SEATTLE -- Brandon Tanev insists that he didn't take it personally.
That he enjoyed and appreciated the two seasons he spent with the Penguins, and that he still has lots of pals among his former teammates.
Well, they're buddies outside of the three-hour window Monday night when Tanev's new club, the Kraken, will be taking on his old one at Climate Pledge Arena.
"During the game, there are no friends on the ice," he said following Seattle's practice at Kraken Community IcePlex Sunday.
The Penguins exposed -- and lost -- Tanev to Seattle in the expansion draft this summer.
His former Penguins teammate -- and current Kraken linemate -- Jared McCann also ended up in the Pacific Northwest a few months ago, but took a different path to get there.
The Penguins, fearing that they would lose McCann to Seattle for nothing more than their share of the Kraken's expansion fee, traded him to the Maple Leafs for Filip Hallander and a seventh-round draft choice in 2023.
Trouble is, Toronto couldn't find space for him on its protected list, either, and a few days later, McCann became an original Kraken.
He, like Tanev, insists he will carry no grudge into the game at 10:08 p.m. Eastern Monday.
"It's a business," McCann said. "That's the way it goes. Not a lot of people realize that, but it's nothing personal. It really isn't."
That does not mean, however, that he was prepared for the deal that sent him to Toronto.
"There was a little bit of surprise (about being traded)," McCann said. "I'd had a career year there. ... But it's a business."
Part of the reason Tanev and McGann have accepted their departures from the Penguins so graciously is that both are off to solid starts with their new club.
McCann is second on the team in goals (10) and fourth in points (15), while Tanev has eight goals and five assists.
"I'm trying my best to chip in offensively," said Tanev, who scored a career-high 14 in 2018-19 and already has exceeded his total of seven from last season.
Coach Dave Hakstol has been deploying McCann and Tanev on Morgan Geekie's wings on the No. 3 line.
McCann said his role with the Kraken is "pretty similar" to the one he filled with the Penguins, who used him at center and on both wings at various points in his career.
"When I was in Pittsburgh, there were a lot of injuries, and I got an opportunity to play the power play and more five-on-five," McCann said. "It's been the same here. We've had some injuries."
The Penguins' decision to expose Tanev, a key member of their penalty-killing unit, might have been influenced by the knowledge that surgeries -- which still hadn't been made public -- for Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin might force both of their top two centers to miss the start of the season. If so, declining to make No. 3 center Jeff Carter available to the Kraken made perfect sense.
Whatever the rationale, however, Tanev said it never was conveyed to him.
Not that it would have mattered.
"I had a conversation with (Ron Hextall and Brian Burke), and that's the decision they made," he said. "It's a business. That's the tough part of hockey, but you've got to understand it and live with it."
MORE FROM THE PRACTICES
• Malkin, who had been involved in every previous on-ice workout during this road trip, did not take part in the Penguins' practice Sunday afternoon. Mike Sullivan said it was a scheduled day without skating for Malkin, and that he did an off-ice workout.
• This game will be the first-ever between the Penguins and Kraken, but Sullivan said that lack of history would not affect the way his team prepares for Seattle. "It's no different," he said. "We'll go through a certain workflow that we do in preparation for every team that we play. Our main focus always is on our own team."
• Sullivan said that center Brian Boyle is healthy enough to rejoin the lineup, although there's no indication he will do so Monday. "Brian's healthy at this point," Sullivan said. "He's part of the discussion (about being) in the lineup. He was last night. He will be again moving forward." Boyle was used as an eighth defenseman during practice. Sullivan noted that he has played that position at various times, albeit never in the NHL.
• Personnel combinations:
Jake Guentzel-Sidney Crosby-Evan Rodrigues
Jason Zucker-Jeff Carter-Danton Heinen
Brock McGinn-Teddy Blueger-Kasperi Kapanen
Zach Aston-Reese-Drew O'Connor-Dominik Simon
Brian Dumoulin-Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson-John Marino
Mike Matheson-Chad Ruhwedel
Extras: Brian Boyle, Sam Lafferty, Mark Friedman
