The Seattle Kraken received a massive haul in the Yanni Gourde trade from Wednesday afternoon. Seattle traded Goude back to the Tampa Bay Lightning, along with Oliver Bjorkstrand, ahead of the deadline. In return, the Kraken received two top-10 protected first-round picks, a second-round pick, and Mikey Essyimont.
This is an incredible haul for the Kraken. Both Gourde and Bjorkstrand are effective players in certain roles. In fact, Gourde won two Stanley Cups with the Lightning before joining Seattle. In saying this, one first-round pick for both players would have been a fantastic return. Two of them plus another two assets is an incredible haul.
The Kraken are looking to make more moves before the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline. Seattle has some pending free agents, such as Brandon Tanev, who could move. Additionally, players with term such as Jamie Oleksiak could be traded before 3 PM Eastern Time on Friday.
What Seattle does between now and Friday afternoon certainly remains to be seen. However, there is always a best-case and worst-case scenario for all teams. With this in mind, here are the dream and nightmare scenarios at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline for the Kraken.
Kraken get major hauls for trade candidates in dream scenario
The Kraken did well to really stockpile their draft capital in the Yanni Gourde trade. Seattle has some major bargaining chips moving forward if they want to make trades. If not, they can add some more promising talent to the prospect pipeline.
It’s hard to imagine Tanev, Oleksiak, and others generating such a haul. Seattle should not be seeking two first-round picks for the rest of this trade deadline season. The dream scenario here is that the team continues receiving proportionately massive returns for their remaining trade candidates.
The Kraken are operating in a seller’s market in 2025. They set the price and allow contending teams to potentially drive up the cost through a bidding war. And we’ve seen this season that teams are willing to pay up to acquire players they believe will make their team better.
Seattle can dream of more fruitful returns this season. They have players who could attract interest from contending teams. As the trade deadline season begins to wind down, the prices could go up for Kraken trade candidates.
Kraken cannot emulate Yanni Gourde trade haul in nightmare scenario
The Kraken won’t receive the exact same trade haul for other players as they did for Gourde and Bjorkstrand. However, they theoretically should receive valuable assets for their other players. Failing to do so would be the team’s nightmare scenario at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline.
This scenario is entirely dependent on the league’s perception of Tanev, Oleksiak, and others. Contending teams could place a lower value on these players than the Kraken. And as a result, they may prefer other trade options on the market.
This doesn’t mean Seattle won’t be able to trade these players. After all, only one team can end up with a player after a trade is said and done. What it means is that these teams may look elsewhere when adding to their roster. Only the runners-up may come in for the likes of Tanev and Oleksiak. In this scenario, these teams may not be willing to pony up.
The Kraken can still trade them for something, which is ultimately better than nothing. However, it would certainly be disappointing if they could not extract a massive haul for their remaining trade chips. And it could have a knock-down effect on the team’s future as a result.
The post Seattle Kraken’s dream, nightmare scenarios for 2025 NHL trade deadline appeared first on ClutchPoints.
