Sammi’s Daily Mix: Release The Kraken, Party In The Bay

It’s Monday and the start of quite a busy week across the NHL. The action kicks off with the Tampa Bay Lightning celebrating their Stanley Cup championship in a boat parade. All the while, other teams around the league are getting ready to submit their protected lists by Saturday as the Seattle Kraken prepare for the expansion draft next Wednesday.

So without further delay, let’s get down to business and explore the latest headlines around the league.

Capitals Links

• Washington selected forward Bogdan Trineyev in the fourth round of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft. Jon Sorensen recaps how the 19-year-old did last season in the KHL and looks ahead to the Capitals prospect’s future. (NoVa Caps)
• Seattle continues to send friendly reminders in regards to the upcoming expansion draft. Ian Oland has more on the Kraken and their Twitter antics as July 21 approaches. (Russian Machine Never Breaks)
• From early days in Denmark to a Stanley Cup with Washington, Lars Eller has made quite the career for himself. The 32-year-old center reflects on learning to skate, his time in Montreal, his transition to D.C. and that famous Game 5 Cup-clinching goal in the latest edition of “From The Vault.” (Washington Hockey Now)

NHL Links

• Blockbusters are the best part of any summer, and there could be a lot of big names on the move soon. Lyle Richardson shares which stars could be on the move, from Marc-Andre Fleury to Johnny Gaudreau to Evgeny Kuznetsov. (Bleacher Report)
• Meanwhile, a lot’s going on in Philly. Ryan Gibert breaks down all the speculation surrounding the Flyers, from Jakub Voracek to Seth Jones. (Philly Hockey Now)
• In regards to the expansion draft, there’s a lot of moving pieces. Todd Little breaks down everything you need to know as the league releases the Seattle Kraken. (Litter Box Cats)

Sammi’s Top Shelf Takes

• The Bolts hold their boat parade today to celebrate their back-to-back titles. Agent Dan Milstein said on Twitter that official salary cap t-shirts will be worn at the parade. Taking that into account, as well as the parade last year and the Buccaneers’ Super Bowl celebration in February, this is truly going to be a sight to behold. But in my humble opinion, nothing will beat Alex Ovechkin‘s tour of D.C. and jumping in fountains.
• Speaking of Tampa: Nikita Kucherov still has no chill and remains in full savage mode. On Instagram, he posted a picture of himself wearing an “18M Over The Cap” shirt as he posed with the Stanley Cup and Lombardi Trophy. That being said, it’s easy to see he’s embracing his role as the NHL’s newest “bad guy” — and honestly, it’s strange (yet somewhat refreshing?) to see Kucherov play this part.
• On the other side of the Stanley Cup coin, the Montreal Canadiens got a gem in Corey Perry, who made his second straight Final appearance in 2021. He holds a lot of meaning in the team’s dressing room and said he hopes to return to the Habs for his 17th season. They would be wise to lock him up and keep that veteran presence in there, especially with Cole Caufield and younger players coming into the mix.