As the Stanley Cup Playoffs wind down, our focus has started to turn to the offseason. We already spent a week looking at the Seattle Kraken prospect pool, and now we are dedicating this week to free agency, which is just three weeks away. Free agency is always a tricky time.
Current state
Defining the current Seattle Kraken roster that is officially under contract is a bit nuanced, but I am going to do my best. As a starting point, from the returning players from last season’s team, the Seattle Kraken have eight forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies signed for next season.
Currently not under contract but under “team control” are Eeli Tolvanen and Matty Beniers, who are restricted free agents. We expect both players to be qualified and eventually signed before the season starts, so we will pencil them in without an eraser. Additionally, barring any unforeseen circumstances, we think Shane Wright is a lock to make the team next season. Shane is on his entry-level contract (ELC), so we have a number we can punch in for him.
That leaves the Kraken with 11 forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies slated for the roster in October. There are exceptions, but most teams carry the league roster maximum of 23 players by having 14 forwards, seven defensemen, and two goalies. Assuming no trades or other roster changes (e.g., buyouts, offseason injuries), this leaves the Kraken needing three forwards and one defenseman to fill the roster.
Restricted free agents
In a perfect world, the Seattle Kraken would sign their restricted free agents, Beniers and Tolvanen, before free agency opens on July 1 so they know how much money they can spend without going over the salary cap. But we know the world is not perfect, and these types of negotiations tend to linger all offseason, so for the purposes of this exercise, we will use placeholders. For any contract projections, I use Evolving-Hockey.com, which tends to provide the most accurate estimates for short- and long-term deals. The contract projections are behind their subscription model, but if you are interested in more detail and intel, check it out. It is a great site with a ton of information well beyond the contract projections.
The contract projections for Beniers vary dramatically based on the term length of the contract. Beniers could sign a “bridge deal” that will end with him still being a restricted free agent, or he could sign a long-term deal of seven or eight years. We have seen a lot of speculation about a bridge deal being likely, but I don’t think any of that is based on insider information on the negotiations and expectations. For our placeholder, we will conservatively take the most likely estimate from Evolving Hockey, which is $7 million for seven years.
Tolvanen is clearer cut, with EvolvingHockey estimating the most likely scenario as a four-year deal at $4.3 million per year. Let’s punch those numbers in.
What’s left and how could they spend it?
On Saturday, the NHL and NHLPA announced the upper limit of the salary cap for the 2024-25 season will be $88 million. With some basic arithmetic, we can estimate that the Kraken will have roughly $10 million in cap space to fill the remaining four spots. That is roughly $2.5 million per player, but of course, the team is not required or expected to spread that money evenly.
It is unlikely, but the Kraken could allocate most of that money to one player and then sign three players close to a minimum amount. For simplicity, let’s call the “close to” league minimum a $1 million cap hit per player. That would leave $7 million for one player. That would not be enough to sign the likes of top goal scorers Sam Reinhart or Jake Guentzel, but it is in the ballpark for Jonathan Marchessault and Matt Duchene. Both players are 33 years old, and even if they would want to come to Seattle, I think it is more likely that general manager Ron Francis will look elsewhere.
A more likely scenario is that Francis signs two players close to the league minimum and then spreads the additional dollars across two players. The top six defensemen seem set, with Ryker Evans slotting into the regular spot taken by Justin Schultz last season. It also appears likely that the team signs a player close to the league minimum to take the seventh-defenseman role.
Technically, Cale Fleury is already signed for next season but spent most of this last season in Coachella Valley and therefore off the Seattle Kraken’s books. He is a likely candidate to compete for that seventh spot that can step in when injuries arise. Even if Fleury is slotted into that spot, I expect Francis to sign one or two defensemen to compete for that position and to provide some insurance in case of multiple injuries.
The forward roster spots are much more challenging to forecast. There could be a situation where one of the spots is filled by a prospect in the pipeline. Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison, Jani Nyman, or even Carson Rehkopf could fit that profile. If one of the prospects doesn’t snag a place on the team, the Kraken could try to bring back Devin Shore or someone similar to fill that “close to” league minimum spot. That would leave roughly $8 million to spend on the remaining two forward spots.
