SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - JANUARY 04: Brandon Tanev #13 of the Seattle Kraken warms up before the game against the Edmonton Oilers at Climate Pledge Arena on January 04, 2025 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)Photo: Steph Chambers / Getty Images Sport / Getty Images
The Seattle Kraken traded left winger Brandon Tanev to the Winnipeg Jets on Friday, shortly before the NHL’s imposed Noon PT trade deadline, in another move to turn over the core of their roster.
Coming back to the Kraken is only a second round draft pick in 2027, but it’s a move to largely free up cap space for availability to fortify the roster this coming summer for more turnkey-ready talent.
“Brandon was an original member of the Kraken who brought high energy and grit to both ends of the ice," said Kraken general manager Ron Francis in a statement.
Tanev, 33, was in his fourth season in Seattle as an expansion draft pick of the team four years ago, and in his ninth full NHL season with 533 games in Seattle, Pittsburgh, and a previous stop with the Jets. He’s due for a return to the organization that provided his NHL debut, and seven years ago with a run to the Western Conference Final, likely slotting in as a fourth liner on a Winnipeg team holding a six point lead for first place in the Central and Western Conference.
Tanev, a speedy and abrasive checking forward with a valuable penalty kill role in Seattle, is the third player departing this week with ties to either their expansion season or the following season’s playoff run. He has 17 points and nine goals in 60 games this season, and hit a career high 16 goals two years ago while appearing in all 14 playoff games for the Kraken. He was due to head into unrestricted free agency this summer, coming off a six-year contract worth $3.5 million annually.
The Kraken shipped forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand to Tampa Bay on Wednesday, receiving a haul of three draft picks, and two in the first rounds over the next three seasons. With Tanev on the move, by the end of this season, a projected $14 million in salary cap space has been freed for the offseason from trade deadline week deals.
Francis said the Kraken plan to spend the money for upgrades.
“We’re looking not to save the $20 million, we're looking to spend that," Francis told the Ian Furness Show on Friday, on 93.3 KJR-FM. "We want to make our team better.”
“We’re not doing these moves to save money, or cut corners.”
A projected $20 million in cap space will be available for next season with the NHL raising their cap to $95.5 million, with restricted free agents such as winger Kaapo Kakko and defenseman Ryker Evans due for new contracts.
“We’ll get a deal done with (Kakko) after the season,” Francis told 93.3 KJR-FM.
The Kraken also shipped forward Daniel Sprong, who was in the AHL with Coachella Valley, to the New Jersey Devils at the deadline in exchange for a seventh rounder in 2026.