With the seventh overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Seattle Kraken selected Chase Reid, a right-shot defenseman from the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds. The pick comes as a bit of surprise because most prognosticators had projected Reid to be drafted higher. There was some speculation at various points in the process that he could go as high as No. 1 or No. 2 overall.
It’s also a historic pick for the Kraken in the sense that it’s the first time the team has selected a defenseman in the first round. Each of its previous five first-round picks was a forward.
That said, the 6-foot-3 Reid fits with the team’s historical preference for offensive firepower at the top of the draft. His offensive toolkit is well-rounded with plus skating, transition ability, passing ability, compete, and a quality shot. Chase Reid led all draft-eligible OHL defensemen in goals, points, and points per game.
At the same time, this is far from an offense-only player. In the OHL Coaches Poll, Reid was not only voted the top offensive defenseman in the OHL’s Western Conference, he was voted second-best defensive defenseman too.
What does the ideal defence prospect look like? You’d want to see a player with high-end mobility, above-average size, strong physical skills, strong stopping capabilities, elite hockey sense, playmaking, and shooting ability. No player checks off all of those boxes quite like Chase Reid. – Elite Prospects
Good friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast Chris Peters describes Reid this way:
Reid has the size, athleticism and skating ability to be a real difference maker. His hockey sense has come along, while his defending continues to improve. He’s going to need a year or two more before he can step into an NHL lineup, but his skill level and growing hockey sense lead me to believe he’s got the potential to become a reliable top-pairing defenseman and power-play leader. Reid’s slotting is much more based on projection than hard evidence, but the combination of skill, skating and size makes him difficult to pass up.
Projection: Top-Pairing Defenseman / No. 1 power play
NHL Comparable: Zach Werenski
While Peters compares Reid’s game to Werenski, others have mentioned Seth Jones. Regardless, it is clear Reid has the tools to rise to the top of the Kraken’s defensive depth chart after a few more seasons of development in college and at the AHL level.
Reid’s future plans also stand out as a positive factor. He’s committed to play for Michigan State University this upcoming season. A top NCAA program where he’ll likely assume first-unit power-play time, it’s an ideal situation for him to continue developing on and off the ice.
For these reasons, we projected Reid to be off the board in the top five in our post-lottery mock draft. Reid was the No. 3 player on the Sound Of Hockey Big Board and the No. 4 player on our data-only watchlist.
We’ll have much more analysis of this selection, including quotes from the team and the player, in the days ahead. In the meantime, check out Reid’s shifts from Prince Albert’s Jan. 29, 2026, game against the Niagara IceDogs below.
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This is an exciting pick for the Seattle Kraken as the team arguably walked away with the best defense prospect in this draft. He was the top defenseman on my personal board. What do you think of the pick? Drop your comments below or send them to us on X @deepseahockey and @sound_hockey or BlueSky @deepseahockey or @soundofhockey.com.
Curtis Isacke
Curtis is a Sound Of Hockey contributor and member of the Kraken press corps. Curtis is an attorney by day, and he has read the NHL collective bargaining agreement and bylaws so you don’t have to. He can be found analyzing the Kraken, NHL Draft, and other hockey topics on Twitter and Bluesky @deepseahockey.
You misspelled Belchetz again
Outstanding!!!
I’d like to add… having a professional NHL staff validate Curtis’s hard work by taking Daxon Rudolph as the No.1 D in the 2026 draft is a huge compliment.
Thanks again Curtis!!!
And thanks to everyone at SOH!
Ha! I’ll take a sprinkling of credit for preferring Rudolph over Verhoeff, but not for taking Rudolph over Reid or Carels. Reid was my personal top defenseman in this class, and I had operated on the assumption he was out of reach for Seattle.
I have no idea how or why Reid fell to 7, but I’m so glad he did! Takes some of the sting from yesterday out.
Yes! Exactly. I’m sure there’s a contingent of the “fan base” that would be going on right now about how stupid the Kraken were to overpay for Robertson and let the Stars land Chase Reid.
Living in the “here and now” rather than second guessing the past… nice work today.
Go Kraken!!!
Surprisingly he fell to us, nice to get a high level defenseman.
Reminds me of Montour a little bit. Fantastic pick if he can reach those levels.
glad the draft is decentralized so he couldn’t stare down Vancouver or Buffalo…
on a side note because he committed to Michigan State does that mean he is unable to play this season?
I loved hearing one of the female announcers at the draft saying her phone was blowing up with TEAMS calling her saying it was a surprise Reid dropped to the Kraken.
Yeah, that comment was from ESPN hockey analyst Emily Kaplan.
Most all so called hockey experts are all in agreement by saying Reid was the steal of the draft.
This could be the pick to turn the fortunes of this franchise around – of course I thought that when Shane Wright fell to us – so we shall see
Happy about Reid falling to us. Still in shock of yesterday’s news. More upset to see McTavish traded for a mid and late first.
Honest question… why are you upset about that?
Great to see so many satisfied positive comments about how this pick worked out for the Kraken.
Nice that so many people can agree on a topic for a change.
Odd to me Mike Grier has all these picks, and he can’t get anyone who can help the team right now. He is the beauty queen of all the drafts.
Stenberg will play with them this year. On defense, they just traded for Michael Kesselring and they have Eric Pohlkamp, who will either start the year with them or join them at some point during the season. He was a Hobey baker Award finalist this last season. Even Verhoeff will probably be an end-of-season addition, either after playing for U. of North Dakota or the SJ Barracuda in the AHL.
They’re drafting players for their competitive window, which isn’t for a couple of years. Their young D prospects, including Lin, Luca Cagnoni and Leo Sahlin Wallenius, should have caught up with their deep forward corp by that time.
American…it’s all in God’s hands. So exciting! All the opportunities God has put in his hands. Can’t wait for this awesomeness.
I don’t think we even took this guy out for dinner.
The people who did didn’t pick him.
The next frontier in analytics… dinner.
Or church?
Wait is that a quote from Reid?
It’s obvious Americans don’t value character. I think that might come back to bite us.