Kraken sign Bobby McMann to six-year contract extension

You can cross yet another quality player off the list of unrestricted free agents who will be available to sign with any of the NHL’s 32 teams on July 1.

On Sunday night, the Seattle Kraken announced that they have signed winger Bobby McMann to a six-year contract extension that carries a salary cap hit of $5.75 million.

“Re-signing Bobby was a priority this summer,” Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said via the team’s press release. “He made an immediate impact in our lineup with his size, speed and goal scoring. There’s a lot to love about his game. We’re thrilled he wants to call Seattle home for years to come.”

McMann came over to Seattle in a deal at the NHL trade deadline with the Toronto Maple Leafs, and he immediately provided the sort of scoring impact that the Kraken have been lacking in their lineup since the inception of the franchise.

After potting 19 goals in 60 games in Toronto, McMann took the increased opportunity with Seattle and racked up 10 goals in 18 regular season appearances.

“I’ve kind of always wanted a longer deal to kind of dig deep into how I can get myself to be the best that I can be,” McMann said via the team’s press release. “I think the security of it offers that ease and that mental stability to feel like, ‘OK, I can work on my game. And if things don’t work right away, then I have that little bit of a leash to get my game to as good as it can possibly be… and that’s what I’m always striving for. I want to be the biggest impact player I can be on a team. I want to be the best contributor I can bring, and I want to reach my potential.”

Botterill has been hard at work adding to his forward ranks this season, landing Mackie Samoskevich in a trade with the Florida Panthers on Saturday, and now having retained McMann, he still has $22.5 million in salary cap space with which he can make upgrades to the roster, according to PuckPedia.