Reeling in a Giant Ny-landlubber

Forums/Armchair-GM

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Created by: KrakenTheCode

Team: 2023-24 Seattle Kraken

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 8, 2023

Published: Jul. 11, 2023

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

Description

William Nylander wasn't originally on my radar as someone the Seattle Kraken could target in a trade to improve their team this offseason. But with a bunch of ACGMs sending him to Seattle, I thought I'd share my thoughts on how a Nylander trade could be done from a Kraken fan's perspective.

Should the Kraken add Nylander, they'd be adding a point-per-game forward, which they have not yet had in their history. There is little doubt that he would be a massive addition to the team. Consequently, he is quite a valuable player should Toronto decide to trade him and would garner quite a bit of value in return. However, Nylander is on an expiring contract, and is reported to be desiring $10M or more annually on his next deal. As a result, he a rental until proven otherwise. This means that Seattle won't be willing to send uber-prospects like Wright to Toronto, and since the Kraken trying to win, trading irreplaceable core pieces of the team like Beniers, McCann, Dunn, or Larsson are nonstarters. They have $9M of cap space left, but most of that will be taken up by Dunn's next contract, so Seattle will also need to send a player (likely a forward) back to the Leafs to make the cap and roster math work. The middle ground I have arrived at is Nylander to Seattle for Eberle, a top-six albeit lower wattage replacement winger, and a cache of draft picks.

Let me know your thoughts, helpful feedback is always welcome. Cheers!

Free Agent Signings

RFA		YEARS	CAP HIT
Dunn, Vince		8	$8,000,000
Fleury, Cale		2	$800,000

Trades

SEA

Nylander, William

Additional Details:

Nylander would take Eberle's spot on the top line with McCann and Beniers. I created this trade without an extension in place, though Francis and the Kraken likely would only make a deal like this if they felt they could extend Nylander before he becomes a free agent.

TOR

Eberle, Jordan
2024 1st round pick (SEA)
2024 3rd round pick (TOR)
2025 2nd round pick (SEA)

Additional Details:

2024 1st round pick is top-10 protected; pick obligation will shift to 2025 if Seattle's 2024 1st round pick lands within the top-10

Eberle isn't on Nylander's level, but he's still a capable veteran top-six winger who should replace a decent portion of Nylander's production. Toronto also gets several draft picks they could use to restock their prospect pool or trade for immediate help. I used draft picks because that fits with Francis' trade MO and to afford the Leafs more asset flexibility, but the second and/or third round picks could be replaced by prospects of equal value.

Draft	Round 1	Round 2	Round 3	Round 4	Round 5	Round 6	Round 7
2024
2025
2026

ROSTER

LONG-TERM OUTLOOK

EMBED

TEXT-EMBED

ROSTER SIZE	SALARY CAP	CAP HIT	OVERAGES	BONUSES	CAP SPACE
22	$83,500,000	$82,756,442	$129,910	$1,850,000	$743,558

Left Wing	Centre	Right Wing
McCann, Jared $5,000,000$5,000,000 LW, C M-NTC UFA - 4	Beniers, Matthew $897,500$897,500 ($1,850,000$2M) C RFA - 1	Nylander, William $6,962,366$6,962,366 RW, C M-NTC UFA - 1
Schwartz, Jaden $5,500,000$5,500,000 LW NMC UFA - 3	Wennberg, Alexander $4,500,000$4,500,000 C M-NTC UFA - 1	Burakovsky, André $5,500,000$5,500,000 RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 4
Tolvanen, Eeli $1,450,000$1,450,000 LW, RW RFA - 1	Gourde, Yanni $5,166,666$5,166,666 C, LW, RW M-NTC UFA - 2	Bjorkstrand, Oliver $5,400,000$5,400,000 RW, LW M-NTC UFA - 3
Tanev, Brandon $3,500,000$3,500,000 LW, RW M-NTC UFA - 2	Bellemare, Pierre-Édouard $775,000$775,000 C, LW UFA - 1	Yamamoto, Kailer $1,500,000$1,500,000 RW RFA - 1

Left Defense	Right Defense	Goaltender
Dunn, Vince $8,000,000$8,000,000 LD/RD UFA - 4	Larsson, Adam $4,000,000$4,000,000 RD M-NTC UFA - 2	Grubauer, Philipp $5,900,000$5,900,000 G NTC UFA - 4
Oleksiak, Jamie $4,600,000$4,600,000 LD/RD NTC UFA - 3	Borgen, William $2,700,000$2,700,000 RD UFA - 2	Daccord, Joey $1,200,000$1,200,000 G UFA - 2
Dumoulin, Brian $3,150,000$3,150,000 LD M-NTC UFA - 2	Schultz, Justin $3,000,000$3,000,000 RD M-NTC UFA - 1

Scratches	Injured Reserve (IR)	Long Term IR (LTIR)
Lind, Kole $775,000$775,000 RW RFA - 1
Fleury, Cale $800,000$800,000 RD RFA - 2

Taxi Squad
Wright, Shane $918,333$918,333 ($0$0$0$0) ($3,062,500$3M) C RFA - 3
Kartye, Tye $859,167$859,167 ($0$0$0$0) ($57,500$58K) LW RFA - 2
Evans, Ryker $897,500$897,500 ($0$0$0$0) LD RFA - 2
Driedger, Chris $3,500,000$3,500,000 ($2,350,000$2M$2,350,000$2M) G M-NTC UFA - 1
Megna, Jaycob $762,500$762,500 ($0$0$0$0) LD UFA - 1

Jul. 11 at 10:46 a.m.

