Jared McCann signs 5-year extension with Kraken

The Seattle Kraken have answered the Jared McCann question.

As first reported by Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star and TSN, Seattle's leading scorer has signed a contract extension worth $25 million over five seasons. The Kraken made the deal official soon after Johnston's report.

McCann was scheduled to become a restricted free agent this offseason.

While an immensely positive force for the Kraken in their inaugural season, it was worth wondering how general manager Ron Francis would handle McCann's contract status with less than two weeks to go before the trade deadline. The 25-year forward is on pace for his best season with a 34-goal, 50-plus-point trajectory, and had put himself in a position to score a more lucrative contract than perhaps the Kraken would feel comfortable with, given that he had previously topped out at 14 goals and 35 points in 66 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019-20.

Further to that and beyond potentially unsustainable results, the Kraken have not had the sort of immediate success the Vegas Golden Knights experienced in their first campaign. For that reason it was logical for the Kraken to consider cashing one of their more valuable chips in what figures to be a slow build, rather than committing major dollars and term to someone who hasn't proved himself to be the player he has been since joining the expansion side.

With a five-year agreement at $5 million per, the Kraken chose not to explore a return package to the extent they could, of course, but did manage to avoid carving out too big of a piece of the pie to a player that probably tops out as a middle-six winger.

McCann has been an effective even-strength goal scorer, but his analytical profile isn't anything special. He has a negative on-ice expected goals share and opponents have outscored the Kraken 33-24 in his even strength minutes.

He was originally selected from the Toronto Maple Leafs in the expansion draft despite never appearing in a game for the Blue and White. Rubbing salt in the wound of many fans who wished he wasn't exposed, McCann and the Kraken are visiting the Maple Leafs on Tuesday night.

Despite locking up McCann, the Kraken have some decent trade options ahead of March 21. Captain Mark Giordano and forwards Calle Jarnkrok and Joonas Donskoi would each be considered strong candidates to bolster a postseason roster.

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