At the midseason mark of the Seattle Kraken's first NHL season, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to see what players they chose from each club and what players they passed on.  I'm not going to include players that were unrestricted free agents as Seattle could have been in on any of those players if they wished. Although they did choose five UFAs of which, three signed and two didn't.

I've split this into two parts as we will look at 15 teams this week and 15 teams next week that the Kraken could take players from.

Anaheim Ducks

Who they chose – Haydn Fleury – D – (23-2-1-3)

Players available – Sonny Milano – F – (35-9-16-25), Anthony Stolarz – G – (14 GP, 2.76 GAA, 91.7 save%), Adam Henrique – F – (24-6-10-16)

On the surface, it seems like the Kraken would have been better off taking Milano, Stolarz or Henrique than Haydn Fleury. Milano and/or Henrique would be in the top-six in Seattle and Stolarz seems like a capable backup.

Fleury is a sixth or seventh defenseman on the Kraken who is averaging a career-high of 16:48/game. The 25-year-old former 7th overall pick in 2014 has played 200 NHL games with nine goals and 21 assists, 259 hits and 108 blocked shots. Defenders take a little more time to develop, but it seems unlikely that Fleury will develop into the top-four defenceman he was drafted to be. He is a restricted free agent who makes $1.3 million this season on an expiring contract.

Perhaps there were some concerns with Milano's health as he only played six games last year? The 25-year-old former 16th overall pick from 2014 has blossomed this season in Anaheim and has 0.71 pts/game after 35 games. He has played 166 NHL games with 31 goals and 41 assists, which is good for 0.43 pts/game. His defensive game was a deficiency earlier in his career but with some sheltering, he has been just fine.

The Kraken targeted Chris Driedger and Philipp Grubauer to be their two goalies, but Stolarz could have strengthened the position over Joey Daccord and perhaps Driedger as well.

Seattle shied away from long-range contracts like Henrique who had three years remaining at $5.825 million AAV. If healthy, Henrique is an upgrade on Marcus Johansson, Calle Jarnkrok or Ryan Donato on the LW.

Arizona Coyotes

Picked – Tyler Pitlick – F – (25-0-2-2 in Calgary)

Pitlick was traded to Calgary for a 4th round pick in 2022, which is a fairly good return value for his role and production. The Kraken was going to have a few players like Pitlick to choose from so did well to get something for him as he would have been a UFA at the end of this season.

Players available – Ilya Lyubushkin – D – (42-0-6-6)

The pickings were very slim from Arizona and the only player that would have made any sense for Seattle was the 27-year-old stay-at-home defenseman, Lyubushkin. He is a little older than Haydn Fleury, but they play a similar style of game, with Lyubushkin the more physical of the two. If the Kraken had taken him, it would have allowed them to pass on Haydn Fleury.

Boston Bruins

Picked – Jeremy Lauzon – D – (35-1-4-5)

The Kraken took the 24-year-old Lauzon who had played 76 games in Boston before with three goals, eight assists, 71 PIM, 145 hits and 91 blocked shots. He saw some elevated minutes last year with Boston (18:43/game) and was a mainstay on their penalty kill. He's maintained most of that with the Kraken but has seen his ice time come down to 16:59 in Seattle. He leads the team in hits with 115.

Players available – Ondrej Kase – F – (32-8-9-17), Nick Ritchie – F – (33-2-7-9), Connor Clifton – D – (27-1-1-2)

Kase appears to be the only intriguing player that the Kraken should have entertained over Lauzon. The red warning light for them was that Kase missed all but three games last season with an upper-body injury, and had missed 15 games the season before and 52 the season before that. He's missed eight games this season in Toronto between Covid and injury but has been effective in a shutdown defensive role for the Maple Leafs.

Ritchie has been inconsistent in Toronto and Clifton has regressed a little this season in Boston.

Buffalo Sabres

Picked – Will Borgen – D – (15-1-1-2)

Players available – Jeff Skinner – F – (42-16-12-28), Kyle Okposo – F – (39-8-16-24), Cody Eakin – F – (39-3-6-9), Zemgus Girgensons – F – (34-7-5-12), Colin Miller – D – (32-2-10-12),

When it seems that most teams are focusing on adding defensemen with speed, and above-average stickhandling and passing skills, the Kraken seemed to have focused on some big physical defensive defensemen, including Borgen. His ceiling appears to be as a sixth defender.

