Kraken facing crucial expansion draft decisions
Ron Francis is on the clock.
The Seattle Kraken’s general manager gets to pick 30 players in the expansion draft to
build out the roster for the NHL’S 32nd franchise. Those selections get unveiled Wednesday night.
Francis has some big decisions to make on how many big-money
stars and their sizeable contracts to take on, what risks to take on younger, less-proven players and which
side deals are worth it to stockpile assets as the Vegas Golden Knights did at their
expansion draft in 2017.
In four years as Carolina’s GM, Francis did not make a lot of
big splashes and preferred a more conservative approach to rebuilding the Hurricanes. Only after
his departure did they develop into the kind
of perennial playoff contender he envisioned.
Building Seattle from scratch is a different kind of challenge and could alter the way Francis manages the situation. In a
matter of days, the Kraken will have the
bulk of their team for their inaugural season — all from the choices the Hall of Fame player makes at the center of the hockey universe.
Big Stars
Montreal goaltender Carey Price. St. Louis winger Vladimir Tarasenko. Calgary
defenseman Mark Giordano.
There’s a Stanley Cup title, an Olympic gold medal and a whole lot of NHL hardware on their resumes and little doubt they’d help the Kraken win a lot of games in their first season. But Price is signed for a salary cap hit of
$10.5 million for the
How much is it worth to have an athlete endorse the local pizzeria on social media? What about appearances at a car dealership or tattoo parlor – popular subjects of past NCAA infractions
investigations – for a fee? How much will those moves boost the bottom line, if at all?
That uncertainty explains why Aaron Nelson, president and chief executive of The Chamber For a Greater Chapel Hill-carrboro,
said business owners near UNC are “looking to learn more before they go fullcourt press
on it.” They aren’t alone.
At Lucky 13 Tattoos on Broad Street in Richmond, Virginia,
just a short walk from where Virginia Commonwealth play its
home basketball games, a framed Milwaukee
Bucks jersey of former VCU star Larry Sanders hangs on the wall. Manager Bob Knox said it was a gift from
Sanders, who had several tattoos done at the shop and still drops by.
Knox said his staff has put ink on a lot of VCU and Richmond athletes over the years,
but he wasn’t sure about the value of
striking deals with college athletes from a
marketing point of view — even a popular one.
“Tattooing is different than a lot of other businesses. Tattooing is all word of mouth,” Knox said. “You don’t go where you’ve heard
about, you go where your buddy went.”
On the table for athletes, of course, are deals with auto dealerships and tattoo shops, an ironic twist given
some of the past infractions scandals. For his part, Knox said he was unfamiliar with the
so-called “tattoo five” from Ohio State, who traded memorabilia in
exchange for tattoos. Former Buckeyes quarterback Terrelle Pryor, like former USC star Reggie Bush, have suggested past rules violations should be wiped clean now that things have changed.
A number of companies have emerged the past few years with an
eye on connecting college athletes to business deals, and they have been busy the past few months. To Athliance CEO Peter
Schoenthal, whose company designed “disclosure and education” software helping
schools review and athletes close NIL deals, the right time is now.
“If I’m a local business, it’s probably cheaper for me to partner with these studentathletes and use their
social-media engagement to drive traffic to my business rather than put up a billboard
pay for radio, do Google Adwords,” he said. “This is actually not only a more fun way to advertise, because you get to the be first ones in NIL, but also a cheaper and more effective way.”
Deals thus far have taken a variety of forms. Fresno State twin basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder reached an
agreement with a wireless company. Kansas
basketball player Mitch Lightfoot has
endorsed a junk-removal service and a roofing contractor. A Florida chain of mixed martial arts gyms owned by a longtime Miami fan offered a
$500 monthly contract to Hurricanes football players for social-media advertising.
Others moves have been smaller, with a clever charm.
Jordan Wright, owner of Wright’s Barbecue near the Arkansas campus in Fayetteville, reached deals with members of the Razorbacks offensive line as “Protectors of the Pit.” A few days later, the Wisconsin offensive line struck a similar BBQ deal of their own.
Wright started with restaurant gift cards as well as merchandise
for compensation. He wants to work with as
many Razorbacks athletes as possible, though he has expanded to a deal with UCF linebacker Quade Mosier, whose hometown is Fayetteville.
“I’m a local guy, I’m a barbecue dude,” Wright said. “I’m just a
guy that’s got a family who has a cool barbecue place who likes to do cool things. … I think it is good for the brand.”
At the Parker Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram dealership near Mississippi State’s Starkville campus, general manager Kristi Snyder was
mulling money, merchandise or even vehicle servicing as compensation. She said she was planning meetings with Bulldogs athletes and is eager to align with the newly
crowned NCAA champion baseball team while “spreading the love” among multiple sports.
She said she wants to know what the athletes are expecting from her — and how much time they will have to do the work.
“I’m really just more curious: What can you do for me?” she said. “Because at the end of the day, I’m looking for a return on an investment as well, right? I want it to be a really good mutual agreement with a student who could represent us well on this smaller stage.”
In Michigan, Ann Arbor-based company Underground Printing
sells apparel and other products online through its 25 stores from Chapel Hill to Norman, Oklahoma. Owner Rishi Narayan
said it is a natural avenue for athlete entrepreneurs but he is taking a wait-and-see approach: “We’re unsure what the market is or what’s the right way to do things.”