Brandon Tanev said that he has "nothing but fond memories" of his time in Pittsburgh, but he's looking forward to the opportunity of playing for the Kraken after being chosen by Seattle in the expansion draft.
"I had a great time in Pittsburgh," he told me after being selected by the Kraken. "The city, the fans, everybody in Pittsburgh treated me extremely well. My time there was awesome. It was a great time, a great time to be a part of the Penguins organization. I can't thank the organization enough, everybody involved, the city, the fans were putting me in a position to succeed. I'm going to truly remember Pittsburgh."
Tanev said that he found out Tuesday evening that he would be selected by the Kraken in the expansion draft. He got a COVID test that day, and flew out from Toronto this morning to meet his new team and see his new home.
"It's excitement," Tanev said of the process. "It's eagerness to get started here in Seattle, with the new franchise coming into the league. There's a lot of excitement around the city. There's a great buzz tonight at the event, and I think we're all looking forward to getting started and getting the ball rolling here."
Tanev said that his early impressions of the Kraken roster is that it's a "character group."
"There's a lot of good players that we selected as an organization," he said. "There's a ton of excitement. There's a great buzz around the city and the Kraken here, we're ready to go and we want to get on the ice and all together here."
Something else Tanev is excited about is the opportunity to be division rivals with his brother, Chris, who is a defenseman for the Flames.
"It's going to be exciting to see him a little more often than you usually do in a season," Tanev said. "I think our family will appreciate that a little bit more, it's going to be a great time."