Kraken faithful are going to love the "puck-moving" part, especially as he figures to get consistent ice time with Seattle. Dunn averaged 19-plus minutes of ice time this past season with the Blues, his career-high total. But in the 2019-20 season his ice time dipped to the 16-minute range.
Make no mistake that an extra couple shifts per period help players, especially younger ones, to find their best performances. In Dunn's case, developing into an all-star is not a reach if you poll NHL scouts and media members.
Dunn joins the Kraken as a Stanley Cup champion, playing 17-plus minutes per game at age 22 as part of the 2019 St. Louis title team. Scouts love his skating skills and elite offensive instincts. Not lost on Dunn endorsers is the young defenseman's above-average defensive numbers.
Hockey analytics measures two relevant data points for NHL defenseman. One is "expected goals for per 60 minutes" or xGF/60. The other "expected goals against per minutes" or xGA/60.
Among young defensemen, he ranks high in both categories over his four seasons. Plus, he holds his own against the league's top offensive-minded veteran defensemen, such as former STL teammate Alex Pietrangelo (now with Vegas) and two-time Cup winner Victor Hedman.
The Friday announcement canceled a scheduled salary arbitration hearing between Dunn and the Kraken. The hearing date became public last week when paperwork was filed with the NHL Players' Association, but it was simply protocol for putting a possible arbitration meeting on the calendar by a certain deadline. As a restricted free agent, Dunn was eligible for the arbitration.
Drafted as a second-round pick (No. 56 overall) by the Blues during the 2015 NHL Draft, Dunn enjoyed his best offensive season in 2018-2019 when he scored 12 goals and added 23 assists with the Blues' Stanley Cup Championship team. Dunn played 267 games for the Blues with 32 goals, 70 assists, and 102 points.
He starred for the Ontario Hockey League's Niagara franchise as a junior, then notched 13 goals and 32 assists in his one and only American Hockey League season (Chicago Wolves) before making the Blues roster as a 20-year-old. He turns 25 in late October.
On the morning of the Expansion Draft, Dunn was happy to answer calls from Francis and Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol.
"I'm very excited for this next opportunity," Dunn said to Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch recently. "The way they talked about the organization from top to bottom with management and ownership, it seems like they're taking no shortcuts on anything whether it's the practice facility or the [salary] cap," Dunn said. "There's a comfort level just to know that everyone's all in."
