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Prospect Week: Brandt Clarke

by Dan Morse
written by Dan Morse

A mere 47 hours separates the upcoming Seattle Kraken expansion draft and the NHL entry draft. That’s a whole lot of new players headed to Seattle in a short window of time. While the expansion draft will likely dominate NHL coverage, especially in the Seattle area, the Kraken’s first ever entry draft is an equally important moment in shaping the future of the franchise.

Odds are that Buffalo will select defenseman Owen Power with the first pick this year. But that second overall selection, owned by the Kraken, seems much murkier on the surface. Which is why this week, we’ll break down five candidates for the Kraken’s first every draft pick. Today, we’re breaking down one more defenseman.

Brandt Clarke

Clarke is a 6’2″ defender that spent time on both the OHL’s Barrie Colts and in Slovakia’s professional league, the Tipos Extraliga. He racked up 15 points in 26 games in Europe, putting him just a shade under his OHL 0.67 points per game average in 2019-20. His strength is his undeniable offensive skill.

The only real questions with his game is whether or not he’s good enough in his own zone to be a top-pair defender. His power play potential, however, is clearly top-notch.

Aside from the raw offensive talent, here’s two more reasons Clarke would be a good fit in Seattle.

He’s a right-handed shot

If you’re unfamiliar with the importance of this, try thinking of it like a left-handed pitcher in baseball. It’s less common, but very important that a team has a mix of players that play with different dominant hands.

In hockey, there are more left-handed shots than right handed shots. That sounds weird at first glance, I know, but holding a hockey stick isn’t exactly the same natural mechanics as throwing a ball. On defense, having one right-handed shot and one left-handed shot on each pairing is generally considered the norm in the NHL. The reasons behind that are a bit complicated, but it comes down to the fact that keeping the puck in the offensive zone on your strong side is easier than on your weak side. here’s what Fansided’s Walt Gebelein had to say on the subject:

I have seen no metrics on the topic, but just as a matter of mechanics, playing the weak side point, players are less efficient at keeping the puck in the offensive zone. It takes more motion to get the puck in a playable position and attempts to keep the puck in the zone inherently come with more positioning risk.

Which brings us back to Brandt Clarke. Clarke is the top right-hander in this strong defensive class. Ron Francis has been known to pick defensemen early on in round one, but has never had the opportunity to get a right-hander of this caliber. Does he consider it to be a valuable enough trait to bump Clarke up to the second overall pick? We’ll have to wait and see.

He’s already a leader

Something that more frequently comes up in expansion draft discussions rather than entry draft discussions is the aspect of leadership in the locker room. It’s especially important in a new team that won’t have any faces in the locker room that are established leaders of the Seattle Kraken. In addition to the veterans that could bring this presence to the team, Brandt Clarke is not afraid to step up and let his voice be heard.

Playing in the top men’s league in Slovakia, with guys twice his age, Clarke is not intimidated. It’s a small, simple gesture, but it’s also something that not every player has. Clarke could have the makings of the future first captain of the Seattle Kraken.

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Prospect Week: Dylan Guenther

by Dan Morse
written by Dan Morse

A mere 47 hours separates the upcoming Seattle Kraken expansion draft and the NHL entry draft. That’s a whole lot of new players headed to Seattle in a short window of time. While the expansion draft will likely dominate NHL coverage, especially in the Seattle area, the Kraken’s first ever entry draft is an equally important moment in shaping the future of the franchise.

Odds are that Buffalo will select defenseman Owen Power with the first pick this year. But that second overall selection, owned by the Kraken, seems much murkier on the surface. Which is why this week, we’ll break down five candidates for the Kraken’s first every draft pick. Today, we’re going back to the forward group.

Dylan Guenther

Guenther is a 6’2″ right wing currently playing for the WHL’s Edmonton Oilers. While Seattle might be looking harder at adding a center or a defenseman with such a high pick in this year’s draft, they might make an exception for someone with Guenther’s goal scoring ability.

Guenther might just be the best shooter in this draft class, and his playmaking ability isn’t too shabby either. He doesn’t have the two-way game of a prospect like Matty Beniers, but that might not matter in Seattle. Here’s why.