I have been mentioning the possibility of targeting Jake DeBrusk over the second half of the season and still think he is a candidate. Evolving Hockey forecasts around a $5.8 million AAV for DeBrusk, which would leave only $2.2 million for that final forward position. There might be decent hockey players available for $2.2 million a year, but not many of them put up the goals the Kraken need to add this offseason.
Other variables and considerations
Any variance to the actual AAV for Tolvanen and Beniers will impact the cap spend available in free agency for the Kraken.
Outside of the Expansion Draft and trade deadlines, the Kraken have not made a lot of trades. Based on comments from Ron Francis in postseason availabilities, this offseason feels different. More than a couple of times, Francis mentioned leveraging the prospect pool to make this team better. Obviously, dollars going in and/or going out will impact the cap space available in free agency.
Although there does not appear to be any obvious buyout candidates coming up for the Seattle Kraken, any potential buyouts would open up some cap space.
I have implied that the Kraken will spend up to the cap this offseason, but the team might keep some dry powder available going into the season to create more flexibility. The dry powder could be used if other teams need to clear cap space to do their own wheeling and dealing.
It should be clear by now that there are a lot of moving parts to manage the cap space between now and the start to the 2024-25 regular season, but hopefully this gives you a good primer into how the Kraken will approach free agency and any offseason moves related to the cap space. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to use the comments section and we can continue the dialogue there.
The Moose Jaw Warriors are headed to the Memorial Cup for the first time in franchise history, and one of the Seattle Kraken’s highly touted prospects is going with them. Moose Jaw took down the Portland Winterhawks in Game 4 of the WHL Championship Series 4-2 on Wednesday night, sweeping aside the Winterhawks in four games. Junior phenom Jagger Firkus helped the Warriors to lift the Ed Chynoweth Cup on home ice.
Firkus, with an assist on the opening goal in Game 4, continued to be on his game during the finals, finishing with two goals and three assists. His single-game high of the series was a two-goal, three-point night during Game 2 in Portland.
The second-round pick of the Kraken in the 2022 NHL Draft concluded his dominant run during the WHL playoffs with 14 goals and 18 assists, averaging out to 1.60 points per game. In addition, this week he was named the recipient of the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy as the WHL’s Player of the Year during the regular season, as he led the CHL with 126 points in 63 regular-season games.
Firkus will become the third current Kraken prospect to play in the Memorial Cup, joining Ryan Winterton in 2022 and Tucker Robertson in 2023. He will look to become the first to win it all.
Don’t be fooled by the sweep, the Winterhawks skated stride for stride with the Warriors for much of the series, as shown by three of the four games ending with the teams within two goals of each other. The Warriors just had more of a will to finish, taking the series while backed by some outstanding defensive efforts, as well as timely goaltending performances.
Warriors netminder Jackson Unger finished the series with an astounding .938 save percentage, only allowing eight goals to squeak by him all series. The series was a microcosm of his overall WHL-leading 15 wins during the playoffs, in which he posted an overall save percentage of .910 and a goals-against average at 2.91.
While Firkus was a huge contributor, Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Denton Mateychuk was named the WHL’s Most Valuable Player during the playoffs. The nimble first-round defender finished second behind Firkus for total points with 30, leading the league in assists at 19.
All the while, forward Brayden Schuurman was arguably the most clutch player for Moose Jaw this series, as he had the game-winning goals in both Games 3 and 4.
Fellow Kraken prospect Tyson Jugnauth had just one assist during the finals for the Winterhawks.
Memorial Cup
Firkus and the Warriors will now head to Saginaw, Mich., for the Memorial Cup, where they will match up with the OHL champion London Knights, QMJHL champion Drummondville Voltigeurs, and the host team, the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit.
It’s safe to say this tournament is getting the best of the best teams from across the CHL, as for the first time in CHL history all three league title winners won their respective championship series by sweeping their opponents.
The Memorial Cup is set for May 24-June 2 at the Dow Event Center in Saginaw. Moose Jaw will open the tournament against the host Spirit on Friday, May 24.
