As the Seattle Kraken head into their sixth season, we are back with the Strive for 95 series to track their progress toward the playoffs. However, the NHL has expanded the 2026-27 regular season to 84 games, which upped the target for standing points from 95 to 97. With that change I am changing the series name to “Path to the Playoffs,” since very few words rhyme with “97.” I might continue to workshop the name.

As in years past, we will update this series monthly. The Kraken had several player departures and additions during the offseason.

Moved on

• Jaden Schwartz signed a three-year deal with Colorado.
• Jamie Oleksiak joined Vancouver on a two-year contract.
• Eeli Tolvanen found a home with the New York Rangers for one year.

Joining the Kraken

Mackie Samoskevich — Seattle traded a 2026 first-round pick and a 2027 second-round pick to the Panthers for Samoskevich. He skated with Matty Beniers and Jared McCann in the preseason game he appeared in.

Samoskevich looked as billed: fast, with a shoot-first mentality. He finished the game but is now day-to-day with an upper-body injury, so Kraken fans will have to wait a bit to see him in action .

Curtis Douglas — The 6-foot-9 forward signed a two-year deal with Seattle. He appeared in 43 NHL games between Tampa Bay and Vancouver last season, piling up 108 penalty minutes.

Ville Ottavainen — Seattle’s fourth-round pick in 2021 looks to have made the roster out of Training Camp. That puts Seattle at eight defensemen, something the club has done in years past. With Samoskevich on injured reserve, it will be interesting to see who gets sent down when he returns (barring other injuries). Ottavainen would require waivers if Seattle sends him to the AHL.

Team tiers

For those new to this series, we at Sound Of Hockey split NHL teams into three categories: Playoff Bound, Bubble, and Tankers. To reach 97 points, a team needs a .577 points percentage.

No game in the NHL is a gimme, but tiering teams helps gauge the difficulty of the Kraken’s schedule and level-set expectations.

• Playoff Bound — Teams expected to comfortably make the playoffs, generally among the league’s top performers last season.
• Bubble — Teams fighting for a playoff spot, most likely battling for wild-card positions.
• Tankers — Teams likely to miss the playoffs, making them Seattle’s most favorable matchups.

These tiers have to start somewhere, but they will change each month as the season settles in, after teams stress test how offseason changes have impacted their play.

Breakdown of point percentages

The key to separating teams into tiers is understanding how the Kraken need to perform against each group. Here are the point percentages for October.

These will be adjusted each month to show what the Kraken need to do to maintain a 97-point pace.

October targets

The Kraken will have their busiest October yet, as the NHL season begins Oct. 1, one week earlier than any other Kraken season. The month will feature 14 games, with eight on the road and six at home.

The Kraken open in Calgary at the Saddledome, which will host its final Flames season. They will then travel north to Edmonton before returning to Seattle for the Oct. 4 home opener against Calgary, part deux.

Seattle then has a five-game swing through the Eastern Conference spanning eight days. It will be a good chance for the team to bond early in the season.

Playoff Bound teams (target: two points)

Three games qualify for this tier: Vegas, Minnesota, and Tampa Bay. The Kraken went 4-3-1 against those teams last season. With a two-point target and two of the games at home, this could be a category where they bank an extra point or two.

Bubble teams (target: nine points)

With 18 teams in this category, this is the largest tier. The Kraken have seven games here, with five on the road. They will play Edmonton, Detroit, Washington, Philadelphia, Florida, and Utah.

The Kraken will play both of the season games against Detroit in October, so they would only see the Red Wings again if the teams somehow met in the Stanley Cup Final. Seattle did not fare well against these teams last year, compiling a 4-10-1 record. Hopefully, catching them early creates opportunities to steal a point here and there. The Kraken are shooting for a 4-3-1 record.

Tankers tier (target: six points)

Maybe we should rename this the Flames tier for October, as the Kraken will play Calgary three times. Add in the two preseason games against Calgary, and you can understand why the last one got chippy, with the teams trying to set the tone for October.

Two games are in Calgary and one is in Seattle. The Kraken also play Toronto, making four games in the tier.

The Maple Leafs might not be a true Tankers team, but they finished 28th in the NHL last season. Winning the Draft Lottery for Gavin McKenna likely turned things around quickly for Toronto, which also made several other offseason changes: they added Sergei Bobrovsky in net, Darren Raddysh to the blue line, and depth forwards Jack Roslovic, Teddy Blueger, Colton Sissons, and Brandon Duhaime. They also made a big trade Monday for Kirill Marchenko. Still, they have to prove it, so the Tankers tier is where they sit.

Let the hockey begin

Although the Kraken did not have any major moves, I am still hopeful they can make the playoffs. Starting the year with a healthy Jared McCann, the Kraken’s all-time leading scorer with 283 points, should help. We will have to wait for Samoskevich, but hopefully not for long. The Kraken also will get newly signed Bobby McMann for a full year. On defense, it is mostly the same group, but Ryker Evans has moved from the third pairing to the second alongside Brandon Montour. We will see whether Ottavainen is on the game-day roster, but it has looked so far like the third pair will be Ryan Lindgren and Cale Fleury initially.

The Vegas Golden Knights reached the Stanley Cup Final last season before losing to the Carolina Hurricanes. Vegas won the Pacific Division with only 95 points, and the other teams in the division did not fare much better. Vancouver and Calgary are still projected to be at the bottom of the league, while Anaheim signed Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier but lost a slew of players.

Los Angeles will be without Anze Kopitar after his retirement, while San Jose could be the most improved team in the group after bolstering its defense with Darnell Nurse and Jacob Trouba and drafting Ivar Stenberg. Edmonton still has goalie issues under a polarizing new head coach, Mike Babcock. After John Tortorella righted the ship in Vegas, the team declined to retain him and hired first-time NHL head coach Ryan Craig.

With three playoff spots guaranteed for Pacific teams, those spots are up for grabs. If the Kraken can buy into tight defensive structure, and if some young players can take a step forward offensively, they have a legitimate path to the playoffs.

With the shortened training camp, the Kraken sent many prospects down early. Sound Of Hockey’s Darren Brown talked with head coach Lane Lambert about the players on the cusp of the NHL.

Lambert said Oscar Fisker Mølgaard is “very, very close” to the NHL, calling the center “a very trustworthy player” and “a great option for us.” He stressed that the Kraken “need depth” and mentioned Jani Nyman, Jagger Firkus, and Ty Nelson as prospects who could come up and give Seattle games. Lambert said those names were simply “off the top of my head,” not a complete list. I would add Logan Morrison and Tyson Jugnauth to the list of players who impressed in camp and could be called upon during the season.

Puck drops Thursday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. PT in Calgary. Let’s get this season started.

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