Florida Panthers goaltender Chris Driedger. Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Kraken expected to select Panthers goaltender Chris Driedger in expansion draft

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 7/17/21

The Seattle Kraken are expected to select Florida Panthers goaltender Chris Driedger in next week's expansion draft and sign him to a new contract, according to The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

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. @TSNHockey @TheAthletic
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) July 17, 2021

Driedger is slated to become an unrestricted free agent later this month, but the Kraken will have exclusive negotiating rights if they select him.

The 27-year-old emerged as a solid goaltender with the Panthers over the last two seasons. Driedger and Sergei Bobrovsky split games almost evenly last season, but the former outplayed the latter.

Driedger went 14-6-3 with a 2.07 goals-against average and .927 save percentage last season and ranked eighth among all goalies with 11.98 goals saved above average.

While the Panthers would probably like to keep Driedger, they're committed to Bobrovsky through the 2025-26 campaign and also have top goaltending prospect Spencer Knight waiting in the wings.

In addition to Driedger, Jake Allen, Cam Talbot, Linus Ullmark, Braden Holtby, Vitek Vanecek and Frederik Andersen are among the goaltenders Seattle could potentially select this summer.

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