Their opening move when the market opened was signing former Florida Panthers and Columbus Blue Jackets center Alexander Wennberg to a three-year contract with an average annual value of $4.5 million. The 6-foot-2, 200-pound, 26-year-old center put up 29 points (17 goals, 12 assists) in 56 games with the Panthers last season. He will help bolster the team up the middle of the ice, which is one area they were left thin following the expansion draft.

Welcome to SEA-town!

The #SeaKraken have agreed to terms with @AlexWennberg on a 3 year contract ($4.5M AAV). pic.twitter.com/65RLEN3iHv

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) July 28, 2021

Following up much speculation, the Kraken then announced that they had signed former St. Louis Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz to a five-year contract with an AAV of $5.5 million. The 29-year-old, 5-foot-10, 190-pound wing had 40 points (eight goals, 13 assist) in an injury-shortened season with the Blues. He immediately steps in and becomes their top wing on the left side, but also in an affordable fashion.

Schwartzy

We’ve agreed to terms with Jaden Schwartz on a 5 year contract ($5.5M AAV). pic.twitter.com/p0ZPIfUUWW

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) July 28, 2021

The biggest move of the day was Francis stepping in line ahead of the Colorado Avalanche and snagging the top goaltender on the market in Vezina Trophy finalist Philipp Grubauer. Grubauer signed a five-year contract with an AAV of $5.9 million. Last season, the 29-year-old, 6-foot-1, 188-pound German goaltender had a record of 30–9–1 in 40 games en route to a third-place finish for the Vezina Trophy for the league’s most valuable goaltender. He will slide into the starting spot in net just ahead of expansion draft selection Chris Driedger. This signing will also allow the Kraken to flip one of Vitek Vanecek or Joey Daccord to a (hopefully) desperate team in need of goaltending depth.

Don’t mind if we do.

The #SeaKraken have agreed to terms with goaltender @philgrubauer31 on a 6 year contract (5.9M AAV). pic.twitter.com/gSdeyGKwPO

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) July 28, 2021

The post Kraken make big free agency splash, sign Grubauer appeared first on The Rink.

Player	Pos	Prev Team	New Team	Age	Ht / Wt	Term	Notes
Vitek Vanecek	G			25	6'2" / 187	---	Traded back to WAS for 2023 second round pick
Dylan Sikura	C/W			26	5'11" / 166	1 X $800K
Roland McKeown	D			25	6'1" / 195	1 X $750K
Darcy Kuemper	G			31	6'5" / 215	---	Acquired from ARI for 2022 First Round Pick, 2024 conditional third round pick, and Conor Timmins
Stefan Matteau	C			27	6'2" / 220	1 X $750K
Darren Helm	LW			34	6'1" / 192	1 x $1M
Jujhar Khaira	LW			26	6'4" / 212	2 X $975K
Philipp Grubauer	G			29	6'1" / 188	6 X $5.9M
Alexander Wenneberg	C			26	6'2" / 197	3 X $4.5M
Jaden Schwartz	LW			29	5'10" / 190	5 X $5.5M
Jake McCabe	D			27	6'1" / 204	4 X $4M
Nikita Zadorov	D			26	6'6" / 235	---	Traded RFA rights for 3rd rd pick
Marc-Andre Fleury	G			36	6'2" / 185	---	Acquired in trade for Mikael Hakkarainen
Tyler Johnson	C			30	5'8" / 185	---	Acquired in trade for the rights to Brent Seabrook
Seth Jones	D			26	6'4" / 213	8 X $9.5M	Acquired through trade for Adam Boqvist and picks
Caleb Jones	D			24	6'1" / 194	---	Acquired through trade for Duncan Keith
Gabriel Landeskog	LW			28	6'1" / 215	8 X $7M	Extended
Cale Makar	D			22	5'11" / 187	6 X $9M	Extended
Kurtis MacDermid	D			27	6'5" / 233	---	Traded for pick

The post The Rink 2021 Blackhawks/Avalanche/Kraken Free Agent & Trade Tracker appeared first on The Rink.