2022 MOCK DRAFT: SEATTLE KRAKEN

This is a mock draft of the 2022 NHL draft with the Seattle Kraken, who have 11 picks in the draft, including four picks in the 2nd round and three picks in the 4th round. They could possibly add even more picks at the draft by trading away some of their valuable assets at the draft.

Related: New Jersey Devils Mock Draft

Before the 2022 Draft, two trades are made

Seattle Kraken trade Chris Driedger to the Buffalo Sabres for a 2022 3rd-round pick.

Chris Driedger wasn’t getting much playing time behind Philipp Grubauer in Seattle, so he gets an opportunity to compete for the starting job in Buffalo.

The Kraken also trade Ryan Donato and Daniel Sprong to the Boston Bruins for Nick Foligno, Jack Studnicka.

This is a cap dump for the Bruins, who dump Nick Foligno’s terrible contract so they can have some extra cap room; for Seattle, they get a veteran player in Nick Foligno and a solid prospect in Jack Studnicka.

At the 2022 Draft, Seattle Kraken trade picks 36 and 64 to the New York Rangers for pick 26.

2022 Draft

4-Simon Nemec
26-Ivan Miroshnichenko
49-Filip Bystedt
60-Calle Odelius
68-Cruz Lucius
73-David Goyette
100-Spencer Sova
116-Markus Vidicek
125-Stephen Halliday
132-Dominik Rymon
164-Rastislav Elias
196-Charlie Leddy

The Seattle Kraken kicked off the 2022 NHL Draft by selecting Slovakian-born defenseman, Simon Nemec with the 4th overall pick. Simon Nemec was ranked as the top defenseman in this draft and has all the makings of a top-pair defenseman in the NHL. Nemec has already excelled
playing against men in the Slovakian league means that he could be more NHL ready than the average defenseman who enters the league through the draft. Nemec’s ceiling is to be a true #1 franchise defenseman, who plays well in all situations and can log heavy minutes every game. The Kraken wasn’t done picking in the first round, as they swung a deal with the New York Rangers to trade up to pick 26, where they would select Russian Winger, Ivan Miroshnichenko.
This is a risky pick because Miroshinichenko was diagnosed with some “serious health problems” which caused many teams and scouts to take him off their board entirely. However, the skill that Miroshnichenko has is rare and he has the tools to be an impact forward at the NHL level, and maybe even a star if he develops properly.

The Kraken definitely needed to add more offensive depth on the roster, so they went and drafted Swedish center Filip Bystedt, former USNTDP standout Cruz Lucius, and David Goyette;
all players who have untapped offensive talent and could become great offensive players if given the opportunity. While Filip Bystedt’s offensive game is still a work in progress, he is already a tremendous defensive player and an effective penalty killer, so he could be suitable for being the shutdown center of the future, especially with his massive size and instincts. Cruz Lucius is a tremendous playmaker, but he also has great goal-scoring ability as well, which tends to get overlooked. He may have slid to the third round due to injuries in his draft year, but this is a player who has 1st round talent and has very few holes in his game.
Playing for the Sudbury Wolves of the OHL, David Goyette had an impressive season, putting up 33 goals and 70 points in 66 games. Goyette has dazzling skill when he has the puck
on his stick and has the offensive ability to be a premier playmaker in the NHL, however, if he wants to be elite at the NHL level, he has to learn to play smarter. These three prospects,
Bystedt, Lucius, and Goyette could one day become important fixtures on the Seattle Kraken.

Seattle also needed to improve their defensive depth as well, so they added Swedish blueliner, Calle Odelius, Spencer Sova of the Erie Otter, and Charlie Leddy. Calle Odelius managed to stand out as a 17 year old defenseman on a J20 team of Djurgardens IF that also features the likes of Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Liam Ohgren. Odelius is everything that you would want in a modern two-way, puck-moving defenseman as he displays excellent composure and situational awareness. His smarts allow him to think the game quickly and effectively, but it’s his skating that is always on display. e has great movement in all directions and he’s very deceptive with his motions and movements. Odelius has the potential to a great top 4 defenseman at the NHL level, as his ability to be strong in transition with his speed and passing is what teams look for nowadays. Spencer Sova is still a work in progress for sure but he have the raw tools to be a solid defenseman at the NHL level. Sova is a strong skating defenseman, who has shown the ability to run the powerplay from the point, as four of Sova’s nine goals this season have come on the power play. Should his shot get even strong, he could evolve into a premier powerplay
quarterback at the NHL level. Charlie Leddy, the former USNTDP alum and Boston College commit is a physical defensive defenseman, but he doesn’t provide much offense and has a rather low ceiling. For a 7th round pick, to get a good defenseman like Charlie Leddy is a solid pick, and it could become a steal, sometime down the road.

Three other forwards were picked in this draft by the Seattle Kraken, they were: Markus Vidicek, Stephen Halliday, and Dominik Rymon. Markus Vidicek has the high-end skill and has the work ethic of a 4th liner, which is an ideal thing to have in a player. Besides having a fantastic offensive upside, Vidicek is also an excellent back checker willing to come all the way back to support the defense and battle deep in his zone with a good stick and body positioning. His value really comes in his versatility and ability to play anywhere in the lineup, so he could play in the top 6 or he could be played in the bottom 6 and be a key penalty killer. Stephen Halliday is a hulking 6’4 center, who has trendous two-way ability but also has very good offensive upside because of smooth playmaking ability despite what he looks like physically. Halliday has played both center and wing, so that is another asset that will boost his value as a prospect in the system. Halliday has the potential to be a top 9 forward at the NHL level. Dominik Rymon is a Czech forward who plays for HC Karlovy Vary U20 in the Czech U20 league, in which he put up 27 goals and 46 points in 37 games. Rymon projects to be a bottom 6 forward with goal-scoring ability at the NHL level.

After trading away Chris Driedger, the Kraken needed to add a goaltender prospect in the system, so they drafted Slovakian goalie, Rastislav Elias. The Slovakian netminder made his name known first at the 2022 Hlinka-Gretzky Cup tournament, where he had a 3.11 GAA and .891 SV%, however, those numbers are a bit misleading, as his numbers were blown up due to a 7-2 loss to Russia, in which Elias was in net for 6 of them. Before the game against Russia, Elias had the best numbers amongst goalies in the tournament. Rastislav Elias is a big 6’3 goalie, who tends to play the position very aggressively and has good mobility to boost. He has the potential to at least be a backup goalie at the NHL level.

Seattle Kraken re-sign the following players:

Hayden Fleury-2yrs/1.3M per
Morgan Geekie-2yrs/1.2M per
Kole Lind-2yrs/900k per

All Non-Roster RFAs are Re-signed

Seattle Kraken sign the following players in Free Agency:

Ondrej Palat-4yrs/6M per
Ilya Mikheyev-4yrs/3.5M per

This is how the lineup looks like next season

2022-23 Seattle Kraken

O.Palat-M.Beniers-J.Eberle
J.McCann-Y.Gourde-J.Studnicka
I.Mikheyev-A.Wennberg-J.Donskoi
N.Foligno-M.Geekie-K.Lind

V.Dunn-S.Nemec
J.Oleksiak-A.Larsson
C.Soucy-H.Fleury

P.Grubauer
J.Daccord

Top Prospects:
F: I.Miroshnichenko, F.Bystedt, Cr.Lucius, D.Goyette, M.Vidicek, S.Halliday, D.Rymon
D: R.Evans, C.Odelius, S.Sova, C.Leddy
G: R.Elias