What started as an excellent week with a 2–1 signature win over the Carolina Hurricanes ended with an absolute thud in a humiliating 7–4 loss to the Ottawa Senators in front of a packed house on Saturday night. Sandwiched between those two games was another disappointing regulation loss to the St. Louis Blues.
The Kraken began the week in the second wild‑card spot and, somehow, finished it in the same place despite collecting just two of six possible points. On the surface, it’s nice that the brutal week didn’t kill them in the standings, but it was still a squandered chance to create a little breathing room over the Sharks, Kings, and Predators.
Here’s how the Pacific fared this week:
I might have been able to stomach the St. Louis game, since the Blues suddenly look like world‑beaters with four straight wins over the Wild, Kraken, Sharks, and Ducks, but the Kraken looked completely uninspired against Ottawa. Every team has the occasional stinker, and maybe there really was something to the illness going around the room that day, but this one felt especially flat.
Quick thoughts on the Trade Deadline and Bobby McMann
For those who missed it, the NHL Trade Deadline came and went on Friday, and the Kraken added speedy depth winger Bobby McMann, who can finish and bring some flat-out speed. The cost, a second‑ and fourth‑round pick, was reasonable for a player who’s only signed through the end of the season. It’s not exactly what I expected, but it’s pretty darn close. They’re on the bubble with a legitimate shot at the playoffs, so a sell‑off didn’t make sense, and neither did pushing all the chips in for something splashy.
McMann also gives them one more winger to consider re‑signing before free agency. As of now, the Kraken have three forwards on expiring contracts, and they likely need to extend at least one of them before July 1, or they’ll be staring at some significant holes next season.
Where McMann fits in the lineup
Darren already gave his two cents on where McMann might slot in. He started the year on Toronto’s fourth line but worked his way up to playing alongside Auston Matthews. He can fit anywhere. With Lane Lambert’s familiarity with him from Toronto, he probably already has a strong sense of how he wants to use him, but deciding who comes out will be difficult.
Depending on Jaden Schwartz’s status, two of the following four players will need to sit when McMann enters the lineup: Ben Meyers, Ryan Winterton, Jacob Melanson, and Berkly Catton.
Meyers kills penalties, drives play, and has been excellent since returning from injury. Before Saturday, I would have said Melanson was the odd man out, but he was one of the few Kraken players who actually showed up and even scored the opening goal. It’s hard to pull him now.
That leaves Catton and Winterton.
If Schwartz can’t go Tuesday (and/or Thursday), I think you have to keep the Meyers–Winterton–Melanson fourth line intact and scratch Catton. It sucks to say it, but he’s not helping this team win right now. He missed at least two assignments that directly led to goals on Saturday night, and he continues to make careless passes that hurt the team. I love his offensive flashes, but defensively he’s been a liability.
Other musings
- Of all the players moved at the deadline, I’m not sure there was a single one that made me wish the Kraken had jumped in. The only player I was genuinely intrigued by was Robert Thomas, and he didn’t end up getting moved.
- The Kraken scored first in all three games this week. Normally that’s a good omen since they’ve earned a .703 points percentage when scoring first this season, but they managed just two of six points (.333) this week.
- It would be nice if the Kraken could mix in an overtime game or two. They haven’t played one since Jan. 14. Meanwhile, the Kings, Ducks, and Sharks have each played at least four overtime games in that span.
- The Kraken are 17‑10‑3 since trading Mason Marchment on Dec. 19, the best record in the Pacific Division over that span.
- I was surprised to hear some fans were disappointed in the deadline, expecting either a bigger splash or a significant sell‑off. As I said last week, this team is in a playoff spot but not a Cup contender, so a measured move made sense.
- The Kraken are tracking at the exact same pace as the 2023–24 team. Fortunately for them, the Western Conference is significantly weaker this season.
- For the heck of it, I refreshed an old visual comparing Kraken draft‑pick performance to the rest of the league. It’s far too early to make any sweeping declarations, but the Kraken are punching well above the league average so far.
- Season‑ticket holders received renewal notices last week, and most ticket prices are going down next season.
Goal of the week
Sometimes you really need a greasy one and situationally, that can be pretty.
B-B-B-BEN MMMMEYERS! 🚨
It starts with a physical, hard-nosed play in the defensive zone by Melanson. Gaudreau feeds Meyers, who sticks with it and gets a good bounce.
2-0 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/zcKAMZt55u
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 3, 2026
Congrats to Ben Meyers for signing a two-year extension last week. He has been a pleasant surprise contributor to the lineup this season.
Player performances
Ollie Josephson (ND/SEA) – The 19‑year‑old center, drafted by the Kraken in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, had one goal and four assists in North Dakota’s two games over the weekend. He now has 20 points in his first NCAA season.
Logan Morrison (CV/SEA) – “LoMo” posted two goals and two assists in Coachella Valley’s two‑game series in Calgary. He leads the Firebirds in points and is on pace for 34 goals this season — not bad for an undrafted player.
Kim Saarinen (HPK/SEA) – A third‑round pick by the Kraken in 2024, the Finnish goaltender stopped 57 of 62 shots in back‑to‑back wins for HPK in the Finnish Liiga.
The week ahead
Every week from here on out is critical, and this one is no exception. Tuesday brings a big game against Nashville, who is still in the hunt but starting to fade. On Thursday, the league‑leading Colorado Avalanche come to town. As of Monday morning, they’ve won five straight and are 8‑2‑0 in their last 10.
