The Seattle Kraken have picked Calgary Flames captain Mark Giordano in Wednesday’s expansion draft.
The 37-year-old defenceman has played his entire 15-season NHL career in Calgary and won the Norris Trophy as the league’s top blueliner in 2019.
Giordano’s offensive production has dropped in recent years, and he registered 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) last season.
The Toronto native has one year left on his contract with a US$6.75 million cap hit.
The Kraken opted not to pick Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, although the 33-year-old star was left exposed. Instead, Seattle selected 22-year-old defenceman Cale Fleury.
Defenceman Adam Larsson was Seattle’s selection from the Edmonton Oilers.
The 28-year-old Swedish defenceman had 10 points (four goals, six assists) and 24 penalty minutes for the Oilers last year. A pending unrestricted free agent, Larsson has played 10 seasons in the NHL, splitting his time between Edmonton and the New Jersey Devils.
Seattle took forward Jared McCann from the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Toronto picked up McCann ahead of the roster freeze on Saturday, acquiring him from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward prospect Filip Hallander and a seventh-round pick in the 2023 draft.
McCann, a 25-year-old from Stratford, Ont., had 32 points (14 goals, 18 assists) for Pittsburgh last year.
From the Winnipeg Jets, the Kraken took forward Mason Appleton.
The 25-year-old from Green Bay, Wisc., has played all three seasons of his NHL career in Winnipeg, putting up 25 points (12 goals, 13 assists) last year.
The Kraken also took forward Kole Lind from the Vancouver Canucks and Ottawa Senators goalie Joey Daccord.
Seattle’s other early selections include New York Islanders winger Jordan Eberle, forward Yanni Gourde from the Tampa Bay Lightning and Brandon Tanev from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Kraken had to choose one player from every current NHL club except for the Vegas Golden Knights, which entered the league in 2017-18.
The expansion draft also includes rules around how many players must be currently under contract for next season and how much salary cap space must be used.
The Kraken are set to become the NHL’s 32nd franchise when the 2021-22 season opens this fall. The team announced Wednesday that it’s first regular-season home game will take place against the Vancouver Canucks on Oct. 23.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 21, 2021.
The Canadian Press