Seattle Kraken

Welcome to the history books, Ryan Donato.

The center scored the first goal in Seattle Kraken history when he cleaned up a rebound in front of the net and scored during the second period of Tuesday's game against the Vegas Golden Knights:

"He was the first goal scorer in @SeattleKraken history"

"Who is Ryan Donato?" 🦑🦑🦑#NHLFaceoff https://t.co/MP6ZFEckJZ

— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) October 13, 2021

Joonas Donskoi and Vince Dunn were credited with assists on the play.

It was a much-needed goal for the visitors, who quickly fell behind 3-0 in their inaugural game. It swung the momentum, and Jared McCann scored the team's second goal less than two minutes later to further cut into Vegas' lead.

Donato has played for the Boston Bruins, Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks in his career. He finished the 2020-21 season with 20 points on six goals and 14 assists for the Sharks.

Goaltender Philipp Grubauer is moving on from the Colorado Avalanche, signing a six-year, $35.4 million contract on Wednesday with the Seattle Kraken,  according to Elliotte Friedman of SportsNet.

He earned $10 million over three years on his previous contract, and Grubauer proved worthy of another payday with his work in 2020-21. The netminder recorded a 30-9-1 record in 40 starts with a career-best 1.95 goals-against average, a 92.2 save percentage and career-high seven shutouts for the Presidents' Trophy-winning Avalanche.

That gave way to a postseason run to the second round ended by the Vegas Golden Knights, where the 29-year-old posted a 2.61 GAA and 91.4 save percentage in the playoffs. The 6'1", 188-pounder proved he's capable of handling No. 1 goalie responsibilities for a Stanley Cup contender after years of playing a backup role with the Washington Capitals since going No. 112 overall in the 2010 entry draft.

Yet following the addition of Devan Dubnyk at the deadline and Pavel Francouz signed through 2022, per CapFriendly, it appeared Grubauer's time with the Avs was up. Now he moves on to Seattle as he looks to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2021-22.

The Seattle Kraken announced their initial 30-player roster during the 2021 NHL expansion draft Wednesday night.

Seattle had to select at least 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies. The remaining selections were allowed to come from any position. One pick came from each of the existing NHL franchises aside from the Vegas Golden Knights, who were exempt from the process.

The Kraken also had an exclusive negotiation window with potential free agents. Any contracts signed counted as their pick from the players' previous teams.

Here's a look at the full list of selections. 

---

Anaheim Ducks: D Haydn Fleury 

Arizona Coyotes: F Tyler Pitlick

Boston Bruins: D Jeremy Lauzon

Buffalo Sabres: D Will Borgen 

Calgary Flames: D Mark Giordano

Carolina Hurricanes: F Morgan Geekie 

Chicago Blackhawks: F John Quenneville 

Colorado Avalanche: F Joonas Donskoi  

Columbus Blue Jackets: D Gavin Bayreuther 

Dallas Stars: D Jamie Oleksiak

Detroit Red Wings: D Dennis Cholowski 

Edmonton Oilers: D Adam Larsson 

Florida Panthers: G Chris Driedger 

Los Angeles Kings: D Kurtis MacDermid 

Minnesota Wild: D Carson Soucy 

Montreal Canadiens: D Cale Fleury 

Nashville Predators: F Calle Jarnkrok 

New Jersey Devils: F Nathan Bastian 

New York Islanders: F Jordan Eberle

New York Rangers: F Colin Blackwell 

Ottawa Senators: G Joey Daccord 

Philadelphia Flyers: F Carsen Twarynski

Pittsburgh Penguins: F Brandon Tanev 

San Jose Sharks: F Alexander True

St. Louis Blues: D Vince Dunn

Tampa Bay Lightning: F Yanni Gourde 

Toronto Maple Leafs: F Jared McCann

Vancouver Canucks: F Kole Lind  

Washington Capitals: G Vitek Vanecek

Winnipeg Jets: F Mason Appleton  

The Kraken are expected to be competitive out of the gate, though they have a tough act to follow after the Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final in their debut season after a strong showing in the 2017 expansion draft.

Like Vegas, Seattle worked out side deals with opposing teams to avoid selecting certain players in the expansion draft in exchange for other assets. Details of those agreements should be available ahead of this year's entry draft, which is set to get underway Friday.

The Kraken passed on some of the more high-profile players available, most notably the Montreal Canadiens' Carey Price and St. Louis Blues' Vladimir Tarasenko.

Seattle will begin play during the 2021-22 NHL season.

Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price reportedly wasn't selected by the Seattle Kraken as part of the 2021 NHL expansion draft.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported the Habs will retain Price, who's under contract through the 2025-26 season as part of an eight-year, $84 million deal. Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff Hockey reported Montreal is "likely to lose" defenseman Cale Fleury instead.

The Kraken's selections will be announced Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

Price's $10.5 million cap hit for the next five seasons was likely a crucial factor in Seattle's decision. Financial flexibility is perhaps the most valuable commodity an expansion franchise has, and committing that much of the $81.5 million salary cap to a 33-year-old netminder would have come with risk.

The 2005 first-round pick was terrific during Montreal's underdog run to this year's Stanley Cup Final, where it lost to the reigning champion Tampa Bay Lightning. He posted a 2.28 goals against average and .924 save percentage across 22 playoff games.

His regular-season performance over the past two years hasn't lived up to that standard or the one he set in 2014-15 en route to winning the Hart Trophy as the NHL's MVP and the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender.

Price has compiled a 2.74 GAA and .907 SV% across 83 regular-season appearances since the start of the 2019-20 campaign. His goals saved above average (GSAA) over that span is minus-4.9, per Hockey Reference.

Those numbers combined with the high number of potentially valuable goalies available led the Kraken in a different direction.

