Closing thoughts from the Seattle Kraken’s trade deadline

Now that the dust has settled on the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, I wanted to share my thoughts on what the Seattle Kraken did—and didn’t do—taking a more holistic view than in past articles that focused more specifically on the Yanni Gourde/Oliver Bjorkstrand deal and the Brandon Tanev deal.

In total, the Seattle Kraken moved out four players—Gourde, Bjorkstrand, Tanev, and Ding Dong Daniel Sprong [tear]—and received two top-10 protected first-round draft picks, two second-round picks, a seventh-round pick, and 28-year-old depth forward Mikey Eyssimont, who is on an expiring contract and could theoretically be brought back next year if Seattle wants him.

In terms of return, it’s a fantastic haul of draft capital that gives Seattle five first-round picks and five second-round picks over the next three NHL Drafts.

Coming into this deadline period, I was personally hopeful that the organization would use it as an opportunity to bring in more young players—guys who perhaps haven’t had the chance to excel at the NHL level yet or who are stuck in situations where the upside is clear, but the fit just hasn’t worked for whatever reason (i.e., more Kaapo Kakko types). Instead, general manager Ron Francis swung deals almost entirely for draft picks, which does seem to be the more common return this time of year.

Currency for future deals

At face value, the draft picks acquired won’t help the team for years. A 2026 late-first-round pick likely wouldn’t have a shot at becoming a full-time NHLer and making a real impact until at least 2029, maybe later. But even late first-rounders are valuable chips in this league, so Francis and his staff should be able to parlay them into NHL-ready talent during the offseason.

Francis confirmed this as the plan in his press conference on Friday.

“I said we’ve got 10 picks. We’re not sitting here hoping to draft 10 players, we’re hoping to use those picks as capital to try and acquire players and speed things up.”

While this trade deadline was a full-blown seller’s market, it’s exciting to think about the kind of talent Francis could land if he really is willing to throw around first- and second-round picks this summer.

They could have done more

I was generally very impressed with the return Seattle got for the trades it made. Bringing back two first-rounders and a second in the Gourde/Bjorkstrand deal is nothing short of remarkable, and getting a second-round pick with no salary retention for the expiring contract of overpaid fourth-liner Brandon Tanev is more than fair. So, credit where it’s due—because on the heels of the Kakko trade earlier this season, Francis and Co. did a great job with these moves.

Heck, even getting a seventh-rounder for Sprong is notable, considering he was acquired for a bag of pucks earlier this season and didn’t even stick with the NHL club.

The greedy side of me wishes Francis had continued striking while the iron was hot, though. Trading Bjorkstrand—who was an All-Star last season, had 16 goals and 21 assists this season, and still has a year left on his contract—was a signal that the team was ready to shake up its core beyond just moving impending unrestricted free agents.

With the kinds of returns being thrown around for players of that caliber, I was curious to see what Francis could get for guys like Jamie Oleksiak and Jaden Schwartz, whose names somehow stayed out of any major rumors leading up to the deadline.

Again, credit where it’s due, but there was an opportunity to bring back even more and create an even bigger shakeup in a core that hasn’t delivered enough success.

The health excuse

I’m also not a fan of the injury excuse, which Francis brought up in his press conference—while also simultaneously stating that injuries shouldn’t be used as an excuse. He implied that the team was closer to contention than it appeared, even though it was 11 points out of a playoff spot when the trades started, and that missing Jordan Eberle for most of the season, along with significant injuries to Vince Dunn and Yanni Gourde, hurt their chances.

“Obviously, we want to get healthy and hope that that happens next year,” Francis said. “We have to look at things, because obviously I felt going into the season, we’re a team that could compete for a playoff spot, and we’re not there.”

It’s true that those injuries had a major impact on the team’s ability to compete, throwing the lineup into a seemingly never-ending state of flux. But then I think about a team like the Minnesota Wild, who beat the Kraken last week. They have been decimated by injuries this season and have been without their superstar forward Kirill Kaprizov since Jan. 26. In fact, Kaprizov has only played 37 games all season, and other key players like Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Jared Spurgeon have also missed significant time.

I’m not saying Minnesota is the ideal model to follow—they’ve never won a Stanley Cup—but despite many injury issues, they are still firmly in a playoff spot. My point here is that a roster needs to be deep enough to withstand a few injuries to key players, because injuries happen every single year to every single team.

So, here’s hoping that the draft capital acquired at this deadline is put to good use and that the Kraken ice a much more talented team next season that can withstand the absences that will surely happen again.