Devils and Kraken a Match Made in Trade Heaven
The New Jersey Devils and Seattle Kraken can be excellent trade partners... if Kraken GM Ron Francis becomes competent, that is.
The New Jersey Devils are — or at the very least should be — in the market for two things at this year’s trade deadline: top-six goal-scoring and bottom-six playdriving. They sit third in the Metropolitan Division, having sported a 31-20-6 record and are just two points behind the Carolina Hurricanes for second place in the division. With the division seemingly being in an arms race — the Hurricanes recently acquired superstar Mikko Rantanen and ex-MVP Taylor Hall and the New York Rangers took in two-time 100-point forward JT Miller — the Devils are almost certainly looking to make a splash.
The Seattle Kraken, meanwhile, sit seventh in the Pacific Division with a 24-29-4 record and have no real aspirations of being a playoff contender this season. They’ve been middling for a while now and should be looking to sell off some pieces at this year’s trade deadline, though Frank Seravalli on the Halford & Brough podcast said that Kraken GM Ron Francis rarely does more than selling pending UFAs and is generally unwilling to be creative.
Still, the two could hook up for a trade that works for both sides if Francis decides to become competent. Let’s see what might work:
Jared McCann (LW/C)
57 Games Played | 14 G | 28 A | 42 TP | 128 SOG | 10.9 SH% — $5 Million AAV through 2026-27
In a shocking bit of news, it was revealed recently that the Kraken are allegedly shopping their best winger in Jared McCann.
An all-situations player for the Kraken, McCann is in the midst of his worst season point-wise since 2021-22 and his worst season goal-wise since 2020-21. He’s still looking at a 60-point campaign, which is particularly impressive considering how godawful Seattle has been offensively this season.
This is his second year in a row with an expected goal share (xGF%) of below 50%, but prior to that he’d gone five straight seasons of 50%+ hockey, including three seasons of at least 53.89%. Seattle is managing just 2.24 expected goals for per 60 minutes (xGF/60) with him on the ice this season, but he’s still a positive in terms of expected goals above replacement (xGAR) on the year.
In fact, McCann is in possession of the two highest xGAR seasons of any Kraken forward and two of the top three among all Kraken players in the last three seasons — he held an xGAR of 32.1 in 2022-23 and 14.2 in 2023-24. His 2022-23 season, in terms of xGAR, ranks 11th among all players in the NHL in the last three years. By all accounts, this would be Francis selling low on its best player, and the Devils should be looking to pounce on the opportunity.
From an underlying impact standpoint, McCann literally has no weaknesses in his game. He’s a positive on both sides of the ice (especially the offensive zone), contributes to both special teams units, and has a superb penalty differential — who would complain at the Devils’ power play getting more opportunities? As I previously mentioned, he’s having a down year this year across the board, but he’s still on pace for 20 goals and had averaged 32 a season in the previous three years — including a 40-goal campaign in 2022-23.
His microstats are intriguing considering his underwhelming underlyings in 2024-25 — he’s still a plus nearly across the board in that regard. According to AllThreeZones, the only places he’s truly not above average in are creating rebounds, controlled entries, and failing to exit the defensive zone with possession of the puck.
In terms of the rebounds bit, I ask “Who cares?” For the controlled entries and exits, I would assume he defers to his hypothetical linemates Jack Hughes and Jesper Bratt. There really isn’t a negative to his game that isn’t counteracted by playing with those two.
While McCann isn’t a great skater from a top-speed standpoint, he’s quick enough to keep up with the Devils’ top-six, ranking in the 69th percentile for speed bursts of 20 or more mph. He’s also a prime positive regression candidate this season, shooting 1.3 points below his career average. It’s also the first time since 2017-18 he’s scored fewer goals than expected, so there’s reason to assume a bounceback is inevitable.
What Would it Cost the Devils? I put a package together recently for Penguins top-line winger Rickard Rakell that included sending over Seamus Casey and a second-round pick, on top of a couple of cap dumps in Tomas Tatar and Nathan Bastian. I think that works here as well. McCann has a higher ceiling as a goal-scorer and is several years younger than Rakell, while still being signed at a reasonable cap hit for two years after 2024-25. All due respect to Casey, but the Devils’ blueline is already crowded and one of the prospects needs to be used as a trade chip — it’s probably going to be the one with the lowest draft pedigree.
Oliver Bjorkstrand (RW)
56 Games Played | 15 G | 20 A | 35 TP | 115 SOG | 13.0 SH% — $5.4 Million AAV through 2025-26
The obvious trade candidates from Seattle are those with expiring contracts, but it’s clear that Devil-killer Oliver Bjorkstrand should be on that list as well, and Tom Fitzgerald would be insane not to like what he sees.
