Kraken take goalie Daccord in expansion draft
Ottawa opted to protect goalie Gustavsson after he had a strong finish to the season
Joey Daccord will be the goalie of the future for the Seattle Kraken.
When the dust settled on Wednesday's expansion draft for the NHL's 32nd team, the Ottawa Senators learned they'd lost the 24-year-old goaltender to Seattle. He was one of three netminders selected by general manager Ron Francis along with Chris Driedger of Florida and Vitek Vanecek of Seattle.
The formal announcement wasn't supposed to made until 8 p.m., however, by noon Wednesday pretty much every name the organization selected had been leaked to the media.
The decision to draft Daccord from the Senators may have surprised some, but he has always been an option. The Senators opted to protect Filip Gustavsson after he had a strong finish to the season, and the reality is the Kraken will need somebody in their system to be available if they run into injury problems.
The Senators had dangled the contracts of forwards Evgenii Dadonov and Chris Tierney, hoping the Kraken would bite on some veteran help up front. However, general manager
Pierre Dorion likely wasn't surprised when Seattle opted for Daccord because they're building their organization from the ground up.
Ottawa had also left veteran goalie Matt Murray unprotected, but there was never any reason to believe the Kraken were going to pick up the US$6.25 million per season goalie for the next three years remaining on his contract. The goaltending picture in Seattle became muddy when the Montreal Canadiens opted to leave Carey Price unprotected, but he wasn't taken, either.
Losing Daccord is a tough blow for the organization, however. The Senators knew going into this process they were going to lose a player off the roster. Yes, Dorion discussed the possibility of making a side deal with the Kraken, however, we're told — like the Vegas Golden Knights expansion — the asking prices were high.
No, Francis wasn't nearly as vocal as Vegas GM George McPhee was when that club made its selections, but Seattle was driving just as hard a bargain. There's no question there will be side deals, but several teams learned from the last expansion experience that they just had to accept the fact they were going to lose somebody.
Of course, you're going to hear now that you can expect the Senators may focus taking a goaltender with the No. 10 selection in the NHL draft. Yes, there's a couple of highly ranked goalies available in Jesper Wallstedt of Sweden and Edmonton's Sebastian Cossa if the Senators want to go that route.
But the Senators have no shortage of goaltending depth. Anton Forsberg is signed to be the backup to Murray next season, and Gustavsson should be the starter in Belleville based on his finish this year. A restricted free agent, Gustavsson had a 5-1-2 record down the stretch with the Senators along with a .933 save percentage and a 2.16 goalsagainst average.
Goaltender Mads Sogaard, who played in Denmark last season and then finished the year in Belleville, will push Gustavsson for the starting job in Belleville. He finished the year with a 7-0-0 record and .917 save percentage down the stretch. That's the longest winning streak in franchise history.
The Senators don't have an ECHL affiliate yet, but Kevin Mandolese will likely start the season in that league unless the club can find an AHL team that will take him on loan. Finnish goalie Leevi Meriainen, another top prospect, was selected by the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs and is expected to play here next season.
That's a good stable of goalies right there so is it really necessary to add another one to the mix in the first round? In the words of former Senators captain Daniel Alfredsson “probably not.”
The belief is the Senators will have better options with that No. 10 selection than a goalie, so it makes sense for them to focus on trying to get more skill up front or a strong defenceman. That's a decision that doesn't have to be made until the club gets to the table, but chief scout Trent Mann hasn't ruled out any scenario.
Mann said the club has good goalies in the system and that may not necessarily be a need.
“Both these kids (Cossa and Wallstedt) are closer to being ready than the average goalie based on the opportunities they've had as younger players,” Mann said. “Those guys are probably further ahead than the average goalie.
“We've talked about this as a staff, and we've looked how long it takes to have a goalie progress, and teams that have had success in the NHL and why they've had success and what they've done. We've looked at that position pretty thoroughly. You have to pick them frequently but not necessarily every year because the reality is it takes longer for them to become a starting goalie.
“The goal is to find someone who can lead the charge for several years and we think we have some of those guys in house based on their progress. I know it's a short sample size, but there's indications here that we have a starting goalie here that can win and help us get into the playoffs and, hopefully, someday compete for a Stanley Cup.”
Daccord may be Seattle bound, and although the Senators didn't want to lose him, they know they'll be OK in the end.