Seattle Kraken’s 3rd Round Options in 2024 Draft – Hockey Writers – Seattle Kraken
The clock is really ticking now. About two weeks before the 2024 NHL Entry Draft at Sphere in Las Vegas. Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis and his team of analysts must analyze data and talk to people from various leagues to find out who to pick. We’ve already previewed both Round 1 and Round 2. Round 3 falls into the “anything goes” category. This is where the true blue-green hockey experience comes into play. But we will do our best to understand what this third session has in store for Kraken.
Déjà Vu in Round 3
Lo and behold, Seattle finds itself in familiar territory when the third quarter of the draft begins. In our Round 2-centric analysis, we explained that the trade deadline deal with the New York Rangers earned Francis’ organization a second pick in the second round, which would end up being 63.rd choose. The Kraken benefit from the same type of picks in Round 3. It’s not just that their 2023-24 play earned them 73.rd spot, but the trade of Mark Giordano to the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2022 gives the club 88.th choose again.
This puts Seattle in a comfortable position. At this stage, they will have picked a total of eight, then double in Round 2 before they decide what they want to do at 73 or 88. . In other words, when this phase begins, three new prospects will develop under the Kraken’s tenders, either at the NHL level or otherwise.
Using Pick as Trade Diarrhea
There is a word used in sports parlance for situations like this. With five potential picks in three rounds, one could argue that the Kraken have the capital of the draft. If a club has draft money, they can use it to develop deals with rivals by trading picks to acquire a tried, tested, and true player.
Related: 2024 NHL Draft Rankings: Baracchini’s Top 128 Rankings
While the purpose of the draft is to plan for the future by selecting and developing young talent, when someone is picked five out of three rounds, one begins to entertain the idea of making a deal with someone else. Seattle cannot trade a third-round pick in exchange for Pavel Zacha, Nick Suzuki, or Quinn Hughes. Those players are very important to their sides. But when one examines the team’s standings and goes down the points table, other possibilities begin to emerge. A current third-round pick with another player — or perhaps without one — could provide a young, inexperienced player in the middle of the pack statistically for their team.
When I look at the NHL, there is no shortage of professionals who are just starting to make a name for themselves but haven’t hit it big yet. Even in their first seasons, they didn’t see that much high-flying action.
One name that comes up is Morgan Frost of the Philadelphia Flyers. He played well the past two seasons, tallying 46 and 41 points respectively, and missed just 12 games in both campaigns. This came after playing a total of 77 games in his first three NHL seasons after being drafted in 2017.
Joe Veleno of the Detroit Red Wings comes to mind. At 24, he has many good years of hockey ahead of him. Granted, he was a first round pick in 2018 but came in last (30th). In addition, he looks like a player whose full potential has yet to be tapped. He has participated in 66, 81, and 80 contests over the past three seasons, logging nearly 13 minutes of ice time. His highest score was 28, which came during the current campaign. Not all Round 1 picks develop into amazing players, but anything that might open up in Veleno hasn’t happened in five full campaigns, including three of the most spent in the NHL.
While some may scoff at the thought of going after a late first-round pick, rumor has it that Francis had to turn down an offer from 2022 Round 1 pick Shane Wright in recent weeks, so it’s not as far-fetched as some may believe. .
Note that we haven’t said that the trade has to be 73rd or 88th select as food. Honestly, it could be anyway. The needs of other parties can influence what Kraken chooses to do.
Who’s in Round 3?
If you look at The Hockey Writers’ latest rankings for June, the defenseman lineup is ranked 73rd.rd place. LD Lukas Fischer of the Sarnia Sting turns 70, RD Luka Marelli of the Oshawa Generals is 71, LD Daniil Ustinkov of the ZSC Lions is 72, F Will Zellers of the Shattuck St . Mary’s 18U Prep is 73, and LD Tomas Galvas Bílí Tygři Liberec is 74.
Interestingly, goalkeeper Ilya Nabokov reaches 75. Seattle’s situation in net seems sound enough, but who knows if Joey Daccord, for all his illustrious stats in 2023-24, is the long-term solution. Philipp Grubauer’s save percentage has dipped below .900 in three straight seasons (.889, .895, and .899). Plus, Russian conservatives are all the rage these days, and why wouldn’t they be? Igor Shesterkin, Andrei Vasilevskiy, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Ilya Sorokin are in top form, so the Russians are doing something right in improving their goaltending. Choosing one might not be such a bad idea.
As for the rest of the players, by now, Seattle will have done everything they can to alleviate their scoring problems, so picking a defender would make sense.
As mentioned, the Kraken are also on the move at 88th place. The Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) was well presented, with both RD Tomas Lavoie of the Cape Breton Eagles at 86 and C Raoul Boilard Baie-Comeau Drakkar at 88 likely to be available.
If Seattle owns the 88th take your pick, Boilard seems like a good fit. Creating goalscoring opportunities has been a frustrating thing for the club in 2023-24, but our commentators appreciate his patience and passing in attacking areas. He’s also a very good-looking man, who can help the Kraken’s 25 a lotth– ranked performance in that department at 47.5 percent.
With so many options and so much work done by the Kraken before the third round begins, the possibilities start to feel endless. Will Seattle trade one of their two picks? Will they trade both or not? We delve into the club’s draft analysis and predictions, leading to entertaining the idea of making a trade or even selecting a netminder. One of the interesting things about a round like the third, which is early but not late, is that it encourages the writers – and the teams themselves – to start thinking about possible plans to support the copy and not just what is needed most. there is. As for what the Kraken will do, we will find out on June 28 and 29.
