The Kraken’s most aggressive day in history ended with a nearly $94 million commitment to a pair of 30-year-old free agents they hope can lead them back to playoff contender status.
The seven-year contracts signed to Florida Panthers right-handed defenseman Brandon Montour and Vegas Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson at the start of NHL free agency Monday indicate the Kraken are focused as much on the present as the future to increase their position in a crowded local sports landscape.
Both contracts were one year longer than general manager Ron Francis had ever paid in his seven seasons leading the Kraken or Carolina Hurricanes and they immediately transform the team’s outlook.
“It just shows that players want to come to Seattle, they want to play in this organization and they want to play in front of our great fans,” Francis told local media after the trade, which brings the NHL’s most coveted free agent defenseman to town in offensively gifted Montour and a potential top-tier center in Stephenson to join Matty Beniers, Shane Wright and Yanni Gourde.
“From Day 1, we’ve had the green light to spend up to the salary cap, and they want to compete and win,” Francis said. “That’s always been our plan here. We try to manage our salary cap the best we can. And we got to the point this year where we felt like those were two guys we needed on our roster to help us be successful.”
Both have won Stanley Cups; Montour with Florida last week and Stephenson with Vegas a year ago and Washington in 2018 when he helped beat the Golden Knights — becoming the eighth player in NHL history to win a Cup with one team after beating that same team for a title with another.
Montour will be paid an average of $7.14 million per year while Stephenson will be paid $6.25 million. Francis said the moves would likely conclude his major summer upgrades and should fit within the salary cap parameters without any current Kraken players being released in trades.
Last month, the NHL raised the salary cap from $83.5 million to $88 million for next season, after it had remained relatively flat for years during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. That’s believed to have sparked the unprecedented early rush by teams Monday to sign top free agents — most of whom, including Montour, came off the board within minutes of signing eligibility opening at 9 a.m. PT.
Most people expect the league to continue to raise the salary cap significantly in the coming seasons, which will allow Francis to sign top players to longer contracts. Francis added that with Montour and Stephenson both being good skaters, their production should age better than other players in their 30s.
The Kraken are still in talks with restricted free agents Beniers and Eeli Tolvanen, who will be the last major deals the team makes this offseason. CapFriendly estimates the Kraken has $9.26 million in cap space to accommodate those signings.
“Depending on what happens, we will reevaluate our salary cap,” Francis said. “But we have looked at a lot of different scenarios and we are confident that we will be under the salary cap and ready to start the season.”
Montour said in a conference call Monday that “family” weighed heavily in his decision to join the Kraken, as he and his wife have a young son and also a baby girl on the way next year.
“Talking to Ron (Francis) and the players, we had some really good decisions and I think that’s what the Kraken have there,” Montour said of the family spirit. “And it’s not just the players in the locker room. It’s the staff, the management … I really feel like they have a good connection with the players, and everybody has that love for each other in the locker room.”
Montour is also excited about the “high-end prospects” coming through the Kraken’s pipeline and is looking forward to trying to bring a Cup to a market that has never won one after doing so with Florida last week. “Obviously, there’s a lot of guys on this team that have won and been on winning teams,” Montour said of the Kraken. “But for me, I’ve been to the final the last two years in a row and played some meaningful hockey.”
He said his “competitiveness” as a “complete, two-way defender” is what fans should notice most about his game.
Kraken players have welcomed the deals with enthusiasm.
“It’s a big moment for us,” said assistant captain Jordan Eberle. “Obviously, it’s pretty exciting. It shows a willingness to win and add players.”
Stephenson played junior hockey with the Regina Pats of the Western Hockey League, starting the year after fellow Saskatchewan native Eberle left that team to turn professional.
“We definitely improved today,” Eberle said.
Yanni Gourde, another Kraken alternate captain, said he was “super excited” to have both players.
“I think it’s huge for the team,” Gourde said. “Two great players, both Stanley Cup champions. They know what it takes to win.”
Gourde added that fellow center Stephenson is “a great center” with incredible speed and “plays both sides of the puck very well.”
In his media session, Francis highlighted the offensive and defensive components of both players. The Kraken needed more offense, having finished last season with a total of 2.61 goals per game, the fourth-worst total.
Montour scored eight goals and 25 assists in 66 games with the Panthers last season and added another 11 points in the playoffs. He led the Panthers in ice time, averaging 23 minutes, 37 seconds per game, with a strong power play and penalty kill. The previous season, he had 16 goals and 57 assists, which ranked among the league’s top defensive scorers.
His addition alongside Kraken offensive defenseman Vince Dunn and Ryker Evans in the group provides a wider power play and potentially one of the most potent defense corps in the NHL on offense. It also balances out the right-handed-left defense after Justin Schultz left the field as a free agent — with righties Montour, Adam Larsson and Will Borgen available on all three pairings to match left-handed shooters Dunn, Jamie Oleksiak, Evans and Brian Dumoulin.
Right-handed defensemen are rarer in the NHL than left-handed ones.
Stephenson has been a key part of Vegas for six seasons, winning a Stanley Cup last year against Montour’s team while scoring 16 goals and adding 35 assists last season.
His career faceoff percentage of 52.6% instantly puts him among the Kraken’s best players in a long-standing team weakness category.
Stephenson’s signing also allows franchise leading scorer Jared McCann to return to his traditional left wing role. He was playing center after the Kraken traded Alex Wennberg to the New York Rangers last March.
Francis hopes the additions will turn things around for a Kraken team that missed the playoffs with the eighth-worst record in the NHL.
“Two years ago we were one of the best teams offensively and last year we were one of the worst,” Francis said. “The truth is we’re probably somewhere in between. So we’ll figure out where we are.”