Seattle Kraken adding Brandon Montour, Chandler Stephenson in free agency
SUNRISE, FLORIDA - JUNE 24: Brandon Montour #62 of the Florida Panthers celebrates with the Stanley Cup following a 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Game Seven of the 2024 NHL Stanley Cup Final at Amerant Bank Arena on June 24, 2024 in Sunrise (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
The Seattle Kraken made a pair of big additions on the first day of free agency on Monday, reaching deals with Florida Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour and Vegas Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson on seven-year contracts.
Montour’s deal is worth $7.14 million a year, with Stephenson’s deal at $6.25 million a season.
"Exciting day for the Kraken organization, our fans. It just goes to show that players want to come to Seattle, they want to play in this organization, they want to play in front of our great fans," Kraken general manager Ron Francis said on Monday.
It’s a pretty sizable leap into the free agent market for Seattle as they look to push forward again after a disappointing 2023-24 season.
Montour, 30, is fresh off a Stanley Cup victory with the Panthers and two straight trips to the Finals. Montour had a fantastic 2022-23 season in Florida with 73 points on 16 goals and 57 assists. That followed with 13 points on eight goals and five assists in 21 playoff games that season as well.
Montour played just 66 games this season and saw his point totals drop sharply after shoulder surgery last offseason. He had just eight goals and 25 assists for 33 points, while adding three goals and eight assists in 24 playoff games en route to the Cup.
"We think with the addition of Montour, that's an offensive piece in the back end, he's playing 23-24 minutes (a game) for a Cup winning team, brings a Stanley Cup into the locker room with him," Francis said. "And Stephenson, just a really good two-way guy, plays with pace has, you know, a sneaky skill set. Brings two cups into the locker room as well, so they checked a lot of boxes and we're excited to add them to our roster."
Kraken assistant general manager Jason Botterill was the GM with the Buffalo Sabres when Montour played there for parts of three seasons prior to his move to Florida as well.
Montour joined Sportnet in Canada after reaching the deal with the Kraken and discussed why it was the right fit for him.
"The main thing for me was to go to a team that wanted me, loved my game, and a team that wants to win," Montour said. "You see two years ago how close they were to the conference finals. Last year, obviously, taking a step back, but trying to find the right pieces to get back in that winning form. Obviously looking at Seattle as a sports town, they’re a sports city, winning there and the buzz would be insane."
Montour was a strong contributor on the power play for Florida with 33 of his 73 points in 2022-23, and 17 of his 25 points last season coming with the man advantage. He’ll give Seattle another strong power play unit defenseman to pair with Vince Dunn on the Kraken blue line with Justin Schultz not set to return.
Stephenson, 30, is a two-time Stanley Cup winner. He won two seasons ago with Vegas and also in the 2017-18 season with the Washington Capitals alongside Kraken teammates Philipp Grubauer and André Burakovsky.
Stephenson is likely a middle-six center option for the Kraken that will essentially replace Alex Wennberg’s spot in the lineup. He’s scored over 50 points in each of the last three seasons in Vegas with a career-high 21 goals in 2021-22, and career-high 49 assists in 2022-23. He had 16 goals and 35 assists for 51 points last season for the Golden Knights.
He’s also been well above 50 percent in face-off percentage each of the last three years as well, which is an area the Kraken have struggled with.
"We’re excited to welcome Chandler to the Kraken organization," Francis said in a statement. "He brings a winning pedigree and offensive consistency to our team, and we are looking forward to him being a part of our lineup this season."
The deals with Montour and Stephenson reflect an urgency from the Kraken to get back into playoff contention, though there are concerns about the length of the deals for two players that are each already 30 years old (and born 11 days apart, in fact).
Francis said it's kind of the reality of doing business early in free agency if you want to get a player to sign with your team.
"This time of year, you're not getting them if you don't go seven years a lot of times," Francis said. But the thing for us is they both skate so well. So, you know, if you're betting on a seven-year deal, you know, I think it's better to bet on somebody that skates extremely well. That's coming from a guy who never skated well and played a long time, but I think it's easier for guys that skate well as they age."
Despite the self-deprecation from the NHL's fifth-highest All-Time leading scorer, Francis did admit that he agreed to aspects of these contracts he hadn't previously done so as a general manager in Seattle and Carolina.
"It's the first time I've ever done seven-year contracts. It's the first time we've ever put signing bonus in my eight years as a GM. So there's certain things that we did that we don't normally do," Francis said. "But I think coming out of COVID things are going to change a little bit and this is kind of the start of that."
The salary cap made a sizable leap from $83.5 million last season to $88 million this season after several years of remaining flat due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The cap is expected to rise about $5 million more next year as well with those troubles in the past.
With the team still in need of reaching contracts with center Matty Beniers and winger Eeli Tolvanen after being given qualifying offers on Sunday, the additions of Montour and Stephenson could indicate the Kraken will be moving other players off the roster via trade as well. Especially since Seattle’s draft pipeline is getting closer to graduating multiple players to the NHL roster. Shane Wright and Ryker Evans are both likely full-time NHL pieces this season. Ryan Winteron and Logan Morrison saw time last year as well.
Francis tapped the brakes on that though in speaking with reporters on Monday, saying that outside of looking for depth and players to play with AHL Coachella Valley, they've made their two big moves of the offseason.
"We're working on that, but other than that, I think we're pretty well set at this point," he said.
The team announced a few of those signings later in the afternoon on Monday.
Centers Ben Meyers and Mitchell Stephens, left wing Brandon Biro, and left-shot defensemen Nikolas Brouillard and Max Lajoie. Of that group, only Brouillard didn't see any time in the NHL last season. Meyers played for the Colorado Avalanche (9 games) and Anaheim Ducks (14), Stephens for the Montreal Canadiens (23), Biro for the Sabres (5), and Lajoie (7) for the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Meyers is the only one on a one-way contract, which means he'd get an NHL salary even if he's sent down to play for the Firebirds. John Hayden is also on a one-way contract with Seattle after re-signing with the team on Sunday.
Potential Lineup:
Jared McCann - Matty Beniers* - Jordan Eberle
André Burakovsky - Chandler Stephenson - Jaden Schwartz
Oliver Bjorkstrand - Shane Wright - Eeli Tolvanen*
Tye Kartye - Yanni Gourde - Brandon Tanev
Vince Dunn - Adam Larsson
Brian Doumoulin - Brandon Montour
Jamie Oleksiak - Will Borgen
Ryker Evans
Philipp Grubauer
Joey Daccord
*Beniers and Tolvanen remain unsigned as restricted free agents with qualifying offers.