The Dallas Stars have punched their ticket to the second round after winning a decisive Game 7 on Sunday night, making them the last of eight teams to advance through the opening series. We reviewed the Eastern Conference here, and in this article we will preview the two upcoming Western Conference series. As with the Eastern Conference preview, we will call out potential unrestricted free agents that have some offensive upside. This can give Kraken fans some players to keep an eye on while watching the rest of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Out of all first-round series there was only one “upset,” and that was the Colorado Avalanche over the Winnipeg Jets. The Vegas Golden Knights had Dallas on the ropes but ultimately took a first-round exit, guaranteeing a new Stanley Cup champion will be crowned this year. Meanwhile, there are only two Canadian teams remaining, and since they are playing each other, there will be one in the Western Conference Finals and one hitting the golf course.
Dallas Stars vs Colorado Avalanche
Former Dallas Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Season series between Colorado and Dallas
Nov. 18 – Colorado won 6-3
Jan. 1 – Colorado won 5-4 in overtime
Feb. 27 – Colorado won 5-1
Apr. 7 – Dallas won 7-4
The Colorado Avalanche won the season series 3-1. More impressively, Colorado scored four or more goals in each game.
The Avs stumbled into the playoffs, losing seven of their last 11 games. Their offense woke up in their first-round matchup with the Winnipeg Jets, though, and scored five or more goals in every game. That came against a Winnipeg team whose save percentage and goals-against average were the best in the NHL during the regular season.
The Dallas Stars are coming off a hard-fought seven-game series with the defending Stanley Cup champions. Dallas showed resilience in coming back from a 0-2 start in the series. Wyatt Johnston has had an amazing sophomore season, leading the Stars in goals with 32 during the regular season. His skill has been on full display in the playoffs, and he has scored some big timely goals and led the team with four goals and seven points in Round 1.
Jake Oettinger was also strong in the first round, posting an impressive 1.95 GAA and .925 save percentage while playing all seven games of the series.
Trade Deadline acquisitions
The Trade Deadline was a busy time for the Avalanche, who added Casey Mittelstadt, Brandon Duhaime, Yakov Trenin, and Sean Walker. They also moved on from Ryan Johansen, but had to part ways with Bowen Byram to shore up the second-line center role with Mittelstadt. Mittelstadt had a bit of a slow start but has blossomed in the playoffs with six points in five games.
Trenin and Duhaime have retooled Colorado’s fourth line. Walker is playing a depth role and helping out on the third defensive pairing.
The Dallas Stars added to their defensive corps at the deadline by trading for Chris Tanev. Former Kamloops Blazer, Logan Stankoven, also cracked the Stars lineup and has definitely turned some heads while chipping in 14 points in 24 games.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series
Series outcome
This series has two Stanley Cup favorites going toe-to-toe, and fans should sit back and enjoy the ride. With the recency bias of Colorado handling Winnipeg, we think they have the slight edge going into the series.
Prediction: Colorado wins in seven games (though I will be pulling for Dallas to win)
Vancouver Canucks vs Edmonton Oilers
Former Kraken defenseman Carson Soucy, now with the Vancouver Canucks. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Season series between Vancouver and Edmonton
Oct. 11 – Vancouver won 8-1
Oct. 14 – Vancouver won 4-3
Nov. 6 – Vancouver won 6-3
Apr. 13 – Vancouver won 3-1
The Vancouver Canucks swept the season series winning all four games. However, three of those games took place during the first month of the season when Edmonton could do nothing right.
Canucks goaltending
The Canucks all-star goaltender, Thatcher Demko, sustained a knee injury in Game 1 of Vancouver’s first-round matchup with the Nashville Predators. He is listed as week-to-week and has yet to participate in practice, but has been seen skating. Coach Rick Tocchet has ruled Demko out for at least Game 1 of the series.
Furthermore, Vancouver’s backup goaltender Casey DeSmith was also injured in Game 3 in the first round series. Arturs Silovs was thrust into action and has thrived with a 1.70 GAA and .938 save percentage in three games. He seems to have taken the de facto starting job for now, even as DeSmith has recovered from injury. Silovs is set to start game one vs Edmonton.
