EP Rinkside's Seattle Kraken expansion mock draft

At long last, each of the NHL's 29 teams participating in the Seattle Kraken expansion draft published their protected and exposed player lists on Sunday morning. With plenty of time between now and Wednesday's draft, hockey fans get to fiercely debate who the Pacific Northwest's newest team should select, with many unexpected names among the league's offerings.

The Kraken are in a much different situation than the Golden Knights were back in 2017. The COVID-induced flat salary cap has made cap space an even more valuable commodity than it was four years ago, and the number of quality players on sizeable contracts that were exposed is evidence of that. The temptation to build slowly through the draft also might be more powerful, as possibly generational prospects like Shane Wright, Connor B