The lasting impact of the nhl expansion draft seattle aftermath on franchise trajectory

The lasting impact of the nhl expansion draft seattle aftermath on franchise trajectory

When the Seattle Kraken made their 30 selections on July 21, 2021, the hockey world watched with immense anticipation. Coming off the unprecedented success of the Vegas Golden Knights’ Stanley Cup Final appearance in their inaugural season, expectations were sky-high for the NHL’s 32nd franchise. Yet four years later, the story of the nhl expansion draft seattle aftermath reveals a franchise still searching for its identity, with decisions made on that summer night continuing to reverberate through the organization.

The contrast between Seattle’s cautious approach and Vegas’s aggressive strategy became apparent immediately. While George McPhee orchestrated 17 side deals on draft day in 2017, Ron Francis and his management team struck zero such agreements. This conservative philosophy, which defined Francis’s tenure with the Carolina Hurricanes, would set the tone for a franchise that has made the playoffs just once in four seasons and cycled through three head coaches.

How the nhl expansion draft seattle aftermath shaped the inaugural season

The immediate fallout from Seattle’s expansion draft selections became brutally clear during the 2021-22 season. The Kraken stumbled to a dismal 27-49-6 record, finishing 30th overall in the NHL standings. This performance stood in stark contrast to Vegas’s historic 51-24-7 inaugural campaign, and the differences could be traced directly back to draft night decisions.

General manager Ron Francis had reportedly demanded first-round picks as the starting point for any side deals, a price the market simply wouldn’t bear. According to reports from the time, this hardline stance effectively priced Seattle out of numerous opportunities to acquire additional assets or facilitate beneficial three-way trades. While Vegas leveraged their cap space and willingness to negotiate to accumulate draft capital and prospects, Seattle’s rigid approach left them with exactly what they drafted—nothing more.

The goaltending situation became emblematic of the expansion draft’s failures. Francis selected Chris Driedger from Florida and then signed Philipp Grubauer to a six-year, $35.4 million contract as a free agent, believing he had assembled one of the league’s most formidable goaltending tandems. Instead, Seattle quickly plummeted to last in virtually every goaltending metric. Driedger and Grubauer ranked 55th and 60th respectively among 60 goaltenders with at least eight starts that season—a statistical improbability that defied logic.

The defensive focus that characterized Seattle’s selections also backfired spectacularly. Of the 19 skaters selected who played regularly in the NHL, 12 had better defensive than offensive metrics. While this approach looked sound on paper, it translated to an anemic offense that couldn’t generate enough scoring to compensate for the unexpectedly porous goaltending. The Kraken managed just 216 goals that season, second-worst in the league.

Meanwhile, players Seattle passed over flourished elsewhere. Frank Vatrano, available from Florida but bypassed in favor of Driedger, would eventually score 37 goals in the 2023-24 season with Anaheim. J.T. Compher, left unprotected by Colorado, signed a five-year deal worth $25.5 million with Detroit and became an elite two-way center. These missed opportunities haunted the franchise throughout its difficult first year.

The surprising playoff run and nhl expansion draft seattle aftermath vindication

The 2022-23 season offered a glimmer of redemption for Francis and his expansion draft strategy. Seattle shocked the hockey world by qualifying for the playoffs and then defeating the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in the first round before falling to Dallas in the second round. Suddenly, some of those draft day selections looked prescient.

Jared McCann, selected from Toronto, had blossomed into a legitimate star with a 40-goal campaign in 2022-23. The decision to pluck McCann—whom Toronto had acquired from Pittsburgh specifically to leave him unprotected—proved to be one of Francis’s shrewdest moves. McCann’s elite two-way play at just $5 million annually represented exceptional value, validating at least one major expansion draft decision.

Vince Dunn emerged as arguably Seattle’s most impactful player, providing elite offensive production from the blue line while maintaining strong defensive metrics. His selection from St. Louis, where the Blues inexplicably left both Dunn and Vladimir Tarasenko unprotected, gave Seattle a young cornerstone defenseman who has since accumulated 184 points in 275 games.

Jordan Eberle, Seattle’s first All-Star selection, continued to deliver consistent production and veteran leadership. His 67 goals and 177 points in 281 regular-season games validated his selection from the Islanders, providing the offensive consistency Seattle desperately needed.

The playoff success, however, masked ongoing issues stemming from the expansion draft. Several key selections had already departed—Mark Giordano was traded to Toronto for multiple second-round picks and a third-rounder, Calle Jarnkrok went to Calgary, and multiple depth pieces had been moved or waived. The franchise was already reshaping the roster Francis had assembled, suggesting the initial construction hadn’t been as sound as the playoff appearance implied.

Asset management and the evolving nhl expansion draft seattle aftermath

One area where Francis’s expansion draft strategy showed foresight was in selecting players specifically to trade for assets. This approach, while less glamorous than assembling a competitive roster immediately, helped rebuild Seattle’s prospect pool and draft capital.

Giordano’s trade to Toronto at the 2022 deadline exemplified this strategy’s success. The 37-year-old defenseman, selected from Calgary, played just 55 games in Seattle before fetching two second-round picks and a third-rounder. Those selections transformed into top prospects Niklas Kokko and Lukas Dragicevic, significantly bolstering the organization’s future.

Similarly, Jeremy Lauzon was flipped to Nashville for a second-round pick after 53 games, a return that turned into promising forward prospect Jani Nyman. Carson Soucy played 142 regular-season and 14 playoff games before leaving for Vancouver in free agency, while Calle Jarnkrok returned a second, third, and seventh-round pick in a trade to Calgary.

Yet these successes in asset management also highlighted the limitations of the expansion draft execution. If the strategy was to select trade chips, why demand first-round picks for side deals pre-draft? Why not facilitate more moves on draft day when leverage was highest? The disconnect between Francis’s approach to negotiations beforehand and his willingness to trade players afterward suggested a missed opportunity to maximize returns.

The selections that provided zero value proved particularly costly. Dennis Cholowski, Carsen Twarynski, John Quenneville, and Gavin Bayreuther combined for minimal NHL impact. Cholowski was claimed off waivers by Washington after just four games. Quenneville was never signed and departed for Europe. These roster spots, cap space, and opportunities could have been allocated to players who provided tangible contributions or at least trade value.

The long-term nhl expansion draft seattle aftermath and franchise direction

Four years removed from the expansion draft, Seattle stands at a crossroads. The franchise’s 142-153-33 record through four seasons, with just one playoff appearance, represents disappointment relative to initial expectations. The constant coaching changes—from Dave Hakstol to Dan Bylsma and now Lane Lambert—suggest organizational instability that traces back to the incomplete roster construction.

Several expansion draft selections remain key pieces. Vince Dunn and Jared McCann anchor the roster, while Adam Larsson continues to provide steady defensive play. Joey Daccord, selected from Ottawa, has emerged as a legitimate starting goaltender after initial struggles, appearing in 83 games with a .907 save percentage. These successes demonstrate that Francis’s draft wasn’t a complete failure, but rather a mixed bag that tilted toward disappointment.

The players Seattle passed over tell a sobering story. Frank Vatrano’s 37-goal season, J.T. Compher’s $25.5 million contract, Nino Niederreiter’s consistent production, and Marcus Pettersson’s steady defensive play all represent missed opportunities. The expansion draft’s ripple effects continue to influence personnel decisions throughout the league.

The goaltending disaster proved particularly consequential. By selecting Driedger and then compounding the mistake with Grubauer’s massive free-agent contract, Seattle committed $9.4 million in cap space to last-place goaltending. Meanwhile, Frederik Andersen and Anthony Stolarz, who could have been acquired for $5.45 million combined, posted a 23-7-1 record that same season. These decisions created a cap crunch that limited Seattle’s flexibility for years.

Looking at the roster construction holistically, Seattle’s expansion draft assembled approximately $65 million in salary while leaving substantial cap space for free agency. The strategy succeeded in landing Jaden Schwartz and maintaining flexibility, but the conservative approach to both side deals and player selection meant Seattle entered the league at a competitive disadvantage compared to Vegas’s aggressive blueprint.

The franchise now faces difficult questions about its direction. With Francis recently fired and new leadership installed, Seattle must determine whether to continue building around the remaining expansion draft core or accelerate a retool. The few successes from that draft—McCann, Dunn, Larsson, and Daccord—provide a foundation, but the overall roster construction remains incomplete four years later.

Lessons learned from the nhl expansion draft seattle aftermath

The Seattle Kraken’s expansion draft and its lasting consequences offer valuable lessons for future expansion franchises and general managers facing similar scenarios. The most glaring takeaway: rigidity in negotiations undermines leverage. By demanding first-round picks as the baseline for side deals, Francis eliminated the possibility of accumulating multiple mid-round selections that could have added organizational depth.

The Vegas comparison remains instructive because it wasn’t simply about being more aggressive—it was about understanding market dynamics. George McPhee recognized that desperate teams would pay to offload contracts or protect additional players, and he made himself available as the solution to their problems. Francis’s approach treated the expansion draft as though Seattle held all the power, when in reality the market dictated terms.

Goaltender evaluation emerged as perhaps the most critical failure. With 80 goaltenders available and ample opportunity for due diligence, selecting two of the bottom six performers defied probability. This outcome suggests either catastrophically bad luck or a fundamental flaw in Seattle’s evaluation process—and Francis’s track record with goaltenders in Carolina (the Scott Darling disaster) suggested the latter.

The balance between immediate competitiveness and long-term asset accumulation proved difficult to strike. While selecting trade chips like Giordano made sense retrospectively, it created an awkward first season where the roster lacked both star power and competitive depth. Vegas managed to accomplish both by making side deals that brought prospects and picks while also assembling a surprisingly competitive roster—proof that these goals weren’t mutually exclusive.

Finally, the expansion draft aftermath demonstrates that initial decisions have compounding effects. Driedger’s contract, while eventually buried in the AHL, consumed cap space. Missed opportunities on players like Vatrano, Compher, and Niederreiter meant Seattle had to address those roster needs through expensive free agency or trades. The cascade of consequences from a single night of decisions shaped the franchise’s trajectory for years.

---

The nhl expansion draft seattle aftermath serves as a cautionary tale about the importance of flexibility, market awareness, and comprehensive evaluation in franchise-building moments. While Seattle found some gems—McCann, Dunn, and the late-developing Daccord chief among them—the overall execution fell short of both expectations and the Vegas blueprint. Four years later, as the Kraken continue searching for sustained success, the echoes of those July 2021 decisions remain audible throughout the organization. Whether new leadership can finally overcome the expansion draft’s limitations and build sustainable success remains the franchise’s defining question as it enters its fifth season.