Having uncertainty in your goaltending is not something you want as you set to start a playoff series against the top two NHL point leaders over the past nine year. Connor McDavid has scored 982 points and Leon Draisaitl has scored 841. Nobody else in the NHL has scored even 800 points in the last nine years
Edmonton on a roll
The Edmonton Oilers’ standings points from the regular season are a bit misleading. On Nov. 6, after the Oilers lost to Vancouver, they had five total points and were in 31st place. They fired Jay Woodcroft, hired Kris Knoblauch, and since then, they have have been on a tear, earning 99 points to finish the season, best in the NHL over that span. The Oilers continued on that pace into the first round of the playoffs, disposing of the Los Angeles Kings in five games.
Trade Deadline
To prepare for the playoffs, Vancouver swung for the fences and traded for center Elias Lindholm. However, he has not panned out as well as the Canucks front office imagined. His 0.46 points per game (12 in 26 games) is well below his career average of 0.68 points per game.
The Edmonton Oilers acquired Adam Henrique to help round out their top six. Henrique has landed a dream role of playing with Connor McDavid, but his point totals have declined from his time with the Anaheim Ducks.
Series outcome
Although neither team hit home runs with their deadline acquisitions, they are still excellent teams that had success in the regular season. Edmonton has the edge in goals scored per game, power play percentage, and penalty kill percentage.
It should not be overlooked that Vancouver was 4-0 versus Edmonton. The Canucks have the ability to win on any night. Ultimately, though, the carousel in goal is what will cause the Canucks to lose this series.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series
Prediction: Edmonton Oilers win in six games
Second round wrap-up
As with the Eastern Conference, a case could be made for all four teams remaining to be able to hoist the Stanley Cup. It has been speculated all year that a team will have to run the gauntlet to make it out of the East, but the West is no easier. The team that emerges will have gone through battle.
There is not a clear-cut favorite in any of the remaining series, and as a hockey fan, I am here for it. Crack a college soda (or your favorite beverage) and enjoy the playoff hockey as much as you can. If you need more beyond the NHL, the Coachella Valley Firebirds best-of-five series is tied 1-1.
The first round of the NHL’s Stanley Cup Playoffs is in the books and featured goaltending controversies and injuries, two Game 7 thrillers, and another heart-breaking ouster for the Toronto Maple Leafs. Now, the hockey world turns its attention to the second round, so we’re putting together a quick pair of preview articles for what to look for in this next set of games, starting in the Eastern Conference.
The Seattle Kraken are already out working on their golf game, but the team’s front office is busy trying to fill the head coaching position as well as finding some needed scoring for next season. Here, we will consider each of the second-round playoff matchups and call out any unrestricted free agents (UFA’s) that might be of interest to the Kraken, focusing on forwards with an offensive touch. Hopefully, that can give you some players to watch while you are unable to root for the Kraken.
New York Rangers vs Carolina Hurricanes
Alex Wennberg playing against the Hurricanes. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Season series between Carolina and New York
Nov. 2 – New York Rangers won 2-1
Jan. 2 – Carolina Hurricanes won 6-1
Mar. 12 – New York Rangers won 1-0
The Rangers also jumped out to a 1-0 series lead with a 4-3 win at Madison Square Garden in Game 1 on Sunday.
New York Rangers overview
The New York Rangers hold the season series edge at 2-1, but that is a little deceiving. In those games, Carolina only gave up four total goals and scored seven on Igor Shesterkin. Plus, Frederik Andersen sat out most of the year due to a blood clotting issue but returned in early March. Since returning, Andersen has played in 15 games (including playoffs) and went 13-2.
The Rangers won the Presidents Trophy for a reason. They scored 3.39 goals per game (seventh in the league during the regular season), have an excellent goaltender in Shesterkin, and their power play and penalty kill are top three in the NHL. Key additions at the deadline were former Seattle Kraken Alex Wennberg and former Columbus Blue Jacket Jack Roslovic. Both of these players are shoring up the depth for New York, but Wennberg is still contributing on 5-on-5, power play, and penalty kill scenarios.