Subbanator7667

Subbanator

Joined: Jul. 2017

Posts: 6,511

Likes: 2,739

You have to at least take the protection off the pick lol

Jul. 11 at 11:00 a.m.

Brad_Treliving

Joined: Oct. 2021

Posts: 2,884

Likes: 639

This doesn't even get you a conversation about Nylander

Jul. 11 at 11:03 a.m.

GreatWhiteNorth

Joined: May 2023

Posts: 940

Likes: 377

Leafs pass. They’re not looking for rentals or picks for Nylander - they want players to help them win now.

That being said, any Nylander deal right now likely comes with an extension for him. Whatever that might be, Francis and Nylander’s camp can figure that out. But that’s the start of a deal and if Toronto it moving Nylander then they’re going to address multiple needs in doing so.

I saw an interesting article that made sense for both sides, a deal centred around Nylander (with extension) for Larsson and Wright. Seattle adds their bonafide star, Toronto finally adds a top 4 right handed defensive defence partner to play with Rielly and also addresses their centre depth need. People have been saying that Seattle wouldn’t or shouldn’t trade Wright but they seem to be extremely high on a kid that’s failed to meet expectations for almost 3 years now. If Seattle could get a legit star and Wright is part of the package, it makes sense.

It seems to make a lot of sense for both teams, with maybe a few smaller pieces added on each side to complete the deal.

Jul. 11 at 1:27 p.m.

odyssey

H.Lindholm Lover

Joined: Apr. 2021

Posts: 3,349

Likes: 840

Not a chance the leafs consider that

Jul. 11 at 1:35 p.m.

KrakenTheCode

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2022

Posts: 652

Likes: 385

Quoting: GreatWhiteNorth

I've seen several people propose a Nylander for Wright/Larsson framework, and I don't think that will work for Seattle, for a couple of reasons. The first is money. Seattle is listed as having around $9M in cap space left, but that number is deceptive. Dunn's next contract will take up the vast majority of that $9M, so realistically the Kraken can only take back $1M-$1.5M more than they send out in order to field a complete roster. The second reason is the players involved. We can debate Wright's value, but to me the bigger roadblock is Larsson. He's a critical part of the Kraken roster, and one they wouldn't realistically be able to replace if they traded him. For a team like the Kraken whose trying to win, upgrading the forward group by removing a defensive cornerstone is infeasible. There's probably a deal that would satisfy both teams, but I can't see Seattle being willing to trade either of their top-pairing defensemen in it.

Jul. 11 at 1:51 p.m.

GreatWhiteNorth

Joined: May 2023

Posts: 940

Likes: 377

Quoting: KrakenTheCode

1) cap is manageable. Other trades can be made and people on here seem to be narrow sighted and just see one trade as being able to be made. They can easily do a Nylander for Larsson/Wright deal and moved a guy like Eberle in another deal or even a Bjorkstrand deal - both of which clear another $5.5m in cap space. And Nylander is a significant upgrade on both. It’s not as big of a deal as you’d think.

2) Larsson is expendable. Just because he’s on a teams top pair doesn’t mean he’s a top pair guy, he’s more of a #4 guy in his best spot. Seattle actually has a number of right handed defence that could be able to step up. Will Borgen played great last year and was rewarded with a pretty decent raise and plays a very similar game to Larsson but is a bit more physical. He’d likely take Larsson’s spot if he’s moved and not miss a beat. Then Schultz slides into the second pair spot and the top 4 really isn’t much different than last year but you have the upgraded offence of Nylander.

Jul. 11 at 3:08 p.m.

KrakenTheCode

Thread Starter

Joined: Jul. 2022

Posts: 652

Likes: 385

Quoting: GreatWhiteNorth

1. You are correct that the cap is workable, and Seattle or Toronto could easily find other moves to make the money work. But by shipping out Eberle, Bjorkstrand, or someone else in a separate deal, they're essentially upgrading from that player to Nylander while losing Larsson, Wright, and whatever else. From a team building perspective I'm not convinced that will make the Kraken more successful. If the Kraken pursue a big trade for Nylander or anyone else, I don't expect them to do so until Dunn is signed anyway. Once he's back under contract, the Kraken will have a much clearer picture of how much cap space they have left to work with for other potential moves.

2. Having watched Larsson in Seattle the last two seasons, I wouldn't call him expendable. He led all Kraken skaters in TOI last year, averaging over 20 minutes per game and over 25 in the playoffs. For most of that ice time, he faced the best opposing players, both at even strength and on the top penalty kill unit, and through it all provided lockdown defense and career highs across the board offensively. Larsson might not have been a top-pairing defenseman in the past, but he certainly is now. I'm a big fan of Borgen and he's certainly capable of filling Larsson's shoes down the line, but asking him to replace everything that Larsson does right now is a LOT to ask of a guy who just established himself as a regular NHL starter this past season.

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