Kraken already loses its best player after subpar expansion draft

There was a lot of talk on how the Seattle Kraken disappointed at its expansion draft on Wednesday. Fans quickly realize that the Kraken was not taking example on how the Vegas Golden Knights kicked things off in 2017, especially seeing that there were no side deals to go with those 30 picks.

Fans in Seattle were however excited to land forward Yanni Gourde from the champions Tampa Bay Lightning, who could be set to become the star and potential face of the franchise moving on. Gourde is a two-way center who just plays such a high energetic game, plays in all situations and on the penalty kill. 

However, the bad news quickly came to kick the Kraken right in the balls. It was announced on Thursday that the Kraken had already lost its best player seeing that Gourde underwent shoulder surgery this week and will be unavailable for the start of the season.

This is a bummer seeing that Gourde is set to to centre one of the Kraken’s top two lines next season and is coming off a 17-goal, 36-point campaign with the Lightning. He added six goals and seven points in 23 playoff games.

Gourde, who was the headline of the Kraken’s selections along with maybe Jordan Eberle and Mark Giordano, is already missing from a very questionable roster… 

Tough blow for the new NHL team…