The Carolina Kraken faced what seemed like uphill battle going into the offseason of Season 59. With seven players leaving, they would be retooling more than a third of the team including their starting goaltender. Under normal circumstances, on paper, that might seem like a lot for a team that finished in the middle of the pack during the regular season and result in rough following season.

Enter the historic Season 60 draft class brimming with top-tier talent. The Kraken were in a great position to capitalize on these circumstances having made some major moves to wind up with five of the first thirty picks. In addition to the fourth overall pick, Carolina was able to acquire the fifth overall from Vancouver giving them two picks at the top of the first round. They also acquired the 14th pick from St. Louis to go along with the 18th (eventually swapped for the 21st) and 30th overall. The Kraken were able to turn those five picks into sim league gold, landing active top earners at all skating positions. We can't forget Carolina's sixth or seventh picks either. A promising defenseman and future starting goaltender. To break it down a little further, four of those seven are currently in the top 25 in TPE with two others who can be relied upon to be top earners when all is said and done. Six of the seven have already surpassed the 200 TPE threshold. Overall, the seven picks average about 213 TPE as of the last update. Outside of the data, these picks have turned an already active locker room into one that is bustling with discussion at all hours of the day and night.

If we dig a little deeper, after what looks like a stellar stable of rookies, the Kraken have a number of key players returning. Though three of their top eight scorers from last season are departing, leading goal scorer and point getter Golden Face returns along with third leading scorer and newly appointed Captain Cormac Pónaire, as well as the Alternates Tomas Lind and Daud Ramza who were fourth and fifth in scoring respectively. Granny PanPan and Gino Lombardo also return to anchor the Kraken defense.  While those guys may be in the spotlight, the preseason shined some light on a couple potential breakout candidates in Lucas Raymond and Aleks Blixstrom. In seven preseason games, Raymond and Blixstrom led the team with ten and eight points respectively. They will round out a very strong second line to start the season. As far as goaltending goes, it looks like a split between the returning Osada Tamura and rookie Meeka Keprosoft with Keprosoft having a serious chance to win starting duties as the season progresses. Roderic Banes, Twelve Forty-Seven Fifteen, and Bjorn Bjorn also return and provide the Kraken with a strong, experienced core.

The Carolina Kraken finished the Season 60 preseason with a 5-1-1 record. Historically, this hasn't meant a whole lot when it comes to regular season prospects. However, the Kraken return a number of their best players from Season 59 and will only get stronger as the season progresses and the rookies gain experience and build chemistry. If the bottom six can take some of the weight off of the top six, Carolina could make a deep run in the playoffs and reasonably challenge for the Four Star Cup this season. One thing's for sure - if not this season, then certainly the next. The Kraken will see only one player age out at the end of the season with the vast majority of their players returning from what will likely be a strong team in Season 60.

Approved! +5 TPE @the5urreal