Kraken nearing four-year extension with key defenseman

The Seattle Kraken are working on a deal to keep defenseman Adam Larsson in the Pacific Northwest for the next four years, per reports from Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman included in a follow-up report that Larsson’s salary will be $5.25M each season making it a four-year, $21M extension.

The fourth overall pick of the 2011 NHL Draft originally came to the Kraken organization during the 2021 Expansion Draft from the Edmonton Oilers. Seattle quickly signed Larsson to a four-year, $16M contract and he has been with the organization ever since.

Larsson has excelled during his time with the Kraken as he’s garnered more responsibility in his career than at any point with the Oilers or New Jersey Devils. He’s only missed one regular season game (which came this past season) and has averaged 22:57 of ice time in 245 games with the young franchise. His consistency and availability alone would have earned him an extension in Seattle but Larsson has also chipped in adequately offensively with 20 goals and 76 points overall.

He led the team in blocked shots and hits during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons while dropping to second and fourth this past year, respectively. The only major drawback to Larsson’s game is his possession quality which largely falls below a 50 percent CorsiFor percentage. Much of that can be attributed to the fact that he’s averaged a 55.4 percent Defensive Zone Start percentage in All Situations during his time with Seattle.

The $5.25M salary over the next four years is just a notch below Evolving-Hockey’s prediction of a $5.5M salary on a four-year pact. The deal will keep Larsson in place until the 2028-29 regular season and keep Seattle’s defensive core largely intact before Vince Dunn’s current contract ends after the 2027-28 campaign. There won’t be any problems on the right side of their defense for quite some time with the team adding Brandon Montour on a seven-year deal earlier in the offseason.

Not only have the Kraken ironed out their blue line for the next three to five years, but the team has also taken a major potential trade chip off the market for next year’s trade deadline. Larsson would have been an ideal candidate to market at next year’s trade season if Seattle found itself outside of contention.