The Seattle Kraken announced on Tuesday that they have traded defenseman Brian Dumoulin to the Anaheim Ducks for Anaheim's 2026 fourth-round draft pick. Dumoulin signed a two-year contract with the Kraken on July 1, 2023, with a salary cap hit of $3.15 million. He appeared in 80 games during the 2023-24 season, recording six goals and 10 assists.
Why did Seattle trade Dumoulin? How do we evaluate this move and what does it mean for Seattle's offseason plans? Let's take a closer look.
Dumoulin played a valuable role for the Kraken.
Before discussing the team dynamics, it's important to note Dumoulin's solid performance on a Kraken team that didn't live up to expectations last season. Though he faced initial difficulties when joining the Kraken, Dumoulin quickly established himself as a valuable asset.
How much was he worth? Dumoulin recorded a career-high in goals (six), but his true impact was beyond the scoreboard. As a defensive defenceman, his effectiveness was measured by how well he limited opponents' chances and swung the momentum in Seattle's favour.
He excelled in the role last year. Hockey BizWhen Dumoulin was on the ice, the Kraken held their opponents' shot quality to 11 percent below average, and when Dumoulin was on the ice, the team produced 54.5 percent of their overall shot quality during five-on-five play. Natural Stats TrickNo player in the regular lineup had a higher expected points percentage than Dumoulin. Those on-ice results translated into success. Dumoulin was third on the team in on-ice plus-minus (+3), but overall was -19.
Dumoulin was primarily used as a third-pair defenseman, but he earned the trust of the coaching staff and was often willing to step in when needed due to injuries.
Kraken free agent additions set roster moves
So why would Seattle trade Dumoulin, such a key defensive player, given the team's recent free agent acquisitions and the salary cap pressure they need to manage?
Shortly after free agency opened on July 1, 2024, the Kraken announced they had signed defenseman Brandon Montour to a seven-year contract with an average annual salary of $7.14 million, bringing the number of NHL defensemen on the roster to seven: Montour, Dumoulin, Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, Will Borgen and Ryker Evans.
Within hours, center Chandler Stephenson also signed a seven-year contract worth $6.25 million per year, making them the richest contracts in Seattle or Ron Francis' history.
Assuming Shane Wright and Evans remain with the team, these contracts leave the Kraken with approximately $8.25 million in cap space, with 10 forwards and seven defensemen already under contract. The forward total will reach 12 if unsigned restricted free agents Eeli Tolvanen and Matty Benier are finalized.
Below are some of the possible contracts for Tolvanen and Beniel from two prominent contract projections.
Given Benier's declining scoring potential in 2023-24, most analysts are projecting a shorter, so-called “bridge” contract. Using the data points above, a reasonable estimate for a bridge contract might be a three-year, $4.6 million annual average deal.
As for Tolvanen, a multi-year contract with a projected annual salary cap in the range of $3 million to $4 million is the likely outcome. For Tolvanen, let's assume a three-year contract with an annual salary of $4 million.
If Veniers and Tolvanen were added to Seattle's salary cap table after spending big in free agency, the team would already be over the cap without a 13th (or 14th) forward on the roster.
Even if Tolvanen had a shorter contract, say one year for $3.2 million, there wouldn't be enough room to add a full-time 13th forward. Something would have had to be sacrificed.
Team decision to trade Dumoulin
Kraken general manager Ron Francis met with the media after signing Montour and Stephenson on Monday, July 1. When asked if the deals would necessitate further moves, Francis responded:[N]”At this point, that's not the case,” he said.[i]That depends on what I discuss with Matty. [Beniers] and [Eeli] “The subsequent movements were [contracts] It's coming in … but we're looking at different scenarios and we're confident that when the season starts we'll be within the cap and ready to go.”
when Hockey soundsWhen Derren Brown of the NBA asked Francis how he felt about the crowded seven-man blue line, Francis responded, “That's what training camp is for.” Francis continued, “During the season we usually go with seven, so up until today I was comfortable with six, but now I'm really happy with seven.”
We were wary of taking these comments at face value, suspecting that revealing tough financial circumstances during negotiations could weaken the team's negotiating position.
Heck, less than 24 hours later, Seattle announced Dumoulin's transfer to Anaheim, effectively ending a defensive logjam and improving their cap situation. With Dumoulin's $3.15 million cap hit gone, the team had $11.4 million in cap space to add Benier, Tolvanen, a 13th forward and a seventh defenseman.
Other trade candidates, such as Will Borgen ($2.7 million annual salary) and Adam Larsson ($4 million annual salary), weren't such simple solutions to Seattle's roster needs. The team likely valued them more and would be willing to keep or trade them on more favorable terms. Alternatively, trading a forward like Brandon Tanev ($3.5 million annual salary) without a replacement might have simply traded one problem for another, creating another opening on the roster.
Completing the Kraken Roster
With the Dumoulin trade, the cap situation is now much clearer. If we allocate a combined $8.6 million to Beigner and Tolvanen based on the calculations above, the team could easily add one forward and one defenseman on minimum contracts and stay under the cap. Consider the following scenario with John Haden and Cale Fleury filling those roles.