Bjorkstrand, by all accounts, has been Seattle’s best player this season. The point totals might not scream it, but he leads the team in xGAR (11.1). He’s a massive plus offensively, excellent on his side of the ice, and has a positive penalty differential to boot. He’s active in the defensive zone, being a strong retriever in the sense that he wins d-zone board battles and is adept at picking passes off and turning them into rush opportunities.
The ex-Blue Jacket has scored between 18 and 28 goals in each of the last six seasons and is currently pacing for 21. He’s only had two stretches of hockey in his career in which he scored fewer goals than he was expected to, consistently outperforming his expected shooting percentage year over year. This couldn't be any more enticing for a team that has largely struggled to score at their expected rate this season. Put him on a line with Hughes and Bratt — players the caliber of which he has never played with before — and I’m certain this would only increase his opportunities to get shots off and thus the number of goals he is able to pot.
Much like McCann, Bjorkstrand isn’t a great skater. His top speed and bursts of 20+ mph both rank in the below-50th percentile, having logged just 41 20+ mph bursts as compared to the mean of 56.2 this season. Still, the need for speed is really a bottom-six problem, and when skating with the Devils’ top-six (which is both speedy and explosive), this should present as less of an issue, especially for a player who excels at finding open space on the cycle.
What Would it Cost the Devils? It wouldn’t be quite as expensive as McCann considering their respective ceilings, but I would still imagine it costs a fair amount. He’s a consistent 20+ goal threat and would fit nicely into the Devils’ top six. The Kraken should be aiming to get prospects and young NHLers into their system, so on top of the second-round pick they’ll surely get for the 29-year-old, I would imagine they have interest in the likes of Nolan Foote, who can contribute to their lineup now. On top of that, they generally need defensemen in their pipeline and Ethan Edwards isn’t going to be in the Devils’ future, so he could be used as an enticing trade chip. That’s a lot for Bjorkstrand himself and the Devils still need to make the money work, so I sent Tatar back to Seattle and am having them retain 50%.
Yanni Gourde (C)
35 Games Played | 6 G | 10 A | 16 TP | 38 SOG | 15.8 SH% — $5.17 million AAV through 2024-25
Though it was recently revealed that he would be out of the lineup with injury until right before the trade deadline, Yanni Gourde has been the subject of trade speculation all season by proxy of his expiring contract. As the Devils need bottom-six revamps, he should, and likely has been, on their radar as a target. Even with the injury, there should be interest.
Gourde, 33, is one of the league’s better bottom-six centers (when healthy). Dating back to 2017-18, he hasn’t scored fewer than 30 points in a season and has scored as many as 64. Even this season, one in which he was plagued by injuries that stymied his abilities to play effectively — his 82-game pace is 37 points. He is also the only regular member of the Kraken lineup to have an xGF% of above 50% this season.
In fact, the only campaign in his career where Gourde had an xGF% of below 50% was his “rookie” season in 2015-16 — one in which he played just two games and 14:37 total. He’s shot just 38 times in 35 games in 2024-25 but has averaged a little less than two per game in his career otherwise.
If the Devils are looking for a playdriving third-line center, even with the injury, Gourde is the obvious solution. Sure, there’s Jake Evans from Montreal or even Nick Bjugstad from Utah, but Gourde is the best player of the three even if he doesn’t have the speed of Evans or the size of Bjugstad. He’s a plug-and-play kind of guy, and should one of the Devils’ top-two centers get injured (again), he can easily slot in and play up in the lineup. He’s an all-situations player with no true weaknesses in his game (outside of maybe shootiness).
What Would it Cost the Devils? The Devils have two things going for them here: injury concerns and Gourde having a down year. I do think the asking price for him was somewhere in the second-round pick and young NHLer range before the injury, but it’s probably fair to say that has diminished more now that Gourde went down for a good chunk of time. With that in mind, here’s what I came up with for the trade considering Seattle’s needs:
All in all, the Kraken present as an intriguing trade partner that I’m sure the Devils have been in contact with this season, and for good reason. They have two plus-finishing wingers who would get rid of Ondrej Palat anchoring down the top six and the bottom-six playdriving center they desperately ache for. The money is tough for each of those players, but it can be done with a bit of roster gymnastics. If the Devils want to participate in the Metropolitan Division arms race, the time is now to act, and Seattle could be the dance partner they need.