Kraken select 29 AHL graduates in expansion draft

Photo: Karen Ducey/Getty Images

The Seattle Kraken selected 30 players in the NHL Expansion Draft on Wednesday, 29 of whom are graduates of the American Hockey League.

Among the players selected forward Morgan Geekie and defenseman Haydn Fleury, both members of the Charlotte Checkers’ 2019 Calder Cup championship team, as well as 2014 Calder Cup champion and 2013 AHL All-Star defenseman Jamie Oleksiak.

Mason Appleton, winner of the Dudley (Red) Garrett Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding rookie in 2017-18, was selected by the Kraken, as were fellow former AHL All-Stars Yanni Gourde, Vitek Vanecek, Vince Dunn and John Quenneville.

The Kraken will provide players to the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers in 2021-22 before launching their own AHL affiliate in Palm Springs, California, beginning in the fall of 2022.