Kraken's expansion pick from Penguins? Seattle radio host says, ‘It starts and ends with Jason Zucker, right?’

Leading up to Wednesday’s expansion draft, a lot of Pittsburgh Penguins fans have advanced the hope that the Seattle Kraken would select winger Jason Zucker.

If every team besides the Vegas Golden Knights is going to lose someone, why not him?

In the wake of his acquisition from the Minnesota Wild in February 2020, Zucker never scored in Pittsburgh at the rate that Penguins management hoped. Whether it was limited time with Sidney Crosby, extended time with Evgeni Malkin or working on a third line with any number of centers, Zucker never blossomed the way general manager Jim Rutherford wanted when he engineered that trade.

Zucker tallied 15 goals and 15 assists and was a minus-9 during 53 regular-season games in Pittsburgh. He added four goals and one assist in 10 playoff games.

Not terrible. However, not worthy of his $5.5 million salary cap hit either. Especially for a Pens team desperate to shed salary.

But the Kraken wouldn’t be so willing to tie up $11 million of their cap over the next two years with Zucker when more cost-effective bottom-six forwards such as Brandon Tanev and Zach Aston-Reese have been exposed.

Would they?

On Wednesday’s “Breakfast With Benz” podcast, KJR Radio host Ian Furness joined me from Seattle. I asked him which Penguin he expected the Kraken to nab.

“It’s Zucker. Isn’t it? It starts and ends there with Jason Zucker, right? I keep hearing Zucker’s name,” Furness replied. “You kind of go down that road because (if) you hear a name enough, especially around this kind of draft, it almost feels like they are settling in on him. I think that’s where they are going to go.”

Part of the reason Furness feels that way is that he is expecting the Kraken to spend a great deal of the $81.5 million in salary cap space that they have.

“They are not afraid to spend money. They’ve come out and said, very publicly, they’ll spend to the cap,” Furness said, cautioning that the team may leave between $4 million and $6 million of “wiggle room” to make some moves during the season.

“Spending money and taking on contracts will not be something they are afraid to do,” Furness added.

Zucker is also renowned as one of the league’s most community-minded players, always engaging in some sort of outreach. As the Kraken look to gain a foothold in the community, Furness says that may be appealing to the franchise’s front office.

“They are an organization on the business side that is 100 percent about optics, and forward-thinking, and hires that are out of the box — non-traditional hockey hires,” Furness said.

“Working in the community is a big priority.”

All that said, if general manager Ron Francis attempts to spend his money elsewhere, Aston-Reese, an analytics darling, could prove appealing as a restricted free agent who only made $1 million last year.

“Their analytics, that’s a huge part of it,” Furness said. “Their first hire in the organization before Ron Francis was an analytical expert (Alexandra Mandrycky). Their analytical side, they are heavy, heavy into that. If you say analytical darling, then that shoots somebody to the top of the list, as far as they are looking.”

A dark horse selection might be goaltender Casey DeSmith. ESPN’s Emily Kaplan tabbed him as the likely outgoing Pens player. While Furness isn’t hearing DeSmith’s name a lot in Seattle per se, he is expecting that Francis will load up on goalies.

“I think they are going to pick a number of goaltenders and try to move some of those guys. It’s going to be goofy,” Furness said. “They are going to do this whole made-for-TV thing. And 24 hours later some of those guys might be gone. Their days as a Kraken could be over by the second day of the entry draft.”

During the podcast, Furness and I also discuss how the Kraken franchise is being received in Seattle, the thought of acquiring Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price and how the ESPN broadcast is going to play out.

Buckle up. You are going to see lots of the Seahawks 12th Man flags. Lots of the Space Needle. And just enough flying fish at Pike Place to make you think, “Are we sure the NHL on NBC was all that bad?”

Listen: Tim Benz and Seattle radio host Ian Furness discuss which Penguins players the Kraken could take