One item of note for Kraken fans, Seattle received New York’s second-round draft pick in 2024 for Wennberg. If New York were to lose this series, four teams would finish above them, and the pick would improve to No. 61 (from No. 65). There are 33 picks in the second round because the Philadelphia Flyers have a compensatory pick for not signing their 2018 first-round draft pick, Jay O’Brien. If the New York Rangers win the series, Seattle’s acquired pick will fall in the 63-65 range.
Carolina Hurricanes overview
The Carolina Hurricanes are no slouch either and finished just three points behind the Rangers. The Hurricanes were eighth in the NHL in scoring in the regular season, have a very good goaltending tandem in Andersen and Pyotr Kochetkov, have the second-best power play in the league and the best overall penalty kill. Key additions at the trade detail were Jake Guentzel and Evgeny Kuznetsov. Guentzel has been a perfect fit with the team’s offense and has scored 29 points in 22 games since arriving in Carolina.
Both of these teams have a legitimate shot at winning the Stanley Cup if they can make it out of the second round. Expect this series to go the distance or close to it.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series:
Prediction: Carolina wins in seven games
Florida Panthers vs Boston Bruins
Season series between Florida and Boston
Oct. 30 – Boston Bruins won 3-2 in overtime
Nov. 22 – Boston Bruins won 3-1
Mar. 26 – Boston Bruins won 4-3
Apr. 6 – Boston Bruins won 3-2 in overtime
The Boston Bruins swept the season series, but they were all close games with two being decided in overtime. Both Boston and Florida played better on the road in the season series. The Panthers have home-ice advantage, but does that mean Boston actually has the edge in this series?
The teams are also evenly matched when looking at goals scored, power play, and penalty kill.
The Bruins are more likable than they used to be, thanks to former Kraken Morgan Geekie joining the fold.
Goaltending
The difference in this series could come down to goaltending. As a team, Florida statistically had the best goaltending in the league and relied heavily on Sergei Bobrovsky playing 57 games with Anthony Stolarz playing the remaining 25. Boston’s duo of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark was the fifth-best tandem in the league but had a much more even split of games with Swayman playing 43 and Ullmark playing 39.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out, as Stolarz was excellent in the regular season. Stolarz actually led the entire NHL in save percentage (.925) and goals-against average (2.03), but it should be noted that out of Stolarz’s 25 games, only seven were against teams that made the playoffs and zero were against teams still remaining in the playoffs. Even with Florida being the No. 1 goaltending duo, the depth that Boston has at the position is an asset. We would expect Bobrovsky to play every game for Florida, assuming he doesn’t get hurt or have a stinker, and the Bruins to continue rotating.
If things go haywire in the crease for the Panthers, Kraken legend Magnus Hellberg is waiting in the wings.
Trade deadline additions
Boston did struggle to score in their last three games, only potting four total goals. That will not get it done against Florida, and the Bruins will have to find their scoring touch again. Boston did not add any key players at the deadline, other than Patrick Maroon who has played in four Stanley Cup Finals, helping his team win in three of them.
Florida added two players of note at the deadline, Vladimir Tarasenko and Kyle Okposo. Tarasenko has been a good fit and has chipped in 14 points in 19 games. Okposo has not worked out as well and has seen his playing time reduced to 7:19 per game in the playoffs.
Key UFA’s to watch during this series:
Prediction: Boston wins in six games
Wrap up
Any one of the four teams in the Eastern Conference is good enough to hoist the Stanley Cup this year. Both series should be hard fought and exciting to watch.
Unrelated, if you’re looking for a hockey fix that has more relevance to the Seattle Kraken, the Coachella Valley Firebirds are playing a best-of-five series against the Calgary Wranglers in the AHL’s Calder Cup Playoffs.
Game 1 – May 3, 6:00 pm in Calgary (4-1 Loss)
Game 2 – May 5, 3:00 pm in Calgary (4-3 Win in overtime)
Game 3 – May 8, 8:00 pm in Coachella Valley
Game 4 – May 10, 7:00 pm in Coachella Valley
Game 5 – May 12, 3:00 pm in Coachella Valley (if needed)
Welcome back! We’re continuing on with our end-of-season Kraken Roundtable series, which we launched last week. This week, we’re getting a bit more tactical with our discussion to understand the missteps of the Seattle Kraken in 2023-24 and to look ahead to the offseason.