Scoring goals is really hard

This is a very basic idea in hockey but it’s a fundamental one that shouldn’t be ignored. Scoring is hard. And it will be most likely be especially hard for Seattle in year one, as the best scorers in the league will all be on protected lists. For that reason, the Kraken will have to look to the draft to generate their goal scoring in the early years, and nobody has been better recently than Dylan Guenther.

In the small sample size that was the 2021 WHL season, Guenther managed to reach both the goal-per-game and assist-per-game plateaus, finishing with 12 of each in 12 games. As the Athletic’s Corey Pronman notes, that’s a higher points-per-game than recent WHL standouts Leon Draisaitl, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, and Evander Kane.

Grabbing a player whose primary job is to score goals would not be a bad choice for Seattle, regardless of whatever defensive ability he may lack.

Kraken scouts got to see him in person

Admittedly, this is less of a reason why Guenther would be a good fit, or why he’s a good prospect, and more a reason why you might see his name called as the second overall pick on July 23rd. Ryan S. Clark of the Athletic reported that all of the Kraken’s Canadian scouts were able to see Guenther play in-person during his time in the WHL and at the U-18 Worlds.

Regardless of how the average fan feels, scouts will generally agree that seeing prospects live in action is an extremely valuable asset when it comes to evaluating prospects. In a pandemic year where live viewings were much harder to come by, this piece of information could be just enough to sway the Kraken into grabbing the guy they feel they got the best evaluation of.

Of course, those viewings may have come before the draft lottery, when the most likely draft slot for Seattle was either the fourth or fifth overall pick. Did they like what they saw enough to stand by Guenther even at second overall? We’ll have to wait and see.

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Prospect Week: Simon Edvinsson

by Dan Morse
written by Dan Morse

A mere 47 hours separates the upcoming Seattle Kraken expansion draft and the NHL entry draft. That’s a whole lot of new players headed to Seattle in a short window of time. While the expansion draft will likely dominate NHL coverage, especially in the Seattle area, the Kraken’s first ever entry draft is an equally important moment in shaping the future of the franchise.

Odds are that Buffalo will select defenseman Owen Power with the first pick this year. But that second overall selection, owned by the Kraken, seems much murkier on the surface. Which is why this week, we’ll break down five candidates for the Kraken’s first every draft pick. Today, we’re heading across the pond to Sweden.

Simon Edvinsson

Edvinsson is listed as either 6’4″ or 6’5″ depending on where you look, but the point remains the same that he’s the second-biggest defenseman likely to go in the first round in 2021 behind Owen Power. He also happens to move with the agility of someone 6 inches shorter.

Edvinsson has been described as the unicorn of the 2021 NHL draft. His upside is a franchise defenseman that could anchor the blue line for a decade and play on both the power play and the penalty kill. With the second overall pick, upside is a crucial factor. Teams don’t often get a chance at these guys.

There’s a couple more reasons the Kraken should take a long look at Edvinsson as we head towards the day of the NHL draft.

Ron Francis loves defensemen

Seattle general manager Ron Francis oversaw four NHL entry drafts as the general manager of the Carolina Hurricanes. With their first pick in three of those drafts, the Hurricanes selected a defenseman.

This is admittedly a small sample size, but it does show that Francis is at the very least willing, if not wont to build his team from the blue line first and foremost. If the pick is Simon Edvinsson, that would be the fourth defender that Francis has selected in the top-13 picks in his five years as an NHL general manager.

Has Francis been good at evaluating these high-end defensemen? That depends on who you ask. Haydn Fleury hasn’t lived up to his draft slot, as evidenced by the fact that he’ll likely be unprotected and available to the Kraken during the expansion draft. But he’s still a capable NHL-caliber player. Hanifin is a legitimate top-4 defender, and Jake Bean (another potential expansion target) still doesn’t have enough games under his belt to make a definitive evaluation, but early indications are he too will develop into a top-4 player.

Regardless of how he’s done in the past, the main takeaway here is that history indicates that Francis is looking to go defense-first early on in this draft.

Professional experience

One of the most difficult parts of evaluating prospects for the NHL draft is reconciling the differences in talent level across all the different leagues that NHL teams draw from. College players are playing against other college-age players, but that’s not necessarily the case in European leagues.

