John Klingberg‘s game has declined but he’ll still get interest
Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff: Anaheim Ducks pending UFA right-handed defenseman John Klingberg carries a $7 million salary cap hit and a 10-team trade list.
He has had a great season and it’s something that has declined over the past could of seasons. His goals above replacement for defensemen playing over 500 minutes is ranked 174th out of 180 according to Evolving Hockey.
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Potential fits include the Seattle Kraken (may need a third team involved to retain salary), New York Islanders (power play could use a boost) and the Calgary Flames (if they become big buyers).
Comparable trade returns
To Buffalo: Colin Miller
To Vegas: 2021 2nd Round Pick (Ben Roger), 2022 5th Round Pick (Sergei Ivanov)
To Edmonton: Mike Green
To Detroit: Kyle Brodziak, 2020 4th Round Pick (Jan Bednar)
To Boston: Mike Reilly
To Ottawa: 2022 3rd Round Pick (Tomas Hamara)
To Calgary: Erik Gustafsson
To Chicago: 2020 3rd Round Pick (Wyatt Kaiser)
Seattle Kraken GM will be patient as the trade deadline draws near
Pierre LeBrun of Athletic: The Seattle Kraken are trending towards being buyers at the deadline but GM Ron Francis doesn’t want to make a trade just to make a trade and doesn’t want to mess up their chemistry. He’ll wait and see where they sit in the next couple of weeks before determining their course of action.
The Kraken’s core is signed and they only have four pending UFAs in Ryan Donato, Joonas Donskoi, Carson Soucy and Martin Jones.
“You look at our lineup, I believe our top nine are all in solid contract situations moving forward, so it’s not like we have to look at a big flip-over in the offseason,” Francis said. “So I think you just look at every (trade possibility) situation and every deal differently, and if it makes sense, short-term and long-term, obviously you pay more attention to it. If it doesn’t, you have to be willing to walk away.”
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The Kraken have three second-round picks and are unlikely to move their first. Their philosophy to build from the ground up hasn’t changed.