The Seattle Kraken are making an interesting choice from the list of Chicago Blackhawks players who were made available for Wednesday’s expansion draft.
Following multiple media reports earlier in the day, the Kraken made it official that evening by officially taking Blackhawks forward John Quenneville in the expansion draft.
It is, at a minimum, a curious move by the Kraken to go with Quenneville, considering there were several more proven NHL players available from Chicago. Defenseman Calvin de Haan and Nikita Zadorov were there for the taking, along with unproven but still young goalies like Collin Delia and Malcolm Subban. There were also a slew of forwards as possibilities, including Adam Gaudette and Vinnie Hinostroza.
Instead, Seattle opted for Quenneville, who has played in just 42 regular season games spread across four seasons, which did not include a game during the 2021 — he spent all of last season with the IceHogs. Quenneville’s last appearance with Chicago was a controversial one: he skated on the top line with Jonathan Toews and Dominik Kubalik in Game 5 of Chicago’s first-round playoff series with the Golden Knights in 2020.
Quenneville is also an unrestricted free agent, which means Seattle will have a chance to sign Quenneville to a contract before anyone else — if the Kraken even elect to go that route.