Forward Daniel Sprong heads to Seattle after a short stint with Vancouver, bringing added depth to the Kraken roster.
The Vancouver Canucks have dealt forward Daniel Sprong to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for future considerations. Sprong, 27, signed a one-year, $975,000 deal with the Canucks this off-season after playing for the Detroit Red Wings in 2023-24.
In nine matches with the Canucks, the right-wing player has netted one goal and three points while posting a minus-two rating. He has averaged 11 minutes and 39 seconds of playing time on ice per game.
With nine years of experience in the NHL, Sprong has netted 86 goals over 353 games, playing for six separate teams. He played in sections of two seasons with Seattle during 2021-22 and 2022-23.
“We would like to thank Daniel for his time here in Vancouver, With his help our team has started the year in a positive way, and we wish him the best in Seattle.” : said Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin in a news release from the team.
The Kraken seek an offensive boost following their loss in nine out of the first 14 games. Sprong enjoyed his finest NHL season with the team, achieving personal records of 21 goals and 46 points while also tying his highest assist count at 25.
Sprong was initially a second-round selection by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2015 draft and has since been traded four times.
Sprong was with the Kraken for parts of two seasons, netting 21 goals in 66 games during the 2022-23 season. He comes back to them when they are in dire need of goals. They are now in 21st place in the NHL for goals per game and hold a 5-8-1 record.
With the Canucks, Sprong netted a goal in his debut game but hasn’t scored again since. He concludes his stint with the Canucks with 3 points over 9 games. It’s an unusual decision for the Canucks, though, for several reasons.
The primary reason is that the Canucks received nothing in exchange. “Future considerations” refers to the Kraken fulfilling the trade later on by providing the Canucks with a player, a draft pick, or possibly both. Sometimes, such agreements may include a performance-related stipulation that dictates the compensation level.
The second reason this trade is odd is that Sprong was under a sufficiently low contract, allowing him to be waived and sent to the minors without causing a salary cap hit to the Canucks if he cleared. The highest contract that can be hidden in the minors this season is $1.15 million — significantly more than Sprong’s $975,000 agreement.
If Sprong had been picked up off waivers, it wouldn’t be significantly different from trading him for future considerations. If he was successful, he could improve his defensive skills in the AHL and be ready for the Canucks later on.
We witnessed the events of the playoffs last season when Brock Boeser encountered a blood clot problem, and the Canucks abruptly lacked scoring wingers.
By removing Sprong from the roster, the Canucks gain some additional flexibility to accumulate cap space, since they can replace him with a player not subject to waivers, like Arshdeep Bains, Max Sasson, or Linus Karlsson.
Additionally, Sprong, with his one-way contract, would be quite a costly AHL player if they chose to waive him and reassign him. When it comes to real money spent, acquiring Sprong does provide some savings. It also eliminates a contract from their roster: the Canucks had 47 contracts out of a total of 50.
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