I have the pleasure of kicking off the recaps on the first Ramblings covering games from the 2021-22 season. Last night we saw four teams in action, including the debut of the 32^nd team, the Seattle Kraken. They're the most interesting team on the list, as we had very little knowledge of what to expect from them.

Seeing an actual NHL game from the Kraken, this is how they lined up:

Keep in mind though that despite Jared McCann, Joonas Donskoi, and Jamie Oleksiak and Marcus Johansson getting cleared late, they were missing Calle Jarnkrok due to Covid protocols on top of Yanni Gourde still recovering from shoulder surgery. That means the full lineup will be a few days away at least, but we can still take away a few points here:

-McCann is the first line centre. Centering Jaden Schwartz and Jordan Eberle, the trio will be where the main fantasy value comes in Seattle.

–Mark Giordano was out with the big guns on the power play. Vince Dunn was on the second unit, and also got beat bad on an early Vegas goal. 

-Phillipp Grubauer is no longer in Colorado. That sounds obvious, but it is hugely relevant. He won't give up two goals on his first three shots every game, but he also likely won't be a Vezina finalist again this season.

-Vegas is my President's Trophy and Stanley Cup pick for a reason. This was a very tough measuring stick for Seattle's first game. Especially having it played in Vegas.

In the first period, the Kraken's offense reminded me a fair amount of what I remember Hakstol's Flyers in his first season in Philadelphia looking like. Very aggressive forecheck, good energy and puck possession, lot of point shots.

— Charlie O'Connor (@charlieo_conn) October 13, 2021

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As we all predicted, the Lightning fell flat against the shorthanded Penguins in their season opener. The Lightning should once again contend for the divison title, but it does appear they are going to miss last year's third line of Yanni Gourde, Blake Coleman, and Barclay Goodrow. Anthony Cirelli's line scored both goals for the Bolts, and we can expect him to take a bit of a step forward offensively this year playing between Steven Stamkos and Alex Killorn. Killorn is also the fifth man on the top-unit for the Lightning. If that sticks he'll be picking up some extra power play points just by osmosis.

On the other side of the ice, if you're looking for a set of short-term adds, you could do much worse than the current top-line duo of Jeff Carter and Danton Heinen in Pittsburgh. However, their values take a hit as each of the big three come back to full health.

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Interesting to look at the escrow this year.

The escrow for this season was based on a formula; most estimates were 17.5%-18% so it came in a bit lower at 17.2% per @reporterchris

The escrow % the next 4 years is fixed & set:

21-22: 10%
22-23: 6%
23-24: 6%
24-25: 6% – End of current CBA
25-26: If CBA auto-extended, max 9%

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) October 12, 2021

Players are covering a lot of financial burden with the Covid related losses. If players are holding out for a little more on contracts over the next couple years, it shouldn't be surprising. On that note…

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Nick Suzuki signed a pricy max-term extension with the Canadiens, though the deal may seem a little steep right now, he should provide at least fair value for most of the life of the deal. He was projected at $7.15 million, so for both sides to get the security of the full term, you can see how they arrived at the $7.75 million AAV that they did.

Some of the other big names in need of extensions for next season, and the current numbers that my projections have for them. Keep in mind that these are usually a touch low as they tend to increase closer to a contract end date (especially for the younger players). In no particular order:

Adam Fox – $7.5M

Jack Hughes – $4.5M

Morgan Rielly – $8.5M

Johnny Gaudreau $6.5M

Tomas Hertl – $5.25

Charlie McAvoy – $6.9M

Matthew Tkachuk – $7.67M

Filip Forsberg $5.8M

Evgeni Malkin $8.0M

Patrik Laine $6.2M

Patrice Bergeron $5.5M

Feel free to rant at me here or on Twitter @alexdmaclean if you don't like any of those numbers.

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We drafted for the Dobber Expert League on Monday night, and though draft season may be (mostly) over, I still wanted to run through some thoughts on the draft as it's the more interesting and difficult ones I have every year. The settings lend it to being a competitive league, and the GMs make sure that is the case right from the first round of the draft to the last day of the season.

Here's my thoughts round-by-round:

On my end, I’ve also ended up in the back half in my three years in the Experts League, drafting 7, 8, and now 10 (so at most there was only one draft slot separating me and P7 the last three drafts – and he doesn’t make it easy).

I was expecting this draft to be messier with being the cheese on the sandwich of P7, me, Temek, and LOTR. In fact, I found things went pretty well, and my guys that I would be watching for almost always fell to me. The realistic options anyways, can’t expect Connor McDavid or Auston Matthews to fall anywhere.  

Went into the draft with a top 15 or so ranked, but I was solidly debating between 9-15 the entire time and would flip them in my mind on a daily basis. Between Alex Ovechkin, Brady Tkachuk, Mikko Rantanen, Jonathan Huberdeau, Artemi Panarin, etc there were just too many options for that spot. Luckily my 7th ranked Marchand dropped to me, so that made my choice a little easier. I felt bad leaving Tkachuk off the board, but with knowing that this was going to be a tough draft for me having to give the baby a bath during the middle rounds, I played it a little safer in the opening rounds.

Aside from that, I have found goalies and defencemen decently deep this year, so I said I’ll see how the runs go but I won’t rush anything. Figured I would likely end up with a bunch of forwards early, and that is exactly how it went.