Saturday looks significantly easier with a trip to Vancouver to face the Canucks, but do we really expect any game to be easy down the stretch? I sure don’t.
The standings remain tight, and eventually the Kraken need a week where they take more than 50 percent of the available points. This is a good week to do it. They can survive with less, but four of six points, including a regulation win on Tuesday could all but eliminate Nashville. That would go a long way.
Although McMann was a step up in spead, I think they Kraken skept through the Free Agency, We Cheaped out getting Pannarin. If they management thinks this team is good enough, then they we not watching the games I watched. We lose to all cup competetive teams, what more data do they need.
Panarin did not want to go to Seattle. Full stop. There is a maximum amount of the cap that a team can spend on a single player, and even if the Kraken had offered that (which would have been A Very Bad Idea), he wouldn’t have accepted.
Culture-wise, he wasn’t a fit for the PNW. We have a certain ethos here and looking across all of our various teams in multiple sports over the years there’s a pretty consistent profile across the athletes that have resonated with the fan base. We appreciate scrappy, hard working, team-oriented and a bit quirky. Panarin is none of those things.
You really should listen to 32 Thoughts. Would instantly stop you from having uniformed takes. Panarin only ever really wanted to go to LA. Many teams were on in him but they never got to the trade part of the discussion because LA made it work. I feel like half the fanbase has themselves riled up over their own ignorance. It makes me wonder if someone is doing the riling.
“On the surface, it’s nice that the brutal week didn’t kill them in the standings,…” this is so funny. They will find a way! I hope this team does not make the playoffs. If that happens, the only winners will be the ownership and FO, and frankly, they don’t deserve it.
Looking at the draft, tanking the rest of the season is not going to yield a high enough pick to get top-end talent.
Winning IS the best option right now. Seattle needs to make themselves as attractive as possible as a destination to have any hope of drawing a current star. If I were a player looking for a new home, which would be more enticing – the team where adding my talent is the missing piece that can push them to the next level in the next 2-3 years, or the team that may be able to contend in the next 5+ years, I’m going to take a serious look at that first team.
Virtually all of the top-line forwards in the league on contracts with term have no-move/no-trade clauses. To get past those, Seattle needs to be a more attractive destination and building a winning culture helps that. Ditto for trying to entice any UFA’s or to offer sheet an RFA.
The suggestion that they will start healthy-scratching Catton in favor of McMann is not exactly surprising but it’s still super disappointing. Yeah, Catton had a really rough game against Ottawa, along with most of the team. But even in other recent losses, Catton was really good and definitely not the problem. If this team has any chance to make some noise, it’s with Catton –their most promising young player — hitting his stride. If they write him off after one bad game, they are doomed anyway.
P.S. the Kraken PR posted that Schwartz is “out indefinitely” so the dilemma is partially moot. I still think they should consider scratching Gaudreau rather than any of those 4 players you listed. But Lambert’s “wily veteran” bias is strong.
I agree on Catton, sort of. To me, other than the mistakes, he’s looked great lately… very exciting, very dynamic. I don’t think they’d be “writing him off” in any sense. He just turned 20 two months ago and has a long future with the Kraken. Limiting Leo Carlsson to just 55 games in his first NHL season didn’t seem to hurt his development.
To me, the best thing right now for Catton’s development would be getting into some playoff games, but I’m just some guy sitting on a lounge chair by the ocean.
I don’t think it was just the Ottawa games. My biggest issue since he’s been back in the lineup is his prayer passes that he makes all the time. They might not be classified as a turnover but that is essentially what he is doing. I love the skill and creativity he shows but if getting into the playoffs is a priority, I think one of the other forwards gives you a better chance to win.
I think you grossly overreacting here. Scratching a 8th pick who shouldn’t even really be in the NHL isn’t giving up on him. It’s doing the best thing you can do to help your team and it gives him time to actually learn as opposed to more trial by fire.
I agree with John that Catton seems to have been a liability at times lately. It definitely jumped in person sitting in the 200 center ice area where you really see spacing/positioning. On the D zone it jumped out that he totally blew coverage on multiple plays and one gave the Sens an easy goal. He also just threw the puck away multiple times in the neutral zone or during the breakout – not like Dunn trying to force a tough pass but just gave it away with a terrible choice. Sitting him a game or two isn’t going to kill his confidence. Last year it was a big benefit to Wright. Having him watch and process the game from a different angle may act as a reset.
“For the heck of it, I refreshed an old visual comparing Kraken draft‑pick performance to the rest of the league. It’s far too early to make any sweeping declarations, but the Kraken are punching well above the league average so far.”
While I see your intent, isn’t this comparing apples to bananas? The pool of teams to compare the Kraken to are the other lower half teams. As your metric would include all the playoff teams who have lower picks, they can’t compete with the worse teams drafting top picks.
So I would like you to re-do this comparing it to other teams that regularly don’t make the playoffs instead of all teams.
Also, playing NHL games is a metric that really does not have a great significance in the short-term. Lots of poor teams play draft picks because they are stuck (e.g. Catton) or lacking talent. It would be much better to compare the Kraken draft picks against other players picked the same year on some measure of success like goals or points (e.g. Wright vs. Slafkovsky vs. Cooley vs. Gauthier)