In this one, Blaiz Grubic, John Barr, and Darren Brown teamed up to give their thoughts.
Enjoy!
What went wrong
Darren – I’m going to get a little “hot takey” with this one, but the obvious issue for the team was scoring. We’ve talked ad nauseam about how the fourth line took a step back, but as the offensive woes dragged on throughout the season, I thought the Kraken missed the likes of Daniel Sprong and Morgan Geekie (and to a lesser degree Ryan Donato) more and more. There were so many times last season where the top two lines couldn’t score, and then all of a sudden, the fourth line would chip one in and get things going. Scoring is contagious, and when you only have a few guys that can put the puck in the net, slumps can sweep through the entire roster.
Blaiz – The Kraken could not get key wins when they needed them. During the Thanksgiving break, the Kraken held onto the second wild card spot and looked poised to turn the corner, but instead, they came back from the break with an eight-game losing streak. This losing streak included losses to bottom dwellers Ottawa, Chicago, and Montreal.
Later in the season, just before the All-Star break, the Kraken laid an egg against San Jose. A win that night would have put them in a tie for the final wild card spot, but they instead went into the hiatus on a three-game losing streak. The final gasp was the loss to Vegas on March 3 at home, when they blew a two-goal lead in the third period and lost in overtime. Following the Vegas loss, the Kraken could not break the cycle and rattled off seven more losses, essentially eliminating themselves from playoff contention.
John – I’ve mentioned it before, but for me, it was the way the season started that put the Kraken at a severe disadvantage. They scored one goal or less in five of their first six games, setting a challenging tone for the rest of the season. While they flirted with a playoff position at times, they consistently took a step back whenever they got close to solidifying themselves as a contending team.
Pleasant surprise
John – The goaltending performance this year was excellent. The team finished ninth in the league in save percentage overall, but since Dec. 1, the Kraken ranked third in the entire NHL. Given the challenges the goaltending position has presented in the first two seasons, this improvement was quite surprising. Joey Daccord really stepped up when the team needed a boost, especially highlighted by his performance in the Winter Classic. Additionally, Philipp Grubauer showed great consistency in the second half of the season, which bodes well for the team heading into next season.
Blaiz – The Kraken recently announced that most Kraken regular-season games will be broadcast on King/Kong and Prime Video, removing the need for an expensive cable/streaming TV package. This will allow fans to watch the Kraken for free and help continue to grow the fanbase for the Seattle Kraken. What a pleasant surprise!
Darren – I shouldn’t have been surprised by this, but I was a little surprised at how good Shane Wright looked in his call-up at the end of the season. He truly looked like a different player. For some reason, I expected him to come back up and still appear a little behind at the NHL level, but he showed me he is ready to make the team next season and potentially be an impactful player. That was exciting to see.
Reason to be optimistic
John – I believe the greatest strength of this franchise lies in its prospect pool, extending far beyond Coachella Valley. Numerous Kraken prospects playing in juniors or European leagues have been excelling in their respective teams.
Across the pond, Jani Nyman concluded the Liiga season in Finland by earning the Red Bull helmet, awarded to the top goal scorer under 20 years old. Oscar Fisker-Molgaard, drafted in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, saw significant ice time as a second-line center in the Swedish Hockey League, one of the world’s premier leagues. Additionally, Niklas Kokko has served as the starting goalie for Pelicans, currently competing in the Liiga finals.
In the CHL, Carson Rehkopf, a 2023 second-round selection, capped off his OHL season with an impressive 52 goals. David Goyette, drafted in 2022’s second round, led the OHL in points. Meanwhile, Jagger Firkus dominated the WHL with an astonishing 61 goals and 126 points.
Blaiz – Andre Burakovsky had a terrible year with 16 points in 49 games. The Swedish winger is too talented to continue to remain off the scoresheet. I wrote about Burakovsky’s struggles earlier this year. Burakovsky was able to finish the season playing 22 games straight without injury and scored six of his seven goals during that stretch. Hopefully with some stable linemates, he can return to his offensive self and be a strong contributor to fixing the Kraken’s scoring woes.
