The 2021 National Hockey League Expansion Draft took place on Wednesday, with 10 notable Canadians chosen. Of the 10 notable Canadians are four defensemen, two centers, two right-wingers, one left-winger, and one goaltender.
The defensemen include three-time National Hockey League All-Star and 2019 Norris Trophy winner Mark Giordano of Toronto, Ontario. Giordano had spent 15 seasons with the Calgary Flames, and had 509 points in 949 games. The other three blueliners are 2019 St. Louis Blues Stanley Cup champion Vince Dunn of Mississauga, Ontario, Jamie Oleksiak of Toronto, Ontario, who played last year with the Dallas Stars, and Carson Soucy of Viking, Alberta, who played last year with the Minnesota Wild.
At center, the Kraken selected Yanni Gourde of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who has won the Stanley Cup the last two seasons. Of all the players the Kraken chose, Gourde had the most points last season as he had 36 points (17 goals and 19 assists). Meanwhile, the Kraken also chose Jared McCann of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who was recently traded from the Pittsburgh Penguins.
At wing, the Kraken selected left-winger Brandon Tanev of Toronto, Ontario from the Penguins, and right wingers Jordan Eberle of Regina, Saskatchewan from the New York Islanders, and Nathan Bastian of Kitchener, Ontario from the New Jersey Devils. Finally, in net, Seattle chose goaltender Chris Driedger of Winnipeg, Manitoba from the Florida Panthers. In limited action last season, Kraken sparkled with a record of 14-6-3, three shutouts, a goals against average of 2.07, and a save percentage of .927.
