The newest team in the National Hockey League, the Seattle Kraken, continue to add to their first-ever Opening Night roster, acquiring goaltender Philipp Grubauer and forwards Jaden Schwartz and Alexander Wennberg on Wednesday afternoon.
Grubauer will head from Colorado to Seattle on a six-year, $35.4 million contract. Schwartz made the decision to leave the St. Louis Blues, joining that Kraken on a five-year, $27.5 million deal, with Wennberg signing for three years and $13.5 million.
In Seattle, Grubauer is expected to team with Chris Dreidger, taken in last week’s expansion draft, to form a strong duo between the pipes for the Kraken. Grubauer was 30-9-1 last season for the Avalanche, with a goals-against average of 1.95 and a save percentage of .922.
Seattle also bolstered its forward lines by signing Jaden Schwartz and Alexander Wennberg. Schwartz agreed to a five-year, $27.5 million deal with an average value of $5.5 million, while Wennberg agreed to a three-year deal worth $13.5 million and an average value of $4.5 million.
Grubauer is the star of the three after finishing as a finalist for the Vezina Trophy for the first time last season. The 29-year-old Grubauer was 30-9-1 last season with the Colorado Avalanche with a 1.95 goals-against average and a .922 save percentage. He also led the league in shutouts with seven and didn’t lose consecutive games all season.
He will be paired with Chris Dreidger to form Seattle’s primary goaltending duo. Grubauer appeared in 40 of Colorado’s 56 games last season but Francis doesn’t expect his percentage of games played to be that high in Seattle with Dreidger on board.
Wennberg, 26, had a career-high 17 goals and had 29 points total in 56 regular-season games for Florida with Kraken GM Ron Francis saying he views Wennberg as one of the top-six forwards on Seattle’s still-evolving roster.