Edvinsson spent most of his draft years in Swedish junior leagues, but he did get some valuable experience in the Swedish Hockey League last season. The SHL is generally considered the third best league behind the NHL and Russia’s KHL. It could be argued that simply having those minutes in one of the highest levels of European hockey is more valuable than some of what players might get in North America.

Ron Francis is no stranger to these leagues either. He drafted Sebastian Aho in 2015 after Aho spent 30 games in the Finnish Liiga, the highest level of hockey in Finland.

The downside with Edvinsson is that it’s unclear when he will be NHL-ready. His time in the SHL was valuable but limited, and he may take a few years of seasoning before becoming that impact player he has the potential to be. But on an expansion team seeking to build up a farm system from scratch, that might actually be a good thing.

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Prospect Week: Luke Hughes

by Dan Morse
written by Dan Morse

A mere 47 hours separates the upcoming Seattle Kraken expansion draft and the NHL entry draft. That’s a whole lot of new players headed to Seattle in a short window of time. While the expansion draft will likely dominate NHL coverage, especially in the Seattle area, the Kraken’s first ever entry draft is an equally important moment in shaping the future of the franchise.

Odds are that Buffalo will select defenseman Owen Power with the first pick this year. But that second overall selection, owned by the Kraken, seems much murkier on the surface. Which is why this week, we’ll break down five candidates for the Kraken’s first every draft pick. Today, it’s the third Hughes brother.

Luke Hughes

Luke Hughes has a lot to live up to. The youngest of the three Hughes brothers, Luke looks likely to become yet another top-10 pick from the group of brothers that were considered to be “America’s future first family of hockey” as far back as 2018. The 6’2″ left-handed defenseman currently playing at the University of Michigan is often praised as an elite skater.

In NHL Central Scouting’s final prospect rankings for 2021, Hughes ranked 2nd among defenders behind only the presumptive number one pick Owen Power. Like his brother Quinn, he brings an attacking mindset to his position that makes him dangerous on the rush and in the offensive zone. The main difference is Luke has the size more typical of an NHL defender.

Aside from his raw talent, which is definitely enough to make him a possible number two overall pick, there are a couple other reasons Hughes makes sense in Seattle.

Drafting a Hughes has worked well so far

I mentioned earlier that Luke is the youngest of three brothers all bound for the NHL. Jack Hughes is a center that was drafted first overall by the New Jersey Devils in 2019, while Quinn Hughes is another defenseman drafted seventh overall in 2018 by the Vancouver Canucks.

Jack Hughes had a slow start in New Jersey in his rookie season, but came on strong last year and proved he was a worthy first overall pick. He nearly doubled his points per 60 at 5-on-5, going from 0.8 to 1.4.

Quinn Hughes, meanwhile, has proven to be a key piece of a young Canucks core. While his ability in the defensive zone perhaps leaves some wanting, he has no doubt added value in the offensive zone and on the power play.

The point of all this is simply to say that the Hughes brothers have thus far lived up to the hype, and there’s no reason to think Luke won’t be every bit the NHL player his brothers are. If he turns out to have the offensive skills of Quinn plus an extra 4 inches in height, he should be great on the power play and a much bigger presence in his own zone.

He would embellish the natural Vancouver rivalry

As mentioned earlier, Hughes’ older brother Quinn is currently a core member of the Vancouver Canucks.

The Canucks are often cited as the natural rivals for the Kraken. They’re isolated in the Pacific Northwest, with Calgary a solid 10 hour drive away and no teams to the South until you get to California. But in reality, rivalries aren’t always as simple as “they’re close to us,” no matter how much we want them to exist. By adding the third Hughes brother to Seattle, there would be an immediate bond between the two cities and an immediate competition between the two fanbases arguing about which city got the better Hughes brother.

The drawbacks with selecting the youngest Hughes come down to the fact that he needs more experience at higher levels of hockey. His decision-making isn’t the best in this draft class, though it did improve in the limited playing time he saw in 2021. By most draft analysts’ opinions, Hughes wouldn’t likely make the jump to the NHL for at least a season or two.

