It wasn’t quite one of the big names they’d been linked to, but the Kraken reportedly added some scoring punch up front Wednesday by signing Colorado Avalanche left wing Andre Burakovsky to a five-year, $27.5 million deal.
Former Sportsnet reporter Chris Johnston first reported the deal. The Kraken began the NHL free agency period Wednesday by reportedly inking former Washington Capitals defenseman Justin Schultz to a two-year, $6 million contract.
Burakovsky, 27, tallied a career high 22 goals and 61 points last season in helping the Avalanche win the Stanley Cup, his second league championship with as many teams. He played a particularly key role in the Cup final, scoring twice the first two games and adding an assist in eventual Avalanche victories that gave them a series lead they never relinquished.
He injured his hand in Game Two and was sidelined the final four games of the series.
The native of Austria broke in with the Washington Capitals in 2014 after being drafted 23rd overall by that squad the prior year. He won the Cup with them in 2018 before moving on to Colorado a year later and scoring a career-high 20 goals his first of three seasons with them.
The Kraken had been linked through various national media reports to a host of big-name free agent forwards, including left wing Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames and center Nazem Kadri of the Avalanche. They cleared their roster of a pair of restricted free agent wingers, Ryan Donato and Daniel Sprong, on Monday, leading to speculation they’d add pieces when the free agent market opened.
The CapFriendly website estimates the Kraken have about $16.5 million in salary cap space left after the Burakovsky and Schultz deals are factored in. The team still has restricted free agents Morgan Geekie, Kole Lind, Cale Fleury and Carsen Twarynski left to sign.
The Kraken had been in the market for a right-handed defender with puck-moving skills, and Schultz, who compiled combined 50 points his last two seasons with the Caps, does fit that criteria.
Schultz once had a 51-point season with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016-17 — including 12 goals — at a time Kraken assistant general manager Jason Botterill was in an identical position with that franchise. After five seasons in Pittsburgh, winning a pair of Stanley Cups, Schultz moved on to the Capitals the past two seasons.
British Columbia native Schultz was initially drafted in the second round, 43rd overall, by Anaheim in 2008 after a standout career at the University of Wisconsin. But the Ducks failed to sign him, leading to a bidding war among NHL teams with the Edmonton Oilers eventually signing him as a free agent.
Schultz went on to play parts of four seasons with the Oilers before being traded to the Penguins.
Kraken GM Ron Francis had expressed an interest in acquiring another right-handed defender who could help offensively. By opting for the lower cost of Schultz — as opposed for a bigger ticket such as Dallas Stars free agent John Klingberg — Francis has left himself salary cap room to potentially go after bigger names or multiple players on the forward side of things.
The Kraken freed up some roster space to add defenders this week, declining to tender contracts to restricted free agents Haydn Fleury and Dennis Cholowski.
