Rangers, Avalanche among teams to watch in Alex Wennberg sweepstakes
The Seattle Kraken held Alex Wennberg out of their lineup during last night’s 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames for “trade-related reasons.” Frank Seravalli shines some light on that decision and how the New York Rangers, Colorado Avalanche, Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers are teams to watch in the Wennberg sweepstakes.
Tyler Yaremchuk: The Kraken held out Alex Wennberg last night for trade-related reasons, he’s a pending UFA he’s got an AAV of $4.5 million. What do you make of this it’s looking like he will be moved before Friday, what are you hearing about the Kraken center?
Frank Seravalli: Well I think the Kraken knew well enough now that among the three teams in the mix, maybe more, that he is going to be on the move. It was not imminent to the point he was going to get traded Monday, but certainly a lot closer and further down the track than they are with some other players. Jordan Eberle for example I think the Kraken are still trying to get a contract extension done but that part hasn’t got to the finish line yet so he remains in the lineup.
Frank Seravalli: For Wennberg, those three or four teams, I think the New York Rangers are one of them as they have kept tabs on him, the Colorado Avalanche are another team as we just talked about their need for a center, and he checks the box in Colorado because they place significant value to high IQ players and Wennberg is that. They added Artturi Lehkonen a couple of deadlines ago and similar mould, not the same player, but a smart player to add to your team and he has been pretty consistent as well. I would add the Boston Bruins there, they’ve certainly increased heightened attention to their center position when Pavel Zacha went down but he did play in last night’s game. The wildcard team for me is the Florida Panthers, he had been with Florida recently before he signed with Seattle as a free agent, but I think potentially he could be added to that center core that is already strong.
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