As rumours come in regarding teams protection lists and who they'll leave exposed, it appears that the Florida Panthers will lose another solid player for the second expansion draft in a row. According to Pierre LeBrun of TSN, the Kraken are expected to select Chris Driedger from the Panthers and sign him to an extension before he hits the open market on July 28th.
"All signs point to the Seattle Kraken signing and selecting pending UFA goalie Chris Driedger from the Florida Panthers as part of the expansion draft process, sources say." LeBrun said in a tweet on Saturday afternoon.
Driedger, 27, had a strong year in Florida, his first full season in the NHL. In 23 games, the Winnipeg, Manitoba native had a record of 14-6-3 with a 2.07 G.A.A., a .927 save percentage, and three shutouts.
It's a fairly big loss for the Panthers, but Driedger likely would have gone to the open market if he wasn't going to be selected by the Kraken. Florida has Sergei Bobrovsky signed until after the 2025-26 season, and the emergence of rookie netminder Spencer Knight pushed Driedger down on the depth chart.
