Fantasy Impact: The Kraken Sign Kailer Yamamoto
Dobber
2023-07-02
The Seattle Kraken have signed winger Kailer Yamamoto to a one-year deal worth $1.5M AAV.
The Kraken get: a diminutive (5-8), high-upside winger with a lot to prove. According to the DobberHockey BT model, smaller players such as Yamamoto need about 400 NHL games of experience to truly come into their own. Yamamoto has played 244. Expectations in Edmonton were high – and rightly so. But they were wrongfully impatient. Management is generally patient with their players. Fans are not. But in the case of Yamamoto, management ran out of patience.
Fantasy Players Impacted: If Seattle plays him for the full schedule, Yamamoto's development will come along just like it did with Eeli Tolvanen last season. If you recall, Tolvanen was scratched for the first 14 games after joining the team. He was given nearly six weeks to adapt to the playing style and settle in. Six weeks of just practicing with the club. Then he got into games and given about 12 minutes of ice time. By the time the season ended, he was regularly seeing 15 minutes of TOI. Tolvanen ended up with 35 points in 62 regular season and playoff games with Seattle, which is a 46-point pace. If Yamamoto can produce similar, consider it a win. And a big step towards that breakout in 2025-26.
Seattle has three lines already, so ice time for Yamamoto is not a given. He'll probably rely on injuries before he gets a big opportunity. That makes Yamamoto a risk in fantasy, and he should only be drafted late (as a 'hunch' stash) if at all. While his long-term outlook is still okay (if risky), his short-term outlook isn't great. It's hard to see Oliver Bjorkstrand or Jaden Schwartz getting bumped out of the top nine, so it's likely going to be Alex Wennberg (thus moving Jared McCann to center). If Yamamoto were to play lights-out hockey, Wennberg is the one at risk.
This is probably one of the less-ideal spots that Yamamoto could have chosen, but it could have been worse. It seems like he didn't have many option (which is a head-scratcher). That said, if Yamamoto indeed becomes a 46-point player this season and Tolvanen takes the next step, it would be really cool to see those two flanking Matty Beniers on a kid line of sorts.
Fantasy Players this helps, in order:
- Yamamoto (marginally)
Fantasy Players this hurts, in order:
- Wennberg
- Schwartz (slightly)
As you can see from Yamamoto's Player Usage Chart, his metrics were actually pretty good and he was not a sheltered player.
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