How can the Seattle Kraken sign Gabriel Landeskog before the expansion draft?

With contract talks not going well with the Avalanche and his being left unprotected, can the Seattle Kraken sign Gabriel Landeskog before the expansion draft?

With a flat NHL salary cap, the Seattle Kraken will have their pick of some good players in Wednesday night’s expansion draft. On that note, according to the Denver Post on Saturday night, the Colorado Avalanche were expected to leave winger Gabriel Landeskog unprotected.

Landeskog is set to be an unrestricted free agent. Contract talks between he and the Avalanche haven’t been going well, to the point Landeskog said he was disappointed with the circumstance last week. The St. Louis Blues have been a rumored suitor, and there are multiple others.

Landeskog had 52 points in 54 games for Colorado this past season, with 13 points in 10 playoff games. He scored at least 20 goals for the fourth straight campaign, and the seventh time in the last eight seasons. According the Post, the Avalanche are likely hoping their long-time captain will accept a hometown discount to stay. That seems to be where the contract impasse is-term, total and cap hit/salary.

How the Seattle Kraken can sign Gabriel Landeskog before the expansion draft

Now that Landeskog is officially not on Colorado’s list of protected players, the Kraken will have an exclusive window before the expansion draft Wednesday night to negotiate with him (or any other unprotected potential free agent).

If they reach an agreement with Landeskog before Wednesday night, he becomes their expansion draft selection from the Avalanche. If an early deal isn’t reached, Seattle could still circle back and sign him when free agency opens for the rest of the league on July 28. If nothing else, Seattle has an early start on simply seeing if Landeskog is interested in signing with them.

Landing Landeskog would be quite a start for the Kraken and GM Ron Francis in building a new roster that can succeed immediately.