Kraken ownership has given team the green light to select Carey Price if hockey ops deems fit

There’s no doubting the marketing potential behind adding @Carey Price as the Seattle Kraken’s first-ever goaltender.

Back in 2017, the Vegas Golden Knights received a draft pick in order to select three-time Stanley Cup winner @Marc-Andre Fleury in the Expansion Draft and the team immediately made him the face of their franchise. Fleury was the most common jersey you’d see on the backs of Golden Knights fans right off the hop and that certainly didn’t change after he helped lead the team to the Stanley Cup Final in their inaugural season.

The Montreal Canadiens exposed Price in the Expansion Draft in order to protect @Jake Allen. The question now is whether Seattle should select Price and his massive contract.

According to Frank Seravalli, Seattle’s ownership has given the team’s hockey operations department the green light to select Price if they see fit.

The challenge with Price is that he’s going to be 34 years old at the beginning of the 2021-22 season, he has a history with injuries, and he carries a cap hit of $10,500,000 for five more seasons. As good as Price can be, just as we saw during the Habs’ shocking run this spring, there’s a significant amount of risk around how we’ll age.

But, again, there’s certainly no doubting just how big of a star Price would be for Seattle, especially considering the run he’s coming off of. Price is also from Anahim Lake, British Columbia and played in the WHL for the Tri-City Americans, so hardcore hockey fans in Seattle know him from his time in major junior.

The Kraken have already apparently worked out a deal with Chris Driedger worth $10.5 million over three seasons. Of course, as we saw with Montreal and Jake Allen last year, that doesn’t necessarily mean Seattle won’t also add Price.