Seattle understandably had no interest in adding Skinner ($9 million AAV until 2026-27) or Okposo ($6 million AAV till 2022-23). With similar players in their sights to Girgensons and Eakin, I don't blame the Kraken for passing on two players making over $2.2 million this season when they could have a similar player for $750k. Miller had a $3.875 million AAV that expires at the end of this season so that took him out of the mix as well.

Seattle was faced with adding the 25-year-old Borgen and hope he developed into an everyday player or add an overpriced veteran with the other five options. As strange as this pick seemed at the time, it's hard to blame them for what they did.

Calgary Flames

Picked – Mark Giordano – D – (38-4-13-17)

Players available – Milan Lucic – F – (40-9-6-15), Oliver Kylington – D – (39-4-15-19)

The allure of taking the 38-year-old Giordano, who was the captain of the Flames was too much for Seattle to ignore. The bonus is getting a return in trading him this season before he becomes a UFA.

The only other feasible options were Lucic who waived his NMC with two years remaining on his $6 million AAV cap hit and Kylington. In hindsight, Kylington is having an excellent season this year after only playing eight games all of last season, but it is unlikely he would be doing as well in Seattle.

The price tag for acquiring Giordano in trade from Seattle is probably not as high as a 1st rounder, but perhaps a 2nd rounder, which would be a similar value to Kylington right now. With the added intangibles that Giordano has brought to Seattle in terms of marketing, leadership, etc. perhaps the Kraken get slightly more in return.

Carolina Hurricanes

Picked – Morgan Geekie – F – (38-3-8-11)

Players available – Nino Niederreiter – F – (36-13-8-21), Jake Bean – D – (41-4-11-15)

The 23-year-old Geekie has played 75 NHL games now with nine goals and 15 assists. Seattle is hoping that he can reach the levels that he has seen in the AHL where he has had 19 and 22 goal years in the two years he spent in Charlotte.

If there was another veteran player that the Kraken could have entertained to flip at the deadline this season it could have been Niederreiter who had 20 goals last year in 56 games and has continued that this season with 12 in 33 games. The drawback was his salary of $5.475 million, but it would have expired after this season.

The other young player, that was available was the 23-year-old Bean who played 42 games with Carolina last season and had one goal and 11 assists as a rookie.

Carolina traded Bean to Columbus a few days after the expansion draft for a 2nd round pick.

The jury will be out on the development of Geekie and Bean over the next two or three seasons.

Chicago Blackhawks

Picked – John Quenneville – F – (39-18-13-31 with Zurich of the Swiss League)

Players available – Adam Gaudette – F – (18-3-6-9), Calvin De Haan – D –  (40-1-3-4), Nikita Zadorov – D –  (33-3-6-9), Collin Delia – G – (14GP, 2.77 GAA, 91.0 save% in the AHL) , Malcolm Subban – G – (4GP, 4.86 GAA, 87.1 save% with Buffalo)

For Seattle to pick Quenneville, who was unrestricted, made it evident that the team had no interest in any of the others that were available. The 25-year-old Gaudette was placed on waivers by Chicago and claimed by Ottawa while the 30-year-old De Haan is making $4.55 million this season and will be a UFA. The 26-year-old Zadorov was traded to Calgary after the expansion draft for a 3rd round pick and signed at $3.75 million for one season. Zadorov was an RFA and Seattle would have had to pay him over $3.2 million to re-sign him.

Both Delia and Subban had guaranteed one-way salaries this season of $1.1 million and $950,000 respectively and didn't figure into the plans for the Kraken as a backup.

It is tough to look at this pick as anything more than a missed opportunity to have an NHL contributor this year and an asset that could have got them a middle-round pick at the very least. Zadorov or De Haan would seem like the most valuable in hindsight.

Colorado Avalanche

Picked – Joonas Donskoi – F – (43-0-14-14)

Players available – J.T. Compher – F – (31-8-8-16), Erik Johnson – D – (43-5-10-15), Jonas Johansson – G – (9GP, 3.73 GAA, 88.5 save%)

The 29-year-old Donskoi has two years remaining on his contract with a $3.9 million AAV, at the end of which he will be unrestricted. Last season he had impressive 17 goals and 14 assists in 51 games in Colorado, but this year is goalless in his first 43 games in Seattle.

