The Seattle Kraken continued their summer of change, bringing in a newcomer to their blueline.
Defenseman Josh Mahura, another decamping figure from the Florida Panthers Stanley Cup title team, agreed to a contract with the Kraken on Wednesday for a one-year and one-way league minimum deal.
“Josh is a veteran defenseman who adds depth and experience to our blue line,” said Kraken general manager Ron Francis in a statement.
Mahura, 26, is nine games away from 200 in his NHL career with prior experience in Flroida and Anaheim and brings ample experience in a depth role to the Kraken blueline, but suffered through a season where he struggled to stay in the lineup and deal with injuries, in a 30-game campaign where he logged just nine assists.
By far, his most productive NHL season came the year prior, when he didn’t miss a game – regular season or playoffs – and logged 16 points and four goals while adding three assists in the postseason, helping the Panthers reach the Stanley Cup Final for the first time in 27 years.
Mahura will likely compete with young blueliner Ryker Evans for everyday playing time among the corps of six defensemen and is the second Panther to leave for Seattle in two days, joining Brandon Montour who signed a splashy seven-year deal for over seven million dollars annually.
The six-foot, 193 pound defenseman is no stranger to the Pacific Northwest either, regularly competing against the Seattle Thunderbirds and Everett Silvertips in his five-year WHL career with the Red Deer Rebels and Regina Pats. A year after he was drafted by the Anaheim Ducks, he blasted a career-high 22 goals and 69 points from the Pats blueline in 2017-18.