As an expansion team, however, the Kraken aren’t likely to make a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final like their cousins in Vegas. They can afford to draft for development and upside as opposed to the most NHL-ready prospect that can help immediately in year one. For that reason, Luke Hughes would make a great choice for the first pick in franchise history.

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Prospect Week: Matty Beniers

by Dan Morse
written by Dan Morse

A mere 47 hours separates the upcoming Seattle Kraken expansion draft and the NHL entry draft. That’s a whole lot of new players headed to Seattle in a short window of time. While the expansion draft will likely dominate NHL coverage, especially in the Seattle area, the Kraken’s first ever entry draft is an equally important moment in shaping the future of the franchise.

Odds are that Buffalo will select defenseman Owen Power with the first pick this year. But that second overall selection, owned by the Kraken, seems much murkier on the surface. Which is why this week, we’ll break down five candidates for the Kraken’s first every draft pick. Up first, a look at a forward that’s been mocked to Seattle on several occasions.

Matthew Beniers

Beniers is an 18-year old center out of the University of Michigan. He’s a decent size at 6’1” and plays a full 200-ft game, adding value in all three zones. While he might not project to be the greatest goal-scorer in this draft, his all-around ability makes him an all-but consensus top-5 pick in 2021.

Aside from having the talent of a top draft pick, there are two other big reasons Beniers seems primed to become the first selection in Kraken franchise history.

He plays a position of need

Corey Pronman of The Athletic mocked Beniers to Seattle in his first 2021 mock draft at the end of June and he made a short but important point: Seattle is going to be lacking at the center position right away.

Technically, right now the Kraken only have one player under contract, and he plays the center position, so this seems like a strange argument. But the expansion draft will not be kind to them in terms of available centers. It’s the forward position with the most responsibility both offensively and defensively and generally seen as a key piece to winning a Stanley Cup. Look through any mock expansion draft, you won’t find many reliable NHL-caliber centers available.

We need not look further than Vegas for evidence of the lack of center availability in the expansion draft. Vegas is now four years into existence and aside from William Karlsson, whom nobody expected to see the kind of success he’s had there, they still don’t have a reliable top-6 center.

While some might think it’s as simple as drafting the best player available since the team has an empty roster, it’s important to remember that this won’t be an empty roster when the entry draft rolls around. Seattle will have players under contract, they’ll have roster strengths, and they’ll have roster weaknesses, just like every other NHL team. J.T. Brown, recently hired as a TV analyst for Seattle, made this point in an interview with Erica L. Ayala on episode one of the Locked on Kraken podcast:

“You have to see who in the expansion draft you have…you’re sort of setting yourself up based on who you’ve already chosen with what you want to do in the regular draft.”

In the regular draft, some centers, such as Kent Johnson (also out of the University of Michigan) might project better at a winger position, where Johnson spent much of last season. But Beniers looks like a bona fide center, and even if he doesn’t have a day-one impact on the Kraken, simply having that developing center in the system for the future would be a huge boost for the franchise.

He fits Dave Hakstol’s style

New head coach Dave Hakstol has a history as a head coach in the NHL as well as the NCAA. In his time in the NHL, his team tended towards a low-event, solid defensive style of play. A coach that puts extra value in good defense should love a top prospect that has frequently been praised for his defensive prowess.

In his draft profile at The Hockey Writers, Beniers drew pro comparisons to Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews. In addition to the high praise that brings, it also alludes to another connection to Seattle. Toews spent some formative college years playing at the University of North Dakota under none other than Dave Hakstol.

Obviously Hakstol can’t be given full credit for making Toews into a star NHL player, but this does show that Hakstol has experience taking a young, highly-talented two-way forward and aiding in his development into an NHL caliber player.

The drawback with Beniers is that his ceiling is considered by many analysts to be capped by a lack of elite offensive skills. He does everything well and in all likelihood will be a good player in the NHL, but is it worth spending the second overall pick on a player that may never truly develop into that top-line center? He’d be a valuable piece of the future core of the franchise, but making a selection at number two overall typically comes with a chance to grab a player with superstar upside, the one trait that Beniers just might lack.

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