli, etc. to improve the roster.