Seattle Kraken sign Connor Carrick to one-year, $775,000 contract

The Seattle Kraken have signed defenseman Connor Carrick to a one-year, $775,000 contract.

Carrick, 29, was an unrestricted free agent after finishing his one-year, $750,000 contract with the Boston Bruins. He sees a $25,000 pay raise with this contract, although it still remains one of the lower salaries in his career up to this point.

Carrick had previously played in the Kraken organization in their inaugural 2021-22 season. He never played a game with Seattle, but played for their AHL affiliate at the time, the Charlotte Checkers.

Carrick only played one game for the Bruins this season, but he did get on the board with an assist. He spent most of his season in the AHL with the Providence Bruins, where he had 6 goals, 38 assists, and 44 points in 63 regular season games, with his assist and point totals being career-highs for him in the AHL. He also had one assist in four playoff games for Providence as they lost in four games in the Atlantic Division semifinals to the Hartford Wolf Pack.

Carrick was a fifth-round pick of the Washington Capitals in 2012, making the Capitals lineup only a year later and scoring his first goal in his debut with a breakaway goal. Carrick has also played with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars, New Jersey Devils, Kraken, and Bruins organizations in his 10-season professional career.

Carrick is one of a few minor signings the Kraken have made early on in free agency, also signing John Hayden, Marian Studenic, and Jimmy Schuldt to similar one-year, $775,000 contracts. They did make a couple bigger signings as well, bringing in winger Kailer Yamamoto and defenseman Brian Dumoulin.

The Kraken still have a bit of space to make some moves, with just under $14.5 million in cap space still. However, they do have a few contracts in-house to deal with, as Vince Dunn, William Borgen, and Cale Fleury are all restricted free agents.