Round 1 – Brad Marchand

As mentioned above, could have gone any number of ways, but the scoring is there and the peripherals are all solid. Safest pick on the board after #6 IMO.

Round 2 – Jonathan Huberdeau

I think Florida is going to absolutely go off offensively this year (and I don’t think I’m alone in that) so I wanted to get a share. 100-point potential in round 2 plus a hit per game is impossible to pass on despite giving me 2 LWs.

Round 3 – Jake Guentzel

Debated a few different options here, but with Guentzel and Crosby nearly back, I loved the idea of adding another 85-point guy with lots of PPPs, shots, and hits. I’ve also found LW a lot deeper than RW this year, so I wanted to get at least one RW early.

Round 4 – Max Pacioretty

I’m a sucker for the guys that can put up points with peripherals. I’m not sure I would trade my first four picks for anyone else’s at this point, even to get Connor McDavid. That's partially also because I didn't feel like anyone else absolutely nailed their first four picks, and not really meant as a slight on McDavid.

Round 5 – Neal Pionk

Peripherals through the roof here, and hopefully a boatload of PPPs too. I think he finishes as a top-10 fantasy defenceman this year. Couldn’t risk letting him go even five more picks to my next one. There were a couple forwards I debated, but I knew one would fall to me.

Round 6 – John Tavares

I don’t see him putting up more than 75-points this year, but even a safe 70 with a good plus-minus, lots of shots, and a terrific +/- is something I’m happy with here in my first C of the draft. Still seeing enough goalies on the board that I’m happy waiting too.

Round 7 – Taylor Hall

Dmen are still flying, but I couldn’t pass on the upside of Hall anymore. Having two pieces of that top Boston PP is juicy, and I thought the defenceman I wanted would slide to my next pick.

Round 8 – Ryan Pulock

Indeed, I did get Pulock, who provides a safe offensive floor if not the same points upside that some others bring. That’s okay though because I have enough scoring at this point. His shots, hits, +/-, and a little contribution on the PP were what I needed most.

Round 9 – Jack Campbell

A few more goalies gone, and there really weren’t a lot of goalies left that I felt I could ride to a podium finish (needing saves, wins, and a decent GAA from at least two starters/tandems). The wins from Toronto put Campbell at the top of my list of the guys remaining.

Round 10 – Ilya Samsonov

Considered Mrazek here, but I figured I could wait a bit on him, but I couldn’t wait on the last goalie left that I saw in this tier.

Round 11/12 – Petr Mrazek/Vitek Vanacek

Managed to grab both of my backups to cover my 164 games. Should be enough for top-four finishes in most of the goalie categories in my mind, and getting all four of them after round 8 is huge.

Round 13 – Vince Dunn

Back to the skaters, and the defencemen were stating to thin out. Dunn has looked great in pre-season with Seattle, and I think with the minutes bump he’s in for a very productive year. A bit of a swing without the high floor I like, but at this point in the draft that’s fine.

Round 14 – Justin Faulk

Still looking at defencemen and seeing it dry up a little with a whole ton of similar forwards still on the board. Faulk is streaky, but there weren’t any better PPP, shots, hits options left.

Round 15 – T.J. Oshie

Now it’s just time to mine forward value while a few teams are still focused on certain stats or positions. Oshie should have been gone 3-5 rounds ago despite his age. He’s a 60- to 70-point winger that brings all the peripherals.

Round 16 – Pavel Buchnevich

I went with one of the highest ADPs left on the board. Buch actually has very similar stats/upside as Oshie, but is a fair bit younger. Lots to like there, and helps me fill out RW.

Round 17 – Pierre-Luc Dubois

Needed Cs, and there’s some upside here despite the lack of deployment. Getting the other half of last season’s trade made me feel better about missing Laine a couple rounds ago.

Round 18 – Kyle Palmieri

Top line winger with hits, shots and PP time, tough to do better than that at this point. Didn’t feel the need to fill out my defence yet.

Round 19 – Logan Couture

Another guy that probably slipped a little too far. Happy to lap up another C. I was also feeling a little light on PPPs from my last set, so I doubled down on the SJ one at least providing me a few without absolutely killing my +/-. More on that next.

Round 20 – Erik Karlsson

Hoping for a bit of a rebound here, and there’s a lot of upside if the SJ offence can get back on track. Maybe all they need is Kane out of the dressing room. Not a lot of hits either, but I can survive that.

Round 21 – Alexander Georgiev

Best backup left, and because of injuries or not setting my lineup in time, you need more than just two tandems to hit your max starts. If Igor Shesterkin goes down (it’s happened before) then Georgiev is suddenly a huge pick.

Round 22 – K’Andre Miller

One of my big upside guys for the year. Tons of peripherals, some offensive potential, and going to be playing top-four minutes.

Round 23 – Joonas Korpisalo

Either a trade chip, or a spot starter for whenever they play Buffalo/Detroit/etc.

Round 24 – Craig Smith

We know what he is. Might be on the wire in a few weeks, but he’s not going to hurt me in any category the meantime.

Round 25 – Phillip Danault

With space for only one extra forward on my bench at this point, I figured I would grab someone to rack up a few peripherals to bank a couple extra games early. Might flip him to the FA pile once I have time to comb through it.

Overall, I'm very happy with the team. Maybe a little light on defence, but I think my forwards and goalies more than make up for it.

If you're interested in the full draft results and other recaps, most managers post them in the forum thread.