It’s official — the Seattle Kraken have selected Dallas Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak in the 2021 NHL Expansion Draft.
Originally drafted by the Stars 14th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft, Oleksiak initially struggled to make much of an impact on the NHL level. He was eventually traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins in December of 2017 for a conditional fourth round pick in 2019. That change of scenery proved to be just what Oleksiak needed — his play rapidly improved, and he turned his success into a three year, $6.4M contract extension the following offseason.
After being traded back to the Stars for the same exact draft pick in January of 2019, Oleksiak continued blossomed into a bona fide Top 4 defenseman.