The Gauthier voters
FANSIDEDTHE ATHLETIC (SUBSCRIPTION REQUIRED) – The writers at the Athletic didn’t seem very excited about choosing between Blackwell and Gauthier and ended up picking Gauthier because he is just 23 and was a former first round pick. They did point out that he has only two goals in portions or two seasons in the NHL.
Barclay Goodrow????
THE SEATTLE TIMES – The only publication to not name Colin Blackwell or Julien Gauthier was the Seattle Times, newcomers to the NHL world. Geoff Baker of the Times thinks the Kraken will roll the dice and selected newly acquired Barclay Goodrow. They are disregarding a report from TSN’s Frank Seravalli that Goodrow is waiting to sign a six-year deal he has in place with the Rangers.
Hearing #NYR have made significant progress with newly acquired forward Barclay Goodrow.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) July 19, 2021
Not finalized. Expectation is Goodrow will be a Blueshirt once the signing moratorium is lifted with a 6-year deal in $3.6m AAV range. @DFOHockey
Baker had been a proponent of drafting Brett Howden, but now has shifted his loyalties to Goodrow. How could this affect the Rangers? If the Kraken draft him, they would have exclusive negotiating rights with him until free agency opens on July 28. It would seem to make sense for Goodrow to wait to see what he is worth on the open market if he is drafted.
For what it’s worth, Baker also has Brendan Lemieux coming up the coast from Los Angeles in the draft as the selection from the Kings. You can find the list of protected and exposed players by clicking here.
Now that we’ve seen what the other prognosticators think, which Ranger do we believe will be an original Kraken?