Kraken sign defenseman Brandon Montour, make big splash to open free agency

Kraken general manager Ron Francis has taken a huge swing in Monday’s opening of NHL free agency, signing right-handed shot defenseman Brandon Montour of the Florida Panthers to a seven-year, $50 million contract.

“Brandon is a proven winner, and we are thrilled to have him joining our organization,” Francis said in a release. “We’re looking forward to him making his Kraken debut in front of the best fans in the NHL.”

The deal had been reported earlier by Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet and brings the offensively gifted Montour, 30, to a Kraken team that already has a top point-getter in defenseman Vince Dunn. The free agency period opens at 9 a.m. PT, at which point a flurry of signings by teams are expected to be announced.

Montour had eight goals, 25 assists in 66 games for the Panthers last season and added 11 more playoff points in winning the Stanley Cup. He led all Panthers in ice time, averaging 23:37 per contest. The prior season, he had 16 goals and 57 assists in ranking as one of the league’s top defensive point-getters.

Heading into the free agency period, Montour was widely viewed as the top non-forward available. A Kraken team that finished with the NHL’s fourth worst goals per game total of 2.61 had looked to jumpstart the offense with acquisitions this summer.

While many do expect an additional forward or two to be added via free agency or trade, a Montour acquisition fills some of the offensive need while restoring balance to the left-right synergy of the defensive pairings. Some of that had been lost when right-handed defender Justin Schultz was not retained and became an unrestricted free agent.

Right-handed shot defenders are a rarer NHL commodity than left-handed versions. Montour gives the Kraken three right-handed defensemen alongside Adam Larsson and Will Borgen to go with three lefties in Dunn, Jamie Oleksiak and Ryker Evans.

Several top free agent forwards immediately came off the board Monday after winger Sam Reinhart resigned with the Panthers and center Steven Stamkos of the Tampa Bay Lightning and winger Jonathan Marchessault of the Vegas Golden Knights inked deals with the Nashville Predators. Winger Jake Guentzel of the Carolina Hurricanes promptly signed with Tampa Bay, which had freed up cap space by letting Stamkos go and trading defenseman Mikhail Sergachev to Utah over the weekend.

Vancouver centerman Elias Lindholm went to Boston on the same day the Bruins also signed Canucks defenseman Nikita Zadorov. Going the other way, the Canucks signed Bruins winger Jake DeBrusk.

Winnipeg Jets center Sean Monahan then signed with Columbus shortly after, while Los Angeles Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson inked a deal with Edmonton.

The Kraken had about $10 million in salary cap space to add players ahead of this signing for $7.14 million annually. That means they will either target cheaper forwards from here or clear cap space by trading away current players.

By signing Montour rather than adding a top forward for roughly the same free agent dollars and contract term, the Kraken have left themselves trade options on the defensive front in order to free up cap space.

Larsson, 31, has one year, $4 million left on his contract and multiple teams were said to be interested in acquiring him back at the March trade deadline. If Larsson was to be moved, the Kraken do have another right-handed defenseman in AHL prospect Cale Fleury that could move up to replace him following limited Kraken stints in the past.

The Kraken have already been linked to trade talks with the Columbus Blue Jackets on winger Patrik Laine, 26, who has two more seasons to go on a contract worth $8.7 million in annual value. With the Montour signing, the Kraken would need to trade somebody off the current roster to be able to accommodate the Laine contract.

There had been talk of the Kraken moving the remaining year and $3.5 million of Brandon Tanev’s contract to Ottawa as an enticement for the Senators to lure his brother, marquee free agent defender Chris Tanev of the Dallas Stars. But that scenario ended Monday when Chris Tanev signed with Toronto.

They have approached this summer looking to make major changes on and off the ice in order to strengthen their presence within a crowded Seattle sports market following a disappointing 81-point, non-playoff season. The changes began with the late-April dropping of ROOT Sports as their broadcast partner two years ahead of schedule and the decision to produce their own game telecasts to be shown on Tegna-owned “free” channels and streamed by Amazon Prime.

It continued right after with the firing of coach Dave Hakstol and his replacement with Coachella Valley AHL affiliate coach Dan Bylsma — a former Stanley Cup winner with Pittsburgh. Beyond that, the team had signaled an intent to be very aggressive this summer in order to restore it to playoff contender status a year after advancing deep into the second round.

The NHL also announced the home openers of all teams Monday, with the Kraken’s first 2024-25 regular season game at Climate Pledge Arena set for Oct. 8 against St. Louis.

This story will be updated.