Kraken Unleashed: Seattle Finally Gets Their Team

Ever since the Seattle Supersonics relocated to Oklahoma City to become the OKC Thunder in 2008, Seattle sports fans have been dying for another team. A move that angered many basketball fans across the nation, especially those Sonic Superfans, it came about due to the local government refusing to fund a new arena in the Seattle metropolitan area for the team. Ever since the move, Seattle has been THE rumored spot for every NBA team that even thinks about relocating such as the Sacramento Kings, Milwaukee Bucks, Atlanta Hawks, and most recently, my Minnesota Timberwolves (a discussion for another article).

Realistically, the relocation of a NBA team would not be the short-term solution for the sports craved Seattle fans. Seattle has some of the most passionate fans around, so passionate that the nickname for their NFL stadium is the “12th Man” because the stadium gets so loud that the fans act as the 12th man on the field. Additionally, the Seattle Sounders have been one of the best MLS teams in the past five years with their four U.S. Open Cup victories and their two MLS Cup championships. A city rocking with all of the sports success they have been having recently, the people are grasping for another team to root for but “How?” and “When?” are the two questions.

Here comes Seattle’s saving grace: the National Hockey League (NHL). In 2017, the NHL expanded to 31 teams with the inauguration of the Las Vegas Golden Knights. 31 being an odd number, the NHL was destined to go to 32 and now was Seattle’s time. Seattle got approved to be the NHL’s 32nd franchise, slated to start play in the 2021-2022 season. Starting with a list of 13 names including the likes of the “Totems,” “Whales,” “Sea Lions,” and “Firebirds,” “Kraken” was ultimately chosen for the nickname (my personal favorite was Whalers). 

Okay, we got the location and name, how about we draft a team eh? How the NHL runs their expansion draft allows the expansion team to select one player from each current team in the “Expansion Draft.” However, each active team gets to protect a certain number of players. There is a lot of fine print to who you have to protect but basically, a team can protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goaltender or eight skaters and one goaltender depending on which suits the team better.

Time for Draft Night. A couple days before the Expansion Draft the picks for who each team is protecting is set, allowing for Seattle to scheme their strategy. Now, you may be asking, this seems unfair for Seattle since every team will protect their best players. That is when we take a look at the Las Vegas Golden Knights in their first season. The Golden Knights went to the Stanley Cup Finals in their inaugural season, a feat never done before. 

But wait Sam! They probably changed the rules to the expansion draft right? The rules are the exact same for the Kraken as the Knights. However, the Kraken did not execute their strategy as well as the Knights, being criticized by many for their draft performance. Personally, I’d give them a draft grade of a C, but they did make some good free agent signings. Their management decided to build the team for the long haul, while the Knights decided to build for a win-now mentality.

So, will the Kraken bring a championship home to the sports-craved Seattle sports Super Fans? Very unlikely, but hey, Seattle you got another team that is a victory in itself. We will see in the next few years if the draft for the future philosophy the Seattle Kraken had has as much success as the win-now philosophy the Vegas Knights had.