Or on July 1st, Kraken signed The team signed 25-year-old forward Ben Myers to a one-year contract worth $775,000 per year. Myers has played in 67 NHL games and scored six goals, and will likely compete with Hayden to remain on the team as the 13th forward.
In the blue line, Kraken signed On July 3, the club signed 26-year-old left-handed defenseman Josh Mahura to an identical, one-year, $775,000 contract. Mahura has 191 NHL games of experience. He served as the Florida Panthers' full-time third-pair defenseman in 2022-23 and was scheduled to continue in that role in 2023-24, but a lower-body injury caused him to fall out of the lineup and move down in depth in favor of other options. Mahura will compete with Fleury for the reserve defensive spot.
Dumoulin trade evaluation
Given Dumoulin's strong performance in Seattle and the reasonable length of his contract, one might ask why the Kraken could not have secured a better return in a trade. Recent trade trends have shown that deals at this time of year often prioritize cap management over maximizing player value. The Kraken took advantage of this dynamic when acquiring Oliver Bjorkstrand, but this time they were on the opposite side of the coin.
Below are the player and pick trades completed just prior to or during the past three free agency periods.
- July 2, 2024: Seattle traded LD Brian Dumoulin to Anaheim in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick.
- July 1, 2024: Pittsburgh trades F Reilly Smith (and salary retention) to the New York Rangers in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick.
- June 30, 2024: Montreal trades running back Jonathan Kovacevich to New Jersey in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick.
- July 2, 2023: Tampa Bay trades F Patrick Maroon (plus 20% salary retention) to Minnesota for a 2026 seventh-round pick.
- July 1, 2023: Dallas trades LD Collin Miller to New Jersey in exchange for a 2025 fifth-round pick.
- July 1, 2023: Montreal trades Joel Edmundson (plus 50% salary retention) to Washington in exchange for a 2024 third-round and seventh-round pick.
- July 22, 2022: Columbus traded F Oliver Bjorkstrand to Seattle in exchange for 2023 third- and fourth-round picks.
- July 13, 2022: Ottawa trades F Connor Brown to Washington in exchange for a 2024 second-round pick.
Kovacevic is a recent comparable player in the Dumoulin trade. Kovacevic is a 26-year-old, 6-foot-5, right-handed defenseman who will play 62 games as a third-pair player in the NHL in 2022-23 and have 13 points. He is also cheaper than Dumoulin, with a one-year cap hit of just $766,667. There is no doubt that Dumoulin is the better player, but it is easy to imagine that other factors could balance out the value based on the needs of the acquiring team. Considering that San Jose's 2026 fourth-round pick is likely a better pick than the one secured with Kovacevic's return, the two deals look roughly equivalent.
The 2023 Joel Edmonson trade might be the closest in terms of the profile of the player traded in our sample. The payoff in that case was slightly better, but I attribute that to Montreal's $1.75 million in salary withholding. Edmonson's cost in Washington is roughly half of what Dumoulin would cost against the cap.
The 2023 Collin Miller trade was a similar deal. Again, Dumoulin is the better player, but Miller was cheaper ($1.85 million average per year) and offered less in return.
Overall, Seattle appears to have made deals that were in line with market expectations.
Importantly, Seattle avoided a scenario in which it would have had to sweeten the deal with prospects or draft picks to move Dumoulin's contract, similar to what Detroit did with Jake Wollman, who had two years left on his contract with an average salary of $3.4 million. Detroit sent a second-round pick to San Jose to facilitate a trade for Wollman due to cap restrictions.
Looking back at the Soucy vs. Dumoulin fight one year later
All of this reminds me of the decision Seattle faced last offseason between re-signing Carson Soucy or signing Brian Dumoulin. The team chose the latter, emphasizing that the short-term deal Dumoulin accepted was important to not get in the way of Ryker Evans. Flash forward to today, Evans is NHL-ready, has a clear path to a role, and the Kraken picked up a small asset in the draft that was well worth the effort.
If the team had signed Soucy to the same contract he did in Vancouver, the Kraken would have had a player with two years remaining on his salary-cap hit of $3.25 million. If Soucy had the same injury-plagued season in Seattle that he did in Vancouver, it could have cost him a similar amount to what Detroit did to move Wollman.
Final conclusion
The Dumoulin trade was a necessary step for Seattle to navigate its cap situation while finalizing deals with restricted free agents Benier and Tolvanen. Given the current cap space, the deal doesn't portend any additional acquisitions beyond just supplemental deals, unless the Kraken offload more of their existing players in the meantime.
Could Seattle have secured a better return for Dumoulin if they had more cap flexibility to keep him? Probably. But the team prioritized acquiring their free agent targets, putting them in a weaker position in trade negotiations during a slow summer trade market. In that context, the trade seems fair and in line with market standards.
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What do you think about the Dumoulin trade and Seattle's other offseason moves? Do you think the Kraken is done? Is there anything else you'd like to see the team do? Are the Kraken a better team heading into the 2024-25 season? Let us know in the comments below or via X (old Twitter, @sound_hockey, @deepseahockey).
Curtis Isaac
Curtis is a contributor to Sound Of Hockey and a member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis works as an attorney during his free time and reads the NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement and bylaws so you don't have to. He analyzes the Kraken, the NHL Draft and other hockey topics. twitter And the thread @deepseahockey.
