The Seattle Kraken wrapped up the week 1-3-0, but the story of the week wasn’t the outcomes on the ice. In case you’ve been in isolation since last Wednesday, the Kraken made three trades, sending three cornerstone players off to greener pastures. Last Wednesday, the Kraken traded Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Tampa Bay Lightning for two first-round draft picks, a second-round pick, and Mikey Eyssimont. Then, on Friday morning, the Kraken sent Brandon Tanev to the Winnipeg Jets for a second-round pick.
All three players had devout followings among Kraken faithful, and in the case of Tanev and Gourde, they were two of the remaining original NHL Expansion Draft picks from 2021. Both Tanev and Gourde were on expiring contracts, so neither of their trades came as a surprise. We also predicted a player with term might be traded as well: enter Bjorkstrand.
Now what?
As of now, the 2025-26 Seattle Kraken roster got worse with Bjorkstrand’s departure, but what the team lost in on-ice skill, they captured in significant currency that can be leveraged to make next season’s team better. The Kraken now have five first-round draft picks and five second-round draft picks over the next three drafts. But don’t think that signals the Kraken are rebuilding.
General manager Ron Francis made himself available to several media outlets since the trade deadline, and he made it clear that the team plans to use these newly acquired assets this offseason. Speaking to Ian Furness on KJR radio last Friday, Ron said, “We are not looking to draft 10 players with these 10 picks. What we’re hoping to do is package the first and second or two seconds or two firsts or whatever we have to do in the summertime leading up to the draft to go out and get somebody.”
These situations are usually available when teams are up against the cap, but with the upper limit of the salary cap going up by $7.5 million next season, getting teams to flip valuable assets might be easier said than done now that all 32 teams get some more breathing room.
The Kraken currently have over $20 million in cap space for next season, but they will still need to sign pending restricted free agents Tye Kartye, Ryker Evans, and last but not least, Kaapo Kakko.
Here is a quick look at the cap situation for the Kraken next season:
That is a lot of cap space, and there is also a scenario where they don’t spend it in free agency and hope someone needs to dump a bigger contract after free agency, like Columbus handed Bjorkstrand over to Seattle or Minnesota with Kevin Fiala back in 2022.
Forever grateful for Yanni Gourde
We all knew it was coming, but from a fan’s perspective, losing Yanni Gourde was a heartbreaker. I don’t think you could have launched a franchise with a better personality than Yanni. I remember his first training camp back in 2021 when he was flying around the ice with a red non-contact jersey while rehabbing from an offseason shoulder injury.
From Day 1, his compete level was so fun to watch. He was a spark plug on the ice and left it all out there every game he played. He was obviously a huge part of the 2023 playoff team and was a player built for the playoffs. He led the Kraken in points in their only playoff appearance, including this beauty of a timely goal in Game 1 of the second-round series against Dallas.
I also loved his uncanny ability to be consistently transparent in interviews when most hockey interviews give you the same cliché responses. He was great when we had him on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast too, but one of my favorite interviews was the one he gave Piper in a game where the Kraken looked awful.
Candidate for intermission interview of the season right here from @PiperShawTV
Also Yanni Gourde is a real one. Ton of time for this guy.
— Dave McCarthy (@DaveAMcCarthy) December 20, 2024
There was also the human element that gave us a glimpse of Yanni and the Gourdes off the ice. It is impossible to narrow down one moment as my favorite, but this season’s Gourds with Gourde was a great look into how he and his family shared some of his off-ice life in Seattle.
We will miss you, Yanni, and wish you all the best for the rest of this season and beyond.
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Listeners of the pod know that Bjorkstrand was one of my favorite players. Getting him for a third- and a fourth-round pick in the summer of 2022 was a steal for Ron Francis and company. Bjorkstrand was very soft-spoken off the ice, which was part of his charm. He was a big reason why the Kraken even qualified for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they would not have advanced to the second round without his two goals in their 2-1 win in Game 7 of Round 1 against the Colorado Avalanche.
I was also able to interact with Oliver a bit off the ice when I presented him with a loaf of Rugbrød for our preseason podcast interview. I wish you all could have seen his surprised face as I pulled the loaf out of the bag. He was always nice to people around him and always gracious with his time.
The Kraken games over the last week
Oh, yes, and games were played. As mentioned earlier, the Kraken went 1-3-0 over the last week with a 4-3 loss at home to the Minnesota Wild, a stinker of a game against the Nashville Predators in a 5-3 loss, a dominant 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, and then a tough 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Other than the Nashville game, the players competed when they could have easily started to mail it in the rest of the season. If they play like they did over the weekend for the rest of the season, I will be happy to watch this team the rest of the way.