Darren – In that same realm, Blaiz, it was good to see Matty Beniers get going a little more toward the end of the season. He’s still very slight in stature, so I’m interested to see what he can do with a full offseason of training. Can he put on some weight this summer and come back more prepared to handle the physical nature of the NHL?
I’m also excited about what this team might do to improve this offseason. It has cap space and an improving prospect pool, plus plenty of motivation to get better. When you look at how this season played out, Seattle is not that far from being a scary team again, but it will need an injection of offense from the front office. These should be a few interesting months ahead.
Reason to be pessimistic
John – It’s highly unlikely that Tomas Tatar, Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Kailer Yamamoto, and Justin Schultz will return to the Kraken next season. I expect Shane Wright to claim one of the vacated spots and Ryker Evans to become a regular in the lineup next season. This leaves only one starting forward position available, and it’s unclear whether one new addition to the lineup can make a significant impact on such a key position.
Blaiz – There could still be a lack of scoring next season. I was glad to see general manager Ron Francis acknowledge this issue in his end-of-season presser. There are many players that scored below their career averages this year, although next season, Burakovsky, Beniers, and Jaden Schwartz should rebound a bit and add somewhere between 18 and 23 goals. The prospect pool is impressive, but those players are also not fully baked, and outside of Wright, the prospects are all still one-to-two seasons out. It would be a nice surprise if one of them could contribute meaningfully to the Kraken scoring, but that is a lot to put on any rookie.
Darren – It was painfully obvious to me that the Kraken needed to add a weapon or two last offseason, and I would argue they iced a significantly worse roster this season. I’m just afraid Francis might be a little too cautious for his own good again this summer at a time when some bigger swings feel necessary.
Prospect you are most excited about
Blaiz – Shane Wright has been the prospect I am most excited about since Seattle drafted him fourth overall in 2022. Due to his lost season during the pandemic, Wright was developmentally one year behind Beniers when he was drafted. Now with the two years under his belt in the Kraken development system, Wright looks poised to make the jump full-time to the Kraken. My hot take is Wright will be the Kraken first-line center within the next three years. This is nothing against Beniers, who I think will also rebound and continue to develop next year, but the offensive ceiling is higher for Wright. I am super excited to have Beniers and Wright be the Kraken’s one-two punch for years to come.
Darren – Yeah, Wright is the obvious answer here, and you may be onto something with him as the top center. Either way, Beniers and Wright should serve as a very nice top-two center duo a couple seasons from now. BUT… since you went with Wright, I’ll go in a different direction here and say Jani Nyman (leaving Carson Rehkopf for you, John). I think Nyman will need a year in the AHL to work on his skating and getting used to the North American game, but his size and shot are pretty exciting attributes. If he can get a little faster working with Jess Campbell, I think he could be a player in a couple years.
John – I am excited about Shane, but I am particularly enthusiastic about Rehkopf (thanks for the layup, Darren). I’ve been consistently impressed by his knack for scoring goals from all areas of the ice throughout the season. He appears to be one of the most talented shooters ever in the Kraken’s prospect pool. In my view, the Kraken should seriously consider giving him an opportunity to make the team next season. At the very least, he deserves a chance to start the season with the team and play some regular-season NHL games.
The Seattle Kraken will have a new TV broadcast home for the foreseeable future, the team announced Thursday morning. After three seasons with ROOT Sports as the flagship television network for the team, the Kraken will partner with TEGNA (KING 5 and KONG) in a “multi-year agreement.” All games that haven’t been picked up for national coverage will be viewable on KONG, and a handful of games will also be simulcast on KING 5.
Additionally, the team has entered into a new first-of-its-kind partnership with Prime Video, which will allow streaming of all locally broadcasted games to Prime members for no additional cost.
These new deals should make games more accessible for local viewers, who will now be able to watch Kraken hockey “over the air,” even without a cable subscription (a simple cheap antenna should get you access to both KING 5 and KONG), or with a more economical streaming option than before.
“ROOT has been a terrific partner for us; we have appreciated their support as we determined our broadcast plans moving forward,” said Kraken owner, Sam Holloway in a press release. “Today’s announcement is a game changer for our fans. Our goal is to increase the ways they can watch our games – whether they’re