Kraken Need To Be Sellers At This Year's Trade Deadline

The Seattle Kraken are closer to last place in the NHL than they are to a playoff spot and should be amongst the biggest sellers at this year's trade deadline.

With a 17-22-3 record, the Kraken have just 37 points and sit nine points back of the Vancouver Canucks for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference. To make matters worse, the Canucks have two games in hand on the Kraken and four teams sit ahead of them.

Many insiders strongly believe the Kraken will trade Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev at this year's deadline due to their upcoming UFA status but that shouldn't be all the Kraken do. Unless the Kraken turn things around quickly, they should move other players and let the last quarter of the season be a developmental phase.

Jaden Schwartz, Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jamie Oleksiak each have an additional year on their contract after this season and could fetch a decent return for teams looking to add depth on their wings or a big bruising defenceman. Schwartz comes with Stanley Cup pedigree and Bjorkstrand has scored at a 20-goal pace for six consecutive seasons.

Teams that are looking for more than just a rental could benefit greatly from acquiring either of those wingers or Oleksiak.

The Kraken could also a franchise altering move at the deadline if they decided to trade Jared McCann. He's been the team's leading goal and point scorer since their inaugural season and could fetch the biggest haul out of any player on the team. His cap hit is just $5M and has two years remaining on his contract after this season.

What GM Ron Francis elects to do is up in the air at the moment but one thing that is for certain is the team needs to add more offensive players around Matty Beniers, Shane Wright and Kaapo Kakko. With the abundance of young forward prospects on both the Coachella Valley Firebirds and in junior leagues around the world, it could be time for the Kraken to enter a new era.

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