The Seattle Kraken have made quite a few moves during this years off-season. They started out with re-signing four players that were set to be free agents on June 30th, followed by picking up defenseman Brandon Montour and forward Chandler Stephenson on the first day of free-agency, and then finished out that afternoon with signing four one-year contracts and one two-year contract. On the second day of free agency, the Kraken traded defenseman Brian Dumoulin to the Anaheim Ducks for a 2026 fourth-round pick; day three was pretty calm, with defenseman Josh Mahura signing a one-year contract. Day five was an exciting one with the signing of the eighth overall pick in the 2024 entry draft, Berkly Catton signing his entry-level draft, and forward Eeli Tolvanen agreeing to terms on a two-year contract. The Kraken were pretty quiet for about 10 days before signing the 88th overall pick, goalie Kim Saarinen to an entry level contract.
Breaking Down Each Contract
The basic housekeeping the Kraken did was re-signing John Hayden, Luke Henman, Max McCormick, and Ales Stezka to one-way, two-year contracts where they will likely stay with the Coachella Valley Firebirds unless called up to the Seattle Kraken.
Brandon Montour was signed to a seven-year $43.75 million dollar contract, and shortly after that, Chandler Stephenson, a 30-year-old forward that most recently played for the Vegas Golden Knights and totaled 51 points (16 goals, 35 assists) in 75 regular season games during the 2023-24 season. Seattle Kraken general manager Ron Francis said, “We’re excited to welcome Chandler to the Kraken organization. He brings a winning pedigree and offensive consistency to our team, and we are looking forward to him being a part of our lineup this season.” Stephenson signed a seven-year contract at $6.25 million AAV.
During the start of free agency, the Kraken picked up three players on one-year, two-way contracts, one player on a one-year contract, and one player on a two-year, two-way contract. The players on one-year, two-way contracts were Maxime Lajole(TOR), Nikolas Brouillard (CVF), and Brandon Biro (BUF), all at an average annual value of $775K. Ben Meyers (COL) was picked up on a $775K AAV contract, and Mitchell Stephens (MTL) was picked up on a two-year, two-way contract at $1.55M AAV. After those signings, the Kraken traded Brian Dumoulin to the Anaheim Ducks for a 2026 fourth-round pick. The Kraken also picked up Josh Mahura (FLA) on a one-year contract at $775K AAV.
Berkly Catton is an 18-year-old center who previously played for the Spokane Chiefs and held 116 points over 68 games during the 2023-24 season. He proved to be a promising prospect throughout the Kraken’s development camp, and on the final day of camp, he signed his ELC on the ice in front of fans. His contract is a standard three-year two-way contract with a $975k AAV.
Eeli Tolvanen, a key part of the Kraken organization for the past two years, totaled 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists) over 81 games during the 2023-24 season. Tolvanen recorded the 100th goal of his career and the game-winning goal during the Winter Classic and set career highs in assists, points, even-strength goals, even-strength points, hits, blocked shots, and time on ice per game, so it was not surprising when GM Ron Francis announced that Tolvanen had agreed to terms. Tolvanen signed a two-year contract at $3.475 million AAV.
On July 14th, the Kraken signed the 88th overall pick in the 2024 entry draft, 17-year-old goalie Kim Saarinen, who played on the U18, HPK U20, HPK, and Finland U20 teams. He played 23 games with the HPK U20 team, where he held a .917 save percentage and a 2.41 GAA. Saarinen was signed to a standard three-year, two-way entry-level contract at $975K AAV.
ITR 35: Round One – Inside The Rink
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