After being knocked out of the NHL playoffs by the Dallas Stars the Seattle Kraken have sent goaltender Chris Driedger to the Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL. The 28-year-old netminder was assigned to Seattle’s AHL affiliate on an emergency loan leading to speculation for the reason behind the loan. Seattle could be making the move as an insurance policy as the Firebirds just won a marathon triple-OT thriller against the Calgary Wranglers that has the Flames AHL affiliate on the ropes trailing 2-1. Driedger is familiar with Coachella Valley having dressed in 14 games for the club going 9-4 with a .908 save percentage and 2.61 goals against average.
Driedger didn’t see any action with Seattle this year after struggling in 2021-22, he was unseated from his position as the backup after the club signed veteran Martin Jones. The Winnipeg native has one more year left on his three-year contract that carries a cap hit of $3.5M and could very well be bought out this summer to free up cap space. Driedger was terrific in his two seasons in Florida but has struggled for the Kraken since coming over in the expansion draft and signing his deal.
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