It took a week to sink in.
Former Kraken defenseman, now defenceman, Jamie Oleksiak, signed as a free agent on July 1st with the Vancouver Canucks for $5-million per season for two years. There’s a slight difference in salary over the 24-month period, with a signing bonus attached to year two and a modified 12-team no trade clause over the duration, but it’s still a $400,000 raise compared to what he was making with the Kraken.
It’s simple proof the Canucks are in a rebuild, as they round out what’s left of their D-corps, and a reminder the salary cap has gone up to $103-million per team.
The Canucks also signed 36-year-old blueliner Luke Schenn for his third stint with the club. Based on the number of games played the last few seasons, he’s nearing the end of his rope, but along with Oleksiak he’ll provide protection for the squirrely potential first-pair star Zeev Buium. The latter, who came over from the Minnesota Wild in the deal for superstar Quinn Hughes, is considered at this point ‘Hughes-lite’. We’ll see.
In the meantime, Schenn and 34-year-old forward Brendan Gallagher, forever a Montreal Canadien after playing his teenage hockey in Burnaby and his junior hockey for the Vancouver Giants, will look to provide leadership and set a work ethic example for the young kids who are developing in the organization.
OK.
So back to the big lefty Oleksiak, who departed one sort of dead-end for another. Regardless of how long it takes the Kraken and/or the Canucks to get their you-know-what together, he wasn’t and isn’t going to be around long enough to worry about winning a Stanley Cup. His best chance at that would have been as a UFA depth rental for a contender these past playoffs, had the Kraken actually unloaded him for a pick or two. They somehow didn’t.
Knowing the club wasn’t going anywhere fast, Oleksiak’s and the Kraken’s game cratered after the trade deadline. Prior to that he was inconsistent the last two seasons and I’m pretty sure the analytics experts won’t be bragging about his numbers.
The one thing he definitely has been is healthy and durable, impressive for a 6-foot-7, 250-pound behemoth who’s missed a grand total of just 11 games over the past four years. His 2023-’24 and 2024-’25 Kraken seasons featured perfect attendance.
The “Big Rig” should use this opportunity to set himself up for the next trade deadline or two. He’s running out of time to win that elusive Cup, having come closest in 2020 with the Dallas Stars, the team that drafted him in the first round of the NHL Draft 15 years ago. They lost the Final in six games to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Oleksiak is one of a dying breed; an “original Kraken”. With his departure, five remain.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken Prospect’s Brother His Rival And Number-1 Fan
