With the sixth pick in the second round, the Seattle Kraken selected Casey Mutryn from the U.S. National Team Development Program. Mutryn, a 6-foot-3 right-shot winger, was ranked No. 32 on the Sound Of Hockey Big Board.
Mutryn is a strong-skating, physical presence on the wing who scored 18 goals and added 28 assists for the U18 U.S. National Team in 62 regular-season games. As the captain of the United States team at the U18 World Junior Championship in April, it’s clear his impact extends off the ice and into the dressing room as well.
Corey Pronman of The Athletic had Mutryn ranked as his No. 14 overall prospect in the 2026 NHL Draft. (Notoriously, Pronman also had Chase Reid as his No. 1 prospect.) Here’s what Pronman had to say about Mutryn:
Mutryn is a hardworking, physical 6-foot-3 winger. He’s a good skater who can play at an NHL tempo and carry pucks up ice competently at the top level. His offensive game has developed more than expected. He has some puck skills and scoring touch. His pure playmaking won’t inspire, and he can play with his head down, but he sees the ice well enough and creates offense. His versatility, ability to provide secondary scoring, while also playing a hard-nosed style, checks all the boxes to play significant minutes as a pro.
Pronman compared Mutryn’s game to Ilya Mikheyev’s, and others have mentioned Josh Doan. For his part, Mutryn said he models his game after Matthew Knies and Brady Tkachuk. You can see it in the way he plays.
Check out Mutryn’s shifts from the U.S. National Team Development Program’s Jan. 18, 2026, game against the Green Bay Gamblers. Mutryn is the right-shot forward wearing No. 12 in white.
The Massachusetts native comes from a sporting family. His father was a football player, and his brother Teddy was drafted No. 95 overall by the San Jose Sharks last season.
While previous information had Casey committed to Boston College for the 2027-28 season, Casey confirmed to Seattle-area reporters after the selection that he will, in fact, be attending Boston College starting this fall. He’ll join his brother Teddy in the Eagles’ lineup.
Get to know a little more about Mutryn here:
We’ll have much more analysis of Mutryn and each of Seattle’s other selections in the days ahead.
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In our 2026 Mock Draft, seven-round Seattle Kraken edition, I wrote this about my No. 1 “alternative” for the No. 38 overall pick: “If Casey Mutryn (Big Board No. 32) falls [to No. 38], he’s the pick for me. While the Kraken haven’t drafted a U.S. National Team Development Program player since 2021, Mutryn plays such an appealing pro-style game that it’s easy to project him into a bottom-six role, even if he doesn’t develop on the offensive side (which I think he could).”
This is another terrific selection, in my opinion. What do you think of the pick and Seattle’s draft so far? Drop your comments below or send them to us on X (@deepseahockey and @sound_hockey) or Bluesky (@deepseahockey and @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.
He looks like a dude you don’t want to meet in a corner of the ice. I absolutely dig it.
Great job on the draft Curtis. I think the pick looks great. In fact all 3 of their first picks are value per the big board. Not sure what happened after that though.
It’s really unusual to name the exact player for a draft slot, amazing that you nailed this one.
Two things I believe Sound of Hockey fans might appreciate is any “insider” talk about Reid falling. Stuff saying he was fantastic value for the Kraken.
I think fans would also appreciate seeing where our picks were taken relative to the big board. Just a couple thoughts for one (hopefully) one more draft article.
https://invidious.nerdvpn.de/watch?v=dPxhYXZZdj8
Here is what Simon St-Laurent had to say about Reid in his scouting report. While his skating is extraordinary in certain respects, it is lacking in others, namely skating backwards, which is pretty important especially for a defnseman. Also, he has a tendency to play chancey; he often activates too quickly in the offensive zone and occasionally attempts inadvisable zone entries. St-Laurent also thought that his stick work was not as active as it perhaps should be. It is all coachable stuff and common flaws among top defensive prospects, but it will take time and effort to fix those aspects of his game. Perhaps that is why he dropped behind a few less promising defensemen in the draft. We can only guess.
St-Laurent did not do a video on Casey Mutryn, but the scouting reports that I have seen point out his forechecking as his best skill. Size, strength, aggressiveness, motor, and physicality are all plus. They tend to say that his passing game needs work, but what he lacks in passing skill is offset somewhat by his natural tendency to just toss the puck into dangerous areas and count on his teammates to be there and make a play (I would have loved to see him play with Jaden Schwartz). That combined with his ability to win puck battles and move the puck make his best likely offensive projection be as a complimentary player to a creative scoring winger (eg. Berkley Catton) on a third line. Defensively, he is pretty raw, but his physicality and total lack of hesitation to throw his body around helped him on that front. As with Reid, that aspect of his game will need some coaching to be made pro-ready. The amateur scouts occasionally noted that Mutryn was miscast as a play-driving scoring forward on the NTDP which otherwise lacked players with offensive upside. It will be interesting and very telling to see how a more talented Boston College team utilizes him.
Excellent pick. Another great character player for The Kraken who should fit in really well. He has a nice motor for a bigger kid, and despite not a lot of “flash and dash” plays the game really well. Also plays a great physical game but doesn’t get carried away with it. Go Kraken!
The second-round selection reflects the organization’s commitment to developing young talent and building a competitive roster for the future.