The Seattle Kraken signed goaltender Joey Daccord to a five-year contract extension on Wednesday. The deal carries a $5 million cap hit as well as a partial no-trade clause, and will kick in for the 2025-26 season.
Below, we take a look at how the Daccord's new contract looks for the Kraken.
Joey Daccord's Success Story
Originally claimed by Seattle in the 2021 Expansion Draft, Daccord wasn't necessarily always poised for success in with the Kraken. Prior to being claimed, he had played just nine NHL games, spending much of his time in the AHL and ECHL.
Even after joining the organization, Daccord really didn't have much of a path to the NHL. He was behind Philipp Grubauer on the depth chart, along with Chris Driedger (2021-22) and then Martin Jones (2022-23). However, after posting great AHL numbers across those first two seasons, Daccord got his shot last season.
Though he was expected to be used primarily as a backup, Grubauer continued to struggle in the 2023-24 season. This opened the door for Daccord, and he took advantage of the opportunity, going on to play 50 games with the team. He managed a .916 save percentage over that period – a huge contrast to Grubauer's .899 save percentage last year.
Daccord's rise to success was a fun story, and now, he's possibly positioned to take over the team's starting role for good.
Kraken get a fair cap hit
Overall, $5 million is a reasonable price tag for Daccord. We've seen a similar cap hit for goalies like Thatcher Demko, Cal Petersen, Linus Ullmark (2021), Elvis Merzlikins, and Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen.
What all the goalies have in common is that they were relatively new starters at the time of signing, with a limited sample size of NHL success. Essentially, they were deals signed in the hopes the netminder could take full control of the starting job. We've seen mixed outcomes, with the likes of Demko and Ullmark being well worth it, while Petersen and Merzlikins struggled to meet expectations for the cap hit.
It's certainly a bit of a gamble, given the deal doesn't even kick in until next summer. There's an argument the Kraken could've held off for at least a little while, to see if Daccord can replicate his performance.
Assessing the contract all comes down to whether or not Daccord's success is sustainable. If he's able to play 50-plus games on a year-to-year basis with good results, it'll be great value for the Kraken.
At the same time, there's the chance it was a one-off season, and the contract could turn into a bit of an issue.
Term Could Cause Issues
While the cap hit is fair, what sticks out a little bit about the deal is the term. At five years in length, there's just a lot that can go wrong for Seattle.
Again, with such a limited sample size of NHL success, it's a major commitment. The deal will only kick in just before Daccord turns 29 years old, and will only expire when he's nearly 34 years old. For a netminder in his late 20s with only 69 games of NHL experience (and only 19 prior to last year), there's risk.
Of course, if Daccord is able to sustain his success, the Kraken may have just locked up a long-term starter for the forseeable future. Plus as the cap continues to rise, it could look like a great deal in a few years.
The term suggests the Kraken feel confident that Daccord can be their guy for the next half-decade. With no larger sample size though, that's really up for debate.
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What Daccord's extension means for the the crease
The other thing to consider with Daccord's extension is what it means for the future of the crease. While it's clear they're looking towards Daccord as a long-term starter, the deal does complicate the goaltending situation in the immediate future.
Grubauer still has another two years on his contract after this year, taking him to 2027. It's also not a cheap deal either, with the cap hit coming in at $5.9 million. So if the Kraken keep both Grubauer and Daccord, they'll be committing almost $11 million per year to their goaltending in both 2025-26 and 2026-27.
At the same time, the Kraken don't have a ton of options to move Grubauer. At this point, the netminder's value has never been lower, and it's unlikely anyone would trade for him. Even with assets attached, it's likely just too large of a cap hit to find a buyer.
This points towards a possible buyout for Grubauer next summer, if he has another disappointing year. To this point, Grubauer has yet to reach even a .900 save percentage in any of his three seasons since joining Seattle. Still, a buyout means a chunk of his salary would stay on the books, spread over the next four years. It's a realistic possibility, but still really isn't ideal.
Regardless, it's clear the Kraken view Daccord as the future in net. It's just a matter of whether or not Daccord is up to the task long-term. There's certainly the possibility of huge upside here based on the cap hit, but the term also carries fairly substantial risk, if things go south early in the deal.
Grade: B-
