Kraken sign Ryan Lindgren to four-year contract

The Seattle Kraken have signed defenseman Ryan Lindgren to a four-year contract with a $4.5 million cap hit, according to Sportsnet insider Elliotte Friedman.

Lindgren was an unrestricted free agent after the conclusion of his one-year, $4.5 million contract. The Kraken bring him into their defense core at the exact same cap hit as before, although with three extra years on the deal.

There are currently no reports of any bonuses or clauses on Lindgren’s contract.

Lindgren gets signed at 4.71% of the salary cap, and is locked in until his age-31 season with the deal. His current cap hit comparables are Chris Tanev, Ryan Graves and former Colorado Avalanche teammate Josh Manson.

Lindgren spent the 2024-25 season split between the New York Rangers and the Avalanche, playing the first 54 games of his season with the Rangers. However, he found himself on the list of players the Rangers were looking to move on from to shake up their team, and he was dealt to the Avs at the deadline along with Jimmy Vesey and Hank Kempf for Juuso Parssinen, Calvin de Haan, a second round pick and a fourth round pick.

Lindgren had his most productive season in his NHL career, hitting the 20-point mark for the first time in his career. He had four goals and 18 assists for 22 points in 72 regular season games, as well as three assists in seven playoff games, which was also his best performance in a playoff campaign on a point-per-game basis.

The Kraken have made a few moves to shake up their team, as in addition to signing Lindgren, they have brought in Mason Marchment and Frederick Gaudreau, along with sending Andre Burakovsky to the Chicago Blackhawks in a cap dump deal. They still have around $13.5 million in salary cap space after signing Lindgren, with four restricted free agents left to re-sign, including Kaapo Kakko and Ryker Evans.