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Kraken extend Jared McCann, drop games to Capitals, Hurricanes and Maple Leafs

  
Kraken extend Jared McCann, drop games to Capitals, Hurricanes and Maple Leafs
Ilya Lyubushkin of the Toronto Maple Leafs battles against Colin Blackwell of the Seattle Kraken in front of Jack Campbell during the first period at the Scotiabank Arena on March 8, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Kevin Sousa / NHLI via Getty Images)

The Seattle Kraken announced yesterday that they have extended their leading scorer for five more seasons. Jared McCann signed a deal worth $25 million ($5 million AAV) to remain in Seattle while they try to build a winning franchise.

McCann was taken by the Kraken in the expansion draft from the Toronto Maple Leafs, whom he had been traded to just three days previously, and quickly won fans’ hearts with his hard-nosed play and knack for finding the net.

In 51 games this season, the 25-year-old center has 33 points (21 goals, 12 assists). His 21 goals is a new career-high, and he is on track to beat his career-high of 35 points well before the season ends.

https://twitter.com/SeattleKraken/status/1501228431421362176

Bookending the McCann extension were games this weekend against the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes, then last night against the Toronto Maple Leafs. These were the first three games of an East Coast road trip, which wraps up Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens.

Saturday at Washington

The Capitals hosted the Kraken for captain Mark Giordano’s 1,000th game on Saturday, but those were all the celebrations for Seattle. Alex Ovechkin scored his 764th goal, which left him just two shy of Jaromir Jagr for third overall on the all-time goal scoring list, a mark which he has since tied.

Washington took a 2–0 lead in the first period on goals by Tom Wilson and Dmitry Orlov, just 34 seconds apart. Seattle battled back on goals from Joonas Donskoi late in the first and Colin Blackwell just 58 seconds into the second period.

Washington got unanswered power play goals from Conor Sheary and Ovechkin before Sheary added a late empty-net goal to button up a 5–2 win. Goaltender Chris Driedger saved 20 of 24 shots for the Kraken.

Sunday at Carolina

The Kraken made the short trip from Washington D.C. to Raleigh, North Carolina, to face the Hurricanes on Sunday evening. Seattle jumped out to 1–0 and 2–1 leads in the second period before succumbing to the Canes on a power play goal by Teuvo Teravainen and a third-period game-winning goal from Martin Necas.

Seattle’s goals were from Alexander Wennberg and Calle Jarnkrok but, once again, the Kraken were unable to hold onto a lead. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer stopped 30 of 33 shots and probably deserved a better fate.

Tuesday at Toronto

Continuing their road trip, the Kraken hopped the border to face the Maple Leafs last night. Star center Auston Matthews scored his 41st, 42nd and 43rd goals of the season to power the Leafs to a 6–4 win.

Matthews opened the scoring with his first goal just 3:18 into the game and completed his hat trick with an empty-net goal in the waning moments of the game. Mitch Marner, William Nylander and John Tavares also had goals for the Maple Leafs, while Blackwell, Jaden Schwartz, Carson Soucy and Wennberg all scored for the Kraken.

Three of Toronto’s six goals were on the power play with the Kraken taking six costly penalties that sealed their fate. Grubauer saved 26 of 31 shots on net.

⚓  The Kraken take a short trip to face the Ottawa Senators tomorrow night. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m. PST.