Johansson was picked up by Florida on waivers after playing nine games for Colorado and has a two-way contract that pays him $750k/$350k.

Compher is only 26-years old but has a fairly expensive contract with two years remaining of $3.5 million AAV that will make him unrestricted when it is done.

Erik Johnson missed all of last season due to injury and makes $6 million this year and next, so the risk was not worth it for Seattle for the 33-year-old.

The Kraken would have control of any of Donskoi, Compher or Johnson this year and next and felt Donskoi was the best fit.

Columbus Blue Jackets

Picked – Gavin Bayreuther – D – (22-0-6-6 re-signed by Columbus as a UFA)

Players available – Max Domi – F – (32-8-10-18), Kevin Stenlund – F – (3-0-0-0), Dean Kukan – D –  (11-1-1-2), Scott Harrington – D –  (7-0-1-1), Gabriel Carlsson – D –  (17-1-3-4)

The Kraken could have taken a chance on Domi who is now 26-years old but making $6 million this season in salary. There were some health and injury concerns with him, but surely he could have been a trade chip that could bring back a 3rd or 4th round pick at the trade deadline if healthy.

All of Stenlund, Kukan, Harrington and Carlsson could have been depth players at the very least in Seattle, and with the pick of Bayreuther being lost as a UFA, it was a waste of a pick.

Dallas Stars

Picked – Jamie Oleksiak – D – (37-1-10-11), signed as a UFA

Players available – Tanner Kero – F – (19-0-2-2), Joel Hanley – D –  (18-0-1-1)

Oleksiak, the 29-year-old former 14th overall pick in 2011 has been good in Seattle this year. The Kraken took a chance and picked him and then signed him to a five-year, $4.6 million AAV contract. He is second on the team in hits with 105 and has averaged 19:26 of ice time per game.

Kero was thought by some to be the pick that Seattle would go with, but they have quite a few players just like him so he would have been a depth addition just as Hanley would have been on defence.

Detroit Red Wings

Picked – Dennis Cholowski – D – (7-0-1-1) claimed on waivers by Washington

Players available – Vladislav Namestnikov – F – (45-12-10-22), Troy Stecher – D –  (6-0-1-1)

The 23-year-old, 20th overall pick in 2016, Cholowski was picked by Seattle then lost in waivers to Washington without playing a game with the Kraken.

The 29-year-old Namestnikov had one-year remaining before becoming unrestricted at $2.5 million in salary at the end of this season. The 27-year-old Stecher was a little expensive this season at $2.2 million for what he brings.

Either Namestnikov and Stecher would have brought value to the lineup or as an asset, especially in light of losing Cholowski for essentially nothing.

Edmonton Oilers

Picked – Adam Larsson – D – (44-4-9-13)

Players available –

James Neal – F – (19-2-2-4), Kyle Turris – F – (22-1-3-4), Tyler Benson – F – (19-0-1-1), Devin Shore – F –  (23-2-3-5), Kris Russell – D –  (19-0-4-4), Mikko Koskinen – G – (24 GP 3.00 GAA, 90.0 Save%)

Seattle chose the 29-year-old unrestricted free agent, Larsson and then signed him to a four-year deal at $4 million AAV in which he has a full no-trade clause for this year and next.

Other options were Neal, Turris, Benson, Shore, Russell or Koskinen. Without getting into great detail, I think we can say that the Kraken made the correct choice here.

Florida Panthers

Picked – Chris Driedger – G – (3.18 GAA, 89.6 save %)

Players available –

Frank Vatrano – F – (39-8-6-14), Juho Lammikko – F – (37-3-3-6), Ryan Lomberg – F – (33-4-7-11), Radko Gudas – D – (43-0-11-11), Lucas Carlsson – D – (24-2-6-8)

The Kraken picked and signed unrestricted free agent 27-year-old Driedger to a three-year contract at $3.5 million AAV, which is fairly expensive when we consider they signed Philipp Grubauer to a six-year, $5.9 million AAV as well. Driedger possessed only 38 NHL games before this season, but his 35 games with Florida over the past two seasons of a 2.05 GAA and a save percentage at 93.0 convinced Seattle.

