Kraken Linked To 2 Interesting Wingers

The Seattle Kraken might look to change things up a bit at forward to potentially get younger or look to the future. They had an impressive season with contributions coming throughout their lineup, but still have a keen eye on the future. Geoff Baker of the Seattle Times noted two players the Kraken could trade for this offseason - Alexis Lafreniere and Conor Garland. This would require a player going the other way to help out both the New York Rangers or Vancouver Canucks.

The way the Kraken are structured at forward would be an ideal setup for Lafreniere to help reach his potential, but only if he sees time in the top-nine. A player like Eeli Tolvanen came over to the Kraken, got an opportunity, and took advantage of it. The problem here is that this team not only has a lot of bodies that can fill their four lines, they also have Shane Wright and Tye Kartye looking for opportunities. Head coach Dave Hakstol didn't much care for getting certain players (Wright) more playing time if they didn't deserve it over other players in the lineup, so it might be a risky move to give up a lot to get a talented young player like Lafreniere only to have him stuck in the bottom-six like he has been in New York.

Garland would be a different story. He can perform as a third line winger as he has done for the Canucks, but he can easily move up the lineup and provide a good 45-50 point no problem. His cap hit is higher and he is locked in for another three years. He is likely one of the top trade candidates for the Canucks this season to clear cap space. It would just be a matter of figuring out who would be headed back. There aren't any top-nine wingers on the Kraken who didn't perform and need a change of scenery. This might be a matter of age or what Garland brings to the table.

As far as the Kraken go, I would think that defense and goaltending is more of a concern this offseason as the forward group did just fine.