On Friday evening, the Seattle Kraken announced the signing of a new contract with Pierre-Edouard Bellemare. The 38-year old left wing also plays centre regularly. The deal comes in at just a $775,000 cap hit, for a single year.
The #SeaKraken have agreed to terms with forward Pierre-Edouard Bellemare on a one-year contract. pic.twitter.com/vWiCy1AVta
— Seattle Kraken PR (@SeattleKrakenPR) July 7, 2023
Pierre-Edouard Bellemare Signs Contract with Seattle Kraken
Bellemare’s path to the NHL was unconventional, to say the least. He went undrafted, and played in his home country of France for their national teams throughout his career. In 2010-11, he joined the SHL. It took another few years until he first came to North America, signing a one-year contract with the Philadelphia Flyers at 29 years old.
Since then, Bellemare made multi-year stops with the Vegas Golden Knights, Colorado Avalanche, and Tampa Bay Lightning. In 600 career games, Bellemare accumulated 60 goals and 71 assists to-date. That comes out to 131 career points, along with just 176 penalty minutes.
For a player who starts nearly two-thirds of his shifts in the defensive zone, his low penalty count exemplifies the discipline he carries. He also has 480 career blocked shots and 595 hits, and logs about one-fourth of his icetime on the penalty kill. His advanced stats sit in the negative, but only because he’s a defensive specialist who gets deployed in his own end more often than anywhere else.
What this Means for the Future
After their entire fourth line departed via free agency, forward depth became an obvious need for Seattle this summer. They inked Kailer Yamamoto earlier in the week to a one-year deal, and now add Bellemare. While Yamamoto wants to push for a spot further up in the lineup, Bellemare stands strong as a bonafide fourth-liner. He should become an anchor in the bottom-six for Seattle, providing consistency and tenacity to the group.
Bellemare feeds off the game in a very similar way to Brandon Tanev and Yanni Gourde. Adding Bellemare provides another hound dog style forward to the lineup. The one year contract means Bellemare hits free agency next summer, though unsurprising considering his age. If he contributes as he usually does, a contract extension is a very real possibility for another year or more.
Main Photo Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-USA TODAY Sports
