Seattle Kraken 2026 offseason priorities

After much hemming and hawing and retrospection, both from the Kraken and from our team here at Sound Of Hockey, we’re ready to put the 2025-26 team’s late-season downfall behind us and begin looking ahead at how Seattle can avoid such a collapse in the future.

The organization has promised a “prolific” offseason, so what will that look like? What are some of the biggest priorities the team needs to address?

In this introductory post, we’ll take a first look at some of the major questions facing the Kraken this summer before digging into each of these topics more in the coming months. Let’s dive in.

Audit underway

The Kraken raised eyebrows in the wake of their season when CEO Tod Leiweke mentioned in his “Ron Francis is leaving” presser that Seattle would bring in some sort of third party to conduct an audit of the team’s departments and processes. We learned more details about this process last week, with the team now having hired an organization called Sportsology, a New York-based outfit led by former Chelsea Football Club executive Mike Forde.

I do think this whole thing has gotten blown out of proportion—when Leiweke mentioned this, I don’t believe he expected various media outlets to emphasize it—but since it’s something people have been talking about, it’s good to see progress being made on this front. It does feel like many pieces of business will be put on hold until the audit is completed, so time is of the essence to get this done.

We were told that Sportsology will be looking at all areas of hockey operations, including organizational structure, roster construction, decision-making processes, and a whole host of other areas.

So, some good should come of this and lead to the meaningful change that the team has pledged, but I’m not convinced we’ll hear that much about the outcomes of the audit.

UFA decisions

Speaking of meaningful change, I’m most interested to see what adjustments general manager Jason Botterill can bring to the roster this offseason after a relatively quiet summer in 2025. At face value, there’s still no obvious quick fix to what ails the Kraken.

There are four key players whose contracts are expiring, so Botterill and the rest of the front office will first need to decide which of Bobby McMann, Eeli Tolvanen, Jaden Schwartz, and Jamie Oleksiak they want back next season and beyond… and whether those players want to return.

I would think the team wants to bring back McMann, who burst onto the Kraken scene with 10 goals in 18 games after being acquired at the NHL Trade Deadline from Toronto, and Eeli Tolvanen, who still has youth on his side and has shown the ability to play all roles.

But neither player is a no-doubter to be back in Seattle. McMann played himself into a hot commodity on a free-agent market that does not offer much scoring. He obviously fit well in Seattle and had lots of personal success here, but he also got a front-row seat to an embarrassing end-of-season spiral out of a playoff spot and into the draft lottery. How much will it cost the Kraken to bring him back, if he’s open to returning?

Tolvanen, meanwhile, did not have a good second half of the season and even found himself in healthy scratch territory at times late in the campaign. Still, coach Lane Lambert showed early on that he really liked Tolvanen and was comfortable using him in every situation. If the price is right, I’d bring Tolvanen back.

As for Schwartz and Oleksiak, I do feel it’s right to move on from these players. Both have been strong for the team at times during their respective five-year runs, but the Kraken need to start filtering out some of the Day 1 veterans who have been core to the organization’s very limited success. That’s not blaming these individual players, who are both still effective; it’s simply a desire to get some fresh faces onto the roster.

NHL Draft

It goes without saying that the Kraken will—of course—participate in the NHL Draft on June 26 and 27, where they will select seventh overall thanks to another disappointing bounce in the lottery. They do have a second first-round pick, No. 25 overall, acquired in the trade that sent Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Tampa Bay Lightning last year.

In all, the Kraken have eight picks. Based on their position, it is highly unlikely they will select a player who can help them immediately next season.

Find current talent

With several veterans likely on their way out, the Kraken will have some big holes in their lineup. Remember, a significant chunk of the roster was already occupied by young players this past season, with guys like Berkly Catton, Ryan Winterton, Jacob Melanson, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard all playing significant roles for various stretches of the season. And let’s not forget that Matty Beniers and Shane Wright could still fall into the “young” category.

So, do they want to replace those departing vets with even more young players coming up from Coachella Valley? There aren’t obvious superstars waiting in the wings, so assuming the Kraken aren’t looking for a full-on tank next season, the answer to that question is almost certainly not.

Players will need to be brought in from outside the organization to improve this lineup, so where will they come from?

As mentioned, the free-agent market is thin. Sure, there could be a fit or two with players like Alex Tuch, who had 33 regular-season goals in Buffalo and had a strong first round of the playoffs but lost his scoring touch in the second round and ended up with four goals and three assists in 12 games. But beyond Tuch—who I’m not even sure will want to leave his hometown team after a magical season—there aren’t many intriguing players set to become available.

I’ve said for several years now that if the Kraken want to take real steps forward, they are going to have to make some big-time trades. That almost surely means moving out young players who are valued by the front office and the fanbase, and perhaps even some veterans with a year left on their deals. Players like Jared McCann and Vince Dunn feel like obvious candidates for trades, considering their contractual situations—both are set to expire after the 2026-27 season—and the fact that they would fetch quality players in return.

Even if Botterill can land a big fish via trade, somebody like Robert Thomas from St. Louis or Jason Robertson from Dallas, it still may not be enough to get this team back into the playoffs. Remember, there are multiple key players leaving the organization, so even if Seattle reels in a top-end offensive player—and that feels like a long shot—one move will not be enough to make this team a contender.

Plus, there will be more holes to fill beyond that one player, and acquiring multiple significant upgrades in one offseason—something this front office has struggled to do—is a huge ask.

The idea of a “prolific” offseason sounds all well and good, but the reality is that landing true upgrades is going to be a massive challenge. Will this front office be willing to part with important current players and/or some of its prospects and draft picks? Will Botterill be able to find trade partners for players whose tenures in their current cities have run their course?

These are the biggest questions facing the Kraken this offseason. Again, we will revisit each of these topics more in depth in future articles, so keep it tuned to Sound Of Hockey all offseason long.