Post by krakengm on Nov 16, 2023 2:00:06 GMT -5
Seattle, WA - The Kraken won the Arber Xhekaj sweepstakes, and added Tomas Nosek and Sean Kuraly during free agency. The club had made a few attempts on players in the early rounds, but struck out on each. But right from the beginning the strategy was to chase the big defenseman. Xhekaj is a tough, no-nonsense player who can chip in with decent offensive skills.
"We were really focused on Xhekaj," said GM Graber. "He fits a glaring need on our club. We needed youth, size, and toughness on the back end. We believe that Arber is the kind of player that we can build around. Our goalies will appreciate his work in front of the net, and we are confident that his puck moving skills will allow him to play in our top four right away."
Word around training camp is that Xhekaj will in fact get opportunities on the top pairing, second unit power play, and on one of the penalty killing units. While several veterans are expected to work with him, the odds-on favourite to line up next to the big kid is Justin Schultz.
"He's quite the specimen," laughed Schultz. "I think we would complement each other really well out there, but I know I'm not the only guy who'd like to partner up with him."
The other key addition for Seattle were Nosek, who is expected to make a strong push to be the club's third line center and a key penalty killer.
"Seattle looked like a good fit for me. They have a lot of guys in the bottom six mix, but I feel like my faceoff abilities attention to detail will keep me in the lineup every night," said the confident Nosek.
Sean Kuraly also joins the club, but is expected to spend more time on the farm that with the big club.
"All I can do is go out there and earn my minutes," said Kuraly. "I've been told I've earned at least a couple games in pre-season, so I'll give it my best. The Kraken were very transparent with me about my potential role with the organization, and I want to make it hard for them not to keep me around."
With the veteran signings up front and youngsters like Juraj Slafkovsky and Tye Kartye getting under contract in the off-season, the club moved veteran forward Aarne Talvitie to the Senators for cash.
"We'd like to thank Aarne for his work with the Aviators, and we wish him well in Ottawa," said the GM.
While the Kraken are expected to be a pretty veteran club this year, there are some players to watch through pre-season. Youngsters Kirill Marchenko, Isac Lundstrom, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Jacob Peterson will be doing their best to push veterans such as Ryan Carpenter, Ryan Donato, and Sammy Blais for bottom six roles. Marchenko is considered to have a decent shot at top six minutes if he finds chemistry with Tyler Johnson or Nazem Kadri. Sebastian Aho is also expected to make a strong push to crack the lineup, with veterans Roland McKeown, Justin Holl, and Robert Hagg working to hold their spots on the blueline. Expect young goalies Arvid Soderblom and Jet Greaves to get a taste of the NsHL life in pre-season, but Hill and Lankinen are considered a lock to man the nets for the Kraken this season. However the club thought highly enough of this young pair to move Kappo Kahkonen in the off-season to the Oilers.
---Johnny Pike for the Seattle Times
"We were really focused on Xhekaj," said GM Graber. "He fits a glaring need on our club. We needed youth, size, and toughness on the back end. We believe that Arber is the kind of player that we can build around. Our goalies will appreciate his work in front of the net, and we are confident that his puck moving skills will allow him to play in our top four right away."
Word around training camp is that Xhekaj will in fact get opportunities on the top pairing, second unit power play, and on one of the penalty killing units. While several veterans are expected to work with him, the odds-on favourite to line up next to the big kid is Justin Schultz.
"He's quite the specimen," laughed Schultz. "I think we would complement each other really well out there, but I know I'm not the only guy who'd like to partner up with him."
The other key addition for Seattle were Nosek, who is expected to make a strong push to be the club's third line center and a key penalty killer.
"Seattle looked like a good fit for me. They have a lot of guys in the bottom six mix, but I feel like my faceoff abilities attention to detail will keep me in the lineup every night," said the confident Nosek.
Sean Kuraly also joins the club, but is expected to spend more time on the farm that with the big club.
"All I can do is go out there and earn my minutes," said Kuraly. "I've been told I've earned at least a couple games in pre-season, so I'll give it my best. The Kraken were very transparent with me about my potential role with the organization, and I want to make it hard for them not to keep me around."
With the veteran signings up front and youngsters like Juraj Slafkovsky and Tye Kartye getting under contract in the off-season, the club moved veteran forward Aarne Talvitie to the Senators for cash.
"We'd like to thank Aarne for his work with the Aviators, and we wish him well in Ottawa," said the GM.
While the Kraken are expected to be a pretty veteran club this year, there are some players to watch through pre-season. Youngsters Kirill Marchenko, Isac Lundstrom, Juraj Slafkovsky, and Jacob Peterson will be doing their best to push veterans such as Ryan Carpenter, Ryan Donato, and Sammy Blais for bottom six roles. Marchenko is considered to have a decent shot at top six minutes if he finds chemistry with Tyler Johnson or Nazem Kadri. Sebastian Aho is also expected to make a strong push to crack the lineup, with veterans Roland McKeown, Justin Holl, and Robert Hagg working to hold their spots on the blueline. Expect young goalies Arvid Soderblom and Jet Greaves to get a taste of the NsHL life in pre-season, but Hill and Lankinen are considered a lock to man the nets for the Kraken this season. However the club thought highly enough of this young pair to move Kappo Kahkonen in the off-season to the Oilers.
---Johnny Pike for the Seattle Times