Fantasy Hockey: Kraken Add Chandler Stephenson, Brandon Montour

Fantasy Hockey: Kraken Add Chandler Stephenson, Brandon Montour

The Seattle Kraken made two big adds during the 2024 NHL Free Agency period. Brandon Montour (link) and Chandler Stephenson (link) were both signed to big money deals. Let’s talk about what both of them mean in terms of fantasy hockey.

Montour:

Both deals were insane overpays. Let’s get that out of the way first. Price always matters in fantasy and in the case of both of these guys, don’t automatically fall for the new car smell. Montour has his work cut out for him to become a fantasy darling in Seattle.

For starters, I’m skeptical he will supplant Vince Dunn as the number one guy there. Dunn had 64 points two years ago and 46 last year. There is no guarantee Montour takes his role on the top PP unit. Maybe that happens but it’s far from certain.

Seattle also has Adam Larsson who is a big shot blocking force. Larsson will eat up a ton of minutes and be in the mix too.

I’m also skeptical Montour can even replicate the success he had in Florida. The Panthers won the Cup for a reason. Now Montour is going to an expansion franchise that really doesn’t have a ton of valuable skaters. There is no Aleksander Barkov, Matthew Tkachuk, or Sam Reinhart on this team. There probably isn’t even a Carter Verhaeghe either.

I have no interest in Montour unless it’s a really late round pick. I’m guessing he’s ranked far higher than I’m willing to go.

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Stephenson:

Stephenson will likely man the second line center duties for Seattle as he did in Vegas. The problem is what Stephenson provides support for Matty Beniers. He’s going to take some of the load of Beniers matching up against top lines. He’s a speedy skater but the high point totals for Stephenson have never been there.

He has two career 60 point seasons and both came with Vegas during his age 27 and 28 seasons. Now he’s entering his 30’s and his new linemates are likely Jaden Schwartz and Andre Burakovksy. None that are nearly as talented as what life has been like skating with Mark Stone.

Like Montour, Stephenson is a late round draft pick for me and nothing more. Seattle ranked 29th in goals scored last season and it’s hard to see both of these guys helping the club get to a significantly higher scoring level. The new landing spot is just far from desirable.

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