Kraken Trivia: With the departures of Gourde and Tanev, seven players remain with the Seattle Kraken organization from the expansion selections. Can you name them?
Other musings
- Part of the Bjorkstrand/Gourde trade was Mikey Eyssimont being included in the package from Tampa Bay. He was a fourth-line player averaging under 11 minutes of time on ice and on an expiring deal, so I didn’t expect much. But after two games, he looks like a solid fourth-line option for the Kraken next season.
- When the news broke about the Bjorkstrand/Gourde trade, I was stepping onto the ice for a lunch skate. After the skate, I had about 20 text messages from various hockey people. In case there was any doubt, the overwhelming consensus was extremely positive for Seattle. I really like how the Kraken have handled all trade deadlines to date.
- The Kraken have now acquired 12 draft picks (one first-rounder, six second-rounders, two third-rounders, two fourth-rounders, and one seventh-rounder) with their expansion pick selections, plus Kaapo Kakko.
- With Bjorkstrand moving on, that’s one fewer Seattle Kraken player that will participate in the Olympics next winter. Don’t worry, there will still be a reason to watch Denmark — Kraken prospect Oscar Fisker Mølgaard is expected to be on the Danish team.
- Ron Francis confirmed that one of the top Kraken prospects, Jani Nyman, will be getting called up to Coachella Valley for some games with the Seattle Kraken before the season ends. He is the only Kraken prospect I would pencil in for next season. Even then, I am still using a pencil.
- The Kraken went 0-for-4 in the Washington Capitals game over the weekend. That is one of the big opportunities for improvement next season, and I wonder if Nyman is part of the solution.
- One of Ron Francis’ media stops was on the pregame show on the Kraken Hockey Network before the Washington Capitals game on Sunday.
Goal of the week
I love the whole sequence of this Matty 4-on-4 goal against Philly.
Seattle goal!
Scored by Matty Beniers with 01:03 remaining in the 2nd period.
Assisted by Ryker Evans and Adam Larsson.
Philadelphia: 1
Seattle: 2#SEAvsPHI #LetsGoFlyers #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/veqHTHn33l— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 8, 2025
Player performances
Adam Larsson (SEA) – Larsson isn’t known for his offense, so he rarely gets mentioned in player performance reviews. However, over the last four games, the Big Cat has two goals and two assists. After he scores is also one of the rare times we get to see Larsson smile. 😊
1-0 #SeaKraken
Larsson bats in his D-partner’s rebound for his 50th NHL goal! (Nice screen by Schwartz)
— Alison Lukan (@alisonl.bsky.social) March 6, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Alexis Bernier (BAC/SEA) – The 2024 third-round selection of the Seattle Kraken had five points over his last three games for Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the QMJHL. Bernier is fifth in points among defensemen in the Q this season.
Victor Ostman (CVF/SEA) – The Kansas City Mavericks goalie got called up to Coachella Valley and won his first AHL game last week, saving 23 out of 25 shots in the Firebirds’ win over the Calgary Wranglers. Ostman was a free-agent signing last spring and is having a good season for the Mavericks in the ECHL with a record of 21-7-4.
The week ahead
The Kraken return home for a challenging three-game homestand with games against Montreal, Utah, and Winnipeg. There will be a lot of eyes focused on Juraj Slafkovský and Shane Wright in the Montreal game. If you don’t know the backstory, for most of the season leading up to the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Wright was projected to go first overall. Weeks before the draft, the projections started to shift. Montreal selected Slafkovský first overall, and Wright slipped to the Seattle Kraken at fourth.
Since then, there has been a confirmation bias campaign by both fan bases to prove which player is better. Wright has also been unfairly scrutinized for his development path, going back to junior his post-draft season and playing last season in the AHL. Meanwhile, Slafkovský made the jump immediately to the NHL and has already played 181 NHL games.
Looking at this season, Wright has 15 goals and 23 assists, and Slafkovský has 11 goals and 24 assists, further igniting the debate over who is better. The reality is that both players appear to be good NHL players, but this is a fun side story that will likely never go away. Montreal still has a lot to play for, sitting just three points out of a playoff spot, and they were embarrassed back in October when the Kraken scored eight goals in their 8-2 win in Montreal.
The game against the Jets will also be interesting, as Tanev will be right back on the ice at Climate Pledge Arena, facing the team that just traded him.
Trivia Answer: The Seattle Kraken players that were selected in the 2021 expansion draft that remain with the team are Joey Daccord, Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, Jamie Oleksiak, Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson, and Cale Fleury.