Fantasy Take: Montour Signs With Seattle
Ian Gooding
2024-07-01
The Seattle Kraken have signed free agent defenseman Brandon Montour to a seven-year contract with an average annual value of $7.14 million.
The Kraken receive: Montour, who is fresh off a Stanley Cup championship with Florida with a team parade and celebration just one day earlier. Montour was slowed by injuries and back to a more usual pace (33 PTS in 66 GP) in 2023-24 after a career-high 73 points the season before. Seattle is rolling the dice hoping that Montour has more seasons like that 2022-23 season on both the team and cap hit on this contract.
Montour will provide the Kraken with another right-shot defenseman, a position they have been rather thin at beyond Adam Larsson. The power play is the obvious discussion point in fantasy leagues, though. Does Montour bump Vince Dunn off the top unit? Or is Montour going to fill UFA Justin Schultz's role on PP2? Or do Dunn and Montour form a pair on PP1 with three forwards? Don't rule out a potential trade involving another Kraken defenseman.
The Kraken have typically split power-play duties up the middle, as Dunn was the only player to average more than 55% of the team's available minutes last season. It is worth noting that Dave Hakstol is no longer the coach, and Dan Bylsma may decide to let the top players cook a little more.
That being said, the fact that the Kraken didn't lean heavily on any forwards on their power play also speaks to the lack of high-end scoring among their forwards. Jared McCann led the team with 62 points last season, while Oliver Bjorkstrand was the only other player to reach the 50-point mark. Seattle did have a middle-of-the-pack power play, so maybe Hakstol was making the most out of what he could use.
If Montour is going to be settling into the Pacific Northwest for the rest of his career, then his 73-point season has to be considered an outlier. Something around 40 points for the coming season might be a more reasonable expectation.
There are also questions about the power play in Florida with both Montour and Oliver Ekman-Larsson leaving. Does Aaron Ekblad return to the top power play? Gustav Forsling's stock has been skyrocketing as a top-notch defender, so don't rule him out there either.
Players this helps, in order:
Ekblad
Forsling
Players this hurts, in order:
Dunn
Montour
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