Kraken GM Ron Francis reflects on trade deadline
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NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE - JUNE 29: Ron Francis of the Seattle Kraken works the 2023 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bridgestone Arena on June 29, 2023 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images / Getty Images)
SEATTLE - General manager Ron Francis said Friday it was a difficult trade deadline for the Seattle Kraken to work through with their positioning on the fringes of the playoff race.
The Kraken dealt center Alex Wennberg to the New York Rangers in exchange for a pair of draft picks on Wednesday, and managed to reach a two-year contract extension with winger Jordan Eberle.
But beyond those moves, the Kraken held on to the pieces that they had and will make an effort to climb into a playoff spot with the pieces they still have in place.
"Where we're sitting right now is probably the worst spot to kind of be sitting as you head into the trade deadline because you're trying to wait, you know, 'can we get in, can we not get in'?" Francis said. "You're looking at everything from strength of schedule and probabilities and what you may be able to do to add. If you don't think you can get in, what you do is subtract."
That uncertain outlook led the Kraken to essentially hold serve with what they have as Wennberg was the only piece to come in or head out.
"You look at the things that make sense to add," Francis said. "Are there things that you want to just kind of move away from your UFAs and pick up some picks and try and retool in the summertime similar to what we did in year one to two. So those are all things you factor in and we debate and you explore things and at the end of the day, you try and make decisions right for the team, short-term and long-term."
"I don't think we're in a position to start throwing firsts and seconds around. I don't think that made sense for us at this point. So as one of my staff said 'we didn't do anything stupid today.' So I guess that's a positive. We're trying to continue to build this thing and, you know, certainly we'll get to the end of the season. We'll see how things play out here last month-and-a-half and then we'll reassess kind of where we're at."
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Kraken reach two-year contract extension with Jordan Eberle
The Seattle Kraken reached an agreement with winger Jordan Eberle on a two-year contract extension that will keep him with the team through Friday's NHL trade deadline.
Winger Tomáš Tatar and defenseman Justin Schultz also will be free agents this summer and were potentially available to other teams. Defenseman Cale Fleury was recalled from AHL Coachella Valley to be on standby in case he was needed for tonight's game against the Winnipeg Jets. However, a full sell-off would have been waving a white flag on the season after one of the most successful stretches the team has had all season.
"The team is 7-2-1 in the last 10 and won a couple of big games on the road," Francis said. "They're a resilient group. They're not throwing in the towel and I expect them to continue to battle."
The trade of Wennberg to New York netted Seattle a 2024 second-round pick and a fourth-round pick in 2025. It also left the Kraken with al hole to fill at center. Jared McCann has moved from the wing to the middle in Seattle's last two games while Wennberg was held out for trade-related purposes. McCann has played great in that role with five points on two goals (both short-handed) and three assists in the victories over Calgary and Winnipeg.
"He's played extremely well in the middle. Obviously you miss a guy like Wenny but it's another opportunity for other guys in lineup to step up and so far guys have done that," Francis said.
Francis said they had discussed a contract extension with Wennberg as well throughout the season. However, when it became apparent there wasn't a deal to be made, the team had to make the call to send Wennberg out.
"We just had a discussion and said, you know, Wenny, if we can't get there, we're going to have to move you and he understood that and so we proceeded down that path," Francis said.
Other possible option for the Kraken would be to call up 2022 first-round pick Shane Wright to fill that spot. Wright has 19 goals and 14 assists in 46 games played as a rookie for AHL Coachella Valley this season. However, Wright's three-year entry-level contract can slide to next season if he remains in the AHL, so there is incentive to keep him in the minors as well.
"We really like where Shane is right now," Francis said. "We really like the way he's playing. Our focus on Shane is making sure that he's 100 percent ready to go when next season starts and he's in our lineup. That doesn't mean we won't see him before the end of the year, but there's no guarantee we will see him. We'll see where things go here as we move into the last month and a half."
Wright can play in six more games for Seattle this season while preserving his contract's ability to slide to next year. And playoff games – should the Kraken get there – would count against that total.
"I mean, everybody's aware of it," Francis said of Wright's contract. "So that's there but I think for us, the biggest picture right from day one is making sure we're doing what's right for him from a development standpoint. And then that's the first priority. If we end up sliding the year another year, so be it. If we end up burning it, so be it, but we want to make sure we're doing what's right for Shane."
Vince Dunn won't play for the Kraken in Friday night's game against the Jets. However, Dunn was getting a workout on the ice ahead of Seattle's optional morning skate, which would seem to indicate his absence won't be a lengthy one. Dunn was injured in a hit into the boards from Calgary forward Martin Pospisil on Monday that earned a three-game suspension for the Flames rookie.