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The Seattle Kraken weren't overly busy this offseason in free agency, though general manager Jason Botterill did acquire a handful of players via trade. They acquired forward Mason Marchment in a deal with the Dallas Stars, while also landing former Detroit Red Wings first-round draft selection Joe Veleno in a deal with the Chicago Blackhawks.
Additionally, they acquired Frederick Gaudreau from the Minnesota Wild.
As far as free agency was concerned, they brought aboard defenseman Ryan Lindgren, who most recently played with the Colorado Avalanche, along with goaltender Matt Murray, most recently in the Toronto Maple Leafs organization.
Right now, the Kraken have just under $7 million with which to utilize for any additional offseason moves that Botterill deems necessary for his club to return to the postseason after having missed out on the last two seasons.
However, there remains one additional move that the Kraken needed to make that has left some fans and Insiders confused. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer, who struggled immensely during the 2024-25 season and was even waived and sent to the American Hockey League, remains on the roster and under contract for another two seasons with a moderate $5.9 million salary cap hit.
Why hasn't Grubauer been either bought out or traded yet?
The Seattle Kraken need to trade or buy out G Philipp Grubauer, shed his salary
Not buying out the final two seasons of Grubauer's contract was a question posed to Botterill in late June, not long after he announced that the club intended to bring the embattled goaltender back for the 2025-26 NHL season.
“Look, it’s a situation that people assume certain things, (that) if you buy out a player, it just automatically goes away,” Botterill said via Davey Jones' Locker Room. “There’s still a cap hit and stuff from that standpoint. And, you know, we believe that Philipp can bounce back from that situation, and we think there’s an opportunity still for success.”
Botterill continued:
“Yeah, Philipp will be with part of our group here for sure,” he said. “We’ll continue to work on different things (with him). We brought in Colin to be our goalie coach. We’ll continue to look at different ways that we can improve.”
“The team in front of him is one of the things that Lane (Lambert, new coach) has talked a lot about; making sure that we play strong in front of him. We’ll continue to look at different ways to improve our goalie position, both with Joey (Daccord) and Philipp.”
The Kraken, who hired former New York Islanders head coach Lane Lambert as the successor to Dan Bylsma following his dismissal after a lone season on the job, have also hired former Coachella Firebirds goaltending coach Colin Zulianello to fill that role at the NHL level.
Zulianello has already played an instrumental role in the development of Joey Daccord and Nikke Kokko, the first of whom is now the starter in the Kraken crease. He even heaped praise upon Grubauer for his time in the AHL after the other 31 NHL clubs passed on claiming him on the waiver wire.
“I have a ton of respect for Grubi,” he said via NHL.com. “It was not an easy situation for any pro, let alone a guy who's spent as much time in the NHL as he has. He came to Coachella Valley with zero ego and just wanted to work on his game. He became a leader and was great for Kokko and the entire team.”
While it's admirable that the Kraken believe that Grubauer can bounce back from his subpar outing in the 2024-25 NHL season, there isn't much evidence to support that belief.
Grubauer is clearly on the downswing of his career, and while he proved to be a capable starter with both the Colorado Avalanche and Kraken (along with his stint with the Washington Capitals), Grubauer has officially been displaced by Daccord, who has seized the starting reins.
It's time for the Kraken to start looking more toward the future, as when it comes time for them to start contending again, Grubauer isn't going to be in the picture.
A buyout of his deal right now would cost the team $1,983,333 against the salary cap for this season, $3,083,333 for the 2026-27 NHL season, and two seasons of $1,683,333.
Given the salary cap space that the Kraken already have, it would behove them to cut ties with him now with the buyout, allowing him to have a fresh start to play what would be the final few seasons of his NHL career elsewhere.