Seattle has agreed to a three-year, $10.5 million contract with goalie Chris Driedger, an impending unrestricted free agent who will count toward the team's pick from the Florida Panthers, per Tim Booth and Stephen Whyno of the Associated Press.

Meanwhile, the Kraken are likely to select a more cost-effective option from Montreal in Fleury, a restricted free agent who carried a $771,666 cap hit in 2020-21.

Fleury, 22, tallied just one goal in 41 games during his rookie season with the Habs, but he projects as a reliable defensive blueliner in the coming years.

It's possible his 25-year-old brother, Haydn Fleury, will also end up with Seattle after being left exposed for the expansion draft by the Anaheim Ducks.

The Seattle Kraken are reportedly "taking a deep dive internally" to determine whether to select veteran goalie Carey Price in the upcoming expansion draft, according to Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic.

However, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reported Price's "health has clouded the selection process." Per Seravalli, Price "may miss significant time with a hip injury."

LeBrun later reported Price is scheduled to see a doctor in New York this week to evaluate a knee issue:

Told that Carey Price is scheduled to see a doc in New York this week regarding a knee issue which could potentially lead to surgery. The hope is that it’s not too serious.

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 18, 2021

As @frank_seravalli reported, I also believe Price will have his hip checked out. But the potential surgery I’m told is knee related

— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 18, 2021

The Kraken will have the opportunity to select one player from 30 other teams (the Vegas Golden Knights are not included) with each squad protecting up to 11 players on their current rosters. Price was one of the players left available by the Montreal Canadiens despite leading the team to the Stanley Cup Final this past year.

Another question mark for the Kraken is whether to take on Price's contract with five years remaining on his initial eight-year, $84 million deal, per Spotrac.

The contract could be a concern, but the Golden Knights showed a quality blueprint for an expansion team by building around goalie Marc-Andre Fleury. Vegas reached the Stanley Cup Final in its first year and has been a perennial contender all four years of its existence, while Fleury won the Vezina Trophy in 2020-21.

If healthy, Price could make a similar impact with a resume that includes a Vezina Trophy and a Hart Trophy in 2014-15. The 33-year-old has continued his high level of play and shined this postseason with a 2.28 goals-against average in 22 starts.

The Kraken do have other big names available in net, however, with Braden Holtby, Jonathan Quick and Matt Murray also left unprotected.

Seattle could find impact players at other positions as well, including defenseman Shea Weber and right wing Vladimir Tarasenko. The team will also have the opportunity to target one or more unrestricted free agents, including Washington Capitals star Alex Ovechkin.

The team has until Wednesday at 10 a.m. ET to determine its picks, which will be revealed publicly Wednesday night.

Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, Colorado Avalanche winger Gabriel Landeskog and St. Louis Blues winger Vladimir Tarasenko headline the group of players left available for potential selection by the Seattle Kraken during the 2021 NHL expansion draft Wednesday.

SiriusXM NHL Network Radio provided a look at some of the other high-profile names available for the Kraken:

Notable names left exposed for the #NHL Expansion Draft.

Carey Price,
Vladimir Tarasenko,
Gabriel Landeskog,
Ryan Johansen,
Matt Duchene,
James van Riemsdyk,
Mark Giordano,
Jonathan Drouin,
Yanni Gourde,
Tyler Johnson,
Jason Zucker,
Ryan Getzlaf,
Nino Nieddereiter

— SiriusXM NHL Network Radio (@SiriusXMNHL) July 18, 2021

The NHL published the complete list of protected players ahead of the draft.

Seattle is going to select a minimum of 14 forwards, nine defensemen and three goalies during the expansion draft. The remaining selections can come from any position.

The Kraken also have an exclusive negotiation window with potential free agents through Wednesday. If they sign any players during that period, it will count toward their selection from the player's last team.

While there were a lot of marquee names left unprotected, it doesn't mean they will all be selected by Seattle general manager Ron Francis. He has a pretty good playbook to follow after the Vegas Golden Knights maximized their leverage in the 2017 expansion draft to become an immediate Stanley Cup contender.

One tactic used successfully by Vegas was accepting assets, mostly in the form of draft picks, in order to select specific players or to overlook certain players.

For example, the Winnipeg Jets traded the No. 13 overall pick in the 2017 draft and a third-round choice in 2019 in exchange for the Golden Knights taking Chris Thorburn and the No. 24 pick in the 2017 draft.

Vegas later flipped Nick Suzuki, the No. 13 selection in 2017, in a blockbuster deal for Max Pacioretty in 2018.

So there will be plenty of wheeling and dealing by the Kraken's front office ahead of Wednesday, and they probably have even more leverage than Vegas did because opposing NHL teams are dealing with roster issues related to the flat salary cap coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We have $81.5 million of cap space to play with, so that's certainly something we want to make sure we try to take advantage of moving forward," Francis told Tracey Myers of NHL.com on Saturday.

Although names like Price ($10.5 million cap hit), Tarasenko ($7.5 million) and Landeskog (impending UFA due for a big deal) jump out at first glance, Seattle is unlikely to go all-in on high-priced veterans since its cap flexibility is such a major advantage.

Players like the Tampa Bay Lightning's Yanni Gourde ($5.2 million) and Toronto Maple Leafs' Alexander Kerfoot ($3.5 million) are the sort of cost-effective options who figure to attract attention.

As a whole, the Kraken were already in a promising position entering their debut offseason, and the protection lists appear to put them in an even stronger spot. They will either be able to select some high-impact players or obtain significant assets to accelerate their building process.

Vegas set a high standard by making the Stanley Cup Final in its first season, and while that's probably too lofty of an expectation, Seattle should at least be highly competitive out of the gate.