With Rookie Camp drawing to an end Tuesday and Training Camp starting Thursday, NHL hockey is back, baby!

Training Camp is condensed this year with the NHL moving from an 82- to an 84-game regular-season schedule. To account for the two additional games, the preseason schedule has been reduced from six games to four. That also shortens camp.

During the 2025-26 season, the Kraken had 21 days between the start of Training Camp and their first game. This season, they have only 14 days.

Let’s take a look at five questions as the Kraken head into their shorter-than-before Training Camp.

1. Can Shane Wright earn a larger role?

One of the bigger clickbait stories this offseason followed agent Kurt Overhardt’s comments suggesting general manager Jason Botterill had agreed to trade Shane Wright. There was likely a conversation about a possible trade, but no deal has materialized. More recently, Overhardt told Emerald City Spectrum that Wright is “fully committed [to the Kraken].”

Wright played largely in a third-line role last season. He also received protected deployment, which limited his defensive-zone starts. His most common linemates were Kaapo Kakko and rookie Berkly Catton, and the three had the fewest defensive-zone starts among Kraken forwards.

On the other hand, Wright ranked among the top three Kraken forwards in offensive-zone starts, but he converted those opportunities into only 27 points.

Points are not everything. Head coach Lane Lambert discussed Wright’s 200-foot game during his end-of-season news conference.

“Everybody’s going to look at Shane Wright’s season and go, ‘Oh, gee, he had this many points [this year], and he had that many points last year,’” Lambert said. “Ask Shane if he feels like he’s a better player now than he was at the beginning of the year, and the answer would be yes, he does. Sometimes the points can fool you a little bit. I thought Shane got stronger defensively, I thought he got stronger on face-offs, and I thought he improved his 200-foot game. And what I see about that is that that’s a better formula for the future with him than in the past.”

Wright is only 22 and has plenty of room to grow. He is also building trust with the coaching staff, but he now needs to seize the opportunities that come his way.

Camp will show whether Wright can earn more than a third-line role. The coaching staff will evaluate his defensive and offensive game to determine whether a larger role is warranted. As for a trade, time will tell. It would not make sense to move Wright at a low point in his value, and the Kraken are unlikely to walk away from his upside without a strong return.

2. Is Jared McCann fully healthy?

Seattle sniper Jared McCann missed the final three games of the 2025-26 season. On April 16, he underwent a procedure to address a lower-body injury that had been nagging him throughout the campaign. McCann also underwent surgery after the 2024-25 season to repair a lower-body injury, but that injury never seemed to fully heal, causing him to miss parts of last season’s Training Camp.

The one-time 40-goal scorer ended up missing 30 games last season because of the injury. He settled for 20 goals in 52 games, but that was a 32-goal pace if he had been healthy for the full season. Since scoring 40 in 2022-23, he has not surpassed 30 goals again, recording 29, 22, and 20 goals in the following three seasons.

McCann often stretched and tested his leg between plays last season, and the injury clearly affected his game. By undergoing the procedure immediately after the season, McCann gave himself as much recovery time as possible. Now, eyes will be on him during Training Camp to see whether the injury lingers.

McCann is the Kraken’s all-time leading scorer with 283 points, and a fully healthy version of him (especially in a contract year) could provide the offensive boost Seattle needs.

3. Where will Mackie Samoskevich fit in the Kraken lineup?

Training Camp will offer the first chance to see Mackie Samoskevich on the ice in a Kraken uniform. Acquired from the Florida Panthers this offseason, Samoskevich arrives with potential to add speed and scoring to Seattle’s lineup.

Botterill described Samoskevich as a player with “speed, skill, and scoring ability.” He added that the 2025 Stanley Cup champion “can contribute offensively and add a spark to our lineup.”

Samoskevich plays on the right wing but skated in a bottom-six role with Florida. He could be in line for a promotion in Seattle.

With Eeli Tolvanen signing with the New York Rangers, Samoskevich could land on Chandler Stephenson’s line, or he could reunite with former Michigan teammate Matty Beniers.

Training Camp and preseason games will show where the coaching staff is thinking of slotting in Samoskevich.

4. Are there prospects ready to make the jump?

The Kraken have one of the NHL’s highest-rated prospect pools.

Training Camp offers a chance to see how those prospects are progressing and whether they are ready for NHL action.

Jani Nyman, Oscar Fisker-Mølgaard, Jagger Firkus, and Logan Morrison ranked as Coachella Valley’s top four players in points per game (20 games played minimum) last season.

Firkus is the only player in that forward group who has yet to appear in an NHL game. Still, he appears close to breaking through and has looked good in Rookie Camp. Nyman has played 40 games with the Kraken, but his scoring touch has not consistently translated to the NHL.

On defense, Ville Ottavainen, Ty Nelson, and Tyson Jugnauth are players to watch. Jugnauth and Nelson led Firebirds defensemen in scoring with 45 and 35 points, respectively. Ottavainen is a more defensive-minded defenseman.

At face value, there isn’t much available space for a player to jump into the NHL roster if they weren’t there last year. But injuries always happen, so some of these players will find themselves in Kraken uniforms sooner or later.

Darren Brown gave a full breakdown of young players who could impact the lineup this season, so give that a read if you want to learn more about which guys are knocking on the door.

5. How will the defensive pairings shake out?

The Kraken’s defensive group appears mostly set for the 2026-27 season. Jamie Oleksiak is the only departure, having signed with Vancouver as a free agent. Seattle has seven returning defensemen.

The pairings, however, will look different. Expect Vince Dunn and Adam Larsson to continue leading the Kraken in ice time. They have been paired together now for five seasons.

The bottom four could feature new combinations, though. Ryker Evans and Ryan Lindgren could compete for a spot on the second pairing to play alongside Brandon Montour. Lindgren may have the edge. His defensive-minded game would give Montour more freedom to join the offense, and he was paired frequently with Montour last season so there is already familiarity.

Josh Mahura and Cale Fleury will likely compete for the final regular spot on the blue line, with the other acting as the seventh defenseman. Lindgren, Mahura, and Evans are all left-shot defensemen, so one may need to play on his off side.

Preseason incoming

The Kraken open their preseason schedule Saturday, Sept. 19 against the Vancouver Canucks, providing the first game-action look of 2026-27. The four-game exhibition slate will give the coaching staff limited time to evaluate the group before Opening Night, so these questions will have to get answered quickly.

What questions do you have as the Kraken head into Training Camp? Let us know in the comments below.