Skater options were, impending UFAs Vatrano (27-years old) or Lomberg (27). The expiring RFA options were Lammikko (26) and Carlsson (24), while Gudas had two years remaining on his contract at $2.5 million AAV.

The only players I see changing the landscape of the Kraken roster this season and next would be Gudas and perhaps Lucas Carlsson on defence. Gudas is a hitting machine who has 190 hits in 43 games in Florida this season in a shutdown role. Gudas has his detractors because of his metrics, but he can be very effective if not overextended.

If the Kraken believe in Driedger as much as the pick and contract indicate, then it is tough to criticize at this point. We'd have to look back on this in a year or two.

Los Angeles Kings

Picked – Kurtis MacDermid – D – (31-1-2-3 in Colorado)

Players available – Brendan Lemieux – F – (34-7-1-8), Blake Lizotte – F – (40-6-7-13), Carl Grundstrom – F – (29-6-3-9), Olli Maatta – D – (31-1-2-3), Kale Clague – D – (23-1-5-6), Jonathan Quick – G – (27 GP 2.58 GAA 91.3 Save%)

The Kraken pick was MacDermid and they traded him to Colorado for a 4th round pick in 2023.

Did Seattle sell themselves short by not adding any of Lemieux, Lizotte, Grundstrom, Clague?

The 25-year-old Lemieux will be an RFA at the end of the year and is currently making $1.55 million which might have been a little rich for the Kraken moving forward.

The 24-year-old Lizotte will be an RFA at the end of the year and is making $800k this year as a speedy undersized center who has averaged just under 12 minutes per game while producing a CF% of 56.8. It is hard to think he wouldn't be in the lineup for Seattle this season.

The 24-year-old Grundstrom struggled last season with the Kings while putting up six goals and five assists in 47 games. The 57th overall pick in 2016 of the Toronto Maple Leafs does have some offensive upside but needs to score to be effective in the NHL. The jury is out on him still but the Kraken already made their decision.

The 23-year-old Clague has seen his stock go down since the Kraken passed on him. He started the season in the AHL but got an extended look in Los Angeles when Drew Doughty went down with an injury. Clague played 11 games and did have five assists, but when Doughty came back the Kings had seen enough and put him on waivers where he was claimed by Montreal.

The Kraken might have done well here in getting a 4th round pick over having a player like Lemieux or Lizotte, both of whom would have helped out the roster this season, but not brought as much back in a trade. Seattle had their forwards mapped out already and weren't interested in any of the forwards available from Los Angeles.

Minnesota Wild

Picked – Carson Soucy – D – (33-6-7-13)

Players available – Nick Bjugstad – F – (28-4-1-5), Kaapo Kahkonen – G – (16GP 2.53 GAA, 92.2 Save%)

Seattle chose Soucy and the 27-year-old in his third NHL season has two years remaining on his $2.75 million AAV contract he signed with Minnesota. He has played 17:02 per night which is about a minute and a half more than he saw with the Wild. He's an effective fifth or sixth defenceman, but is stretched if asked to do more at 5on5. He has averaged 0.31 pts/game in his career which should translate to 20-25 points in a season.

The Kraken passed on the big 29-year-old Bjugstad who had just re-signed with Minnesota before the expansion draft for one season at $900k to avoid unrestricted free agency. Bjugstad had some pretty good success in Florida, scoring between 15 and 24 goals and 34 to 49 points in four seasons there where he played about 15 minutes per night. The last two seasons in Minnesota saw a diminished role and 11 or 12 minutes per night, while he battled injury only playing 57 games over two years with seven goals and 12 assists. I'm sure his injury past was a concern for Seattle.

Personally, I thought the Kraken would take Kahkonen as their backup. This was before it became clear that Grubauer was their target through free agency. Kahkonen is still only 25-years old and technically is still a rookie this year with Minnesota after playing 24 games and five games the past two seasons.

Soucy was a fine addition to their team, but his ceiling is similar to a few of the other choices that the Kraken made in this draft. Low.

Next week we will look at the rest of the picks from New Jersey to the Winnipeg Jets. If the Kraken had made some trades to get value to not pick some players some of these picks would make more sense, but they have clearly whiffed on some of these and at the very least cost themselves mid-range draft picks or some serviceable depth this season.

Thanks for reading, and let me know if you want me to focus on any players or topics by messaging me below or following me on Twitter @gampbler15.