The Seattle Kraken will have their pick of some name-brand goaltenders in the expansion draft, but Carey Price is an ideal fit.
As the protected lists for the NHL expansion draft are unveiled, the Seattle Kraken will have their pick of good players as they look to follow their expansion predecessor Vegas Golden Knights to instant success. Among a list of big-name goaltenders who have not been protected, Carey Price stands out.
Ahead of teams having to finalize their protected lists, Price waived his no-move clause so the Montreal Canadiens could protect backup goalie Jake Allen for the expansion draft. He did the team a favor in waiving his no-move strictly for expansion purposes, since teams can only keep one goalie.
The Kraken will have their pick of a wide range of goaltenders in the expansion draft. Chris Driedger, lately of the Florida Panthers and a looming unrestricted free agent, is reportedly on their radar. Jonathan Quick, Matt Murray, Ben Bishop and Braden Holtby are decorated goaltenders who have been left unprotected.
The Kraken should make Carey Price their Marc-Andre Fleury
In 2017, as the Pittsburgh Penguins faced a quandary, Marc-Andre Fleury waived his no-move clause in order to be exposed in the expansion draft. The Vegas Golden Knights obliged, making the multi-Stanley Cup winning goaltender their big-name centerpiece.
Price didn’t have a great regular season this past season (.901 save percentage, 2.64 goals-against). But he was a key cog in the Canadiens’ surprising run to the Stanley Cup Final, with a 2.28 GAA and a .924 save percentage in 22 postseason games.
Price’s age (34 on August 16) and contract could be concerns for Seattle, especially given the other options they’ll have to get goaltenders. He’s due an $11 million signing bonus in September, with a cap hit of $10.5 million each year for the next five years (through 2025-26). But back in 2017, Fleury was similar age and that didn’t stop the Golden Knights from taking him in the expansion draft.
The comparison between Price and Fleury separates at Stanley Cup wins. Price does not have one his resume, while Fleury has three from his time in Pittsburgh. Some of that is chalked up to the situations they’ve been in. Fleury was great with the Penguins, but they had other stars to drive success. The Canadiens have consistently struggled to build around Price, and they finally got it right this past year after wasting his prime.
Seattle could form quite a goaltender tandem with Price and someone else they’ll pick (Driedger looks like a front runner). It may come down to allocation of salary cap dollars across the roster, but GM Ron Francis is being allowed to spend to the cap and the Kraken will surely blow past the $48.9 million cap floor quickly.
What worked for Vegas four years ago can work for Seattle here, with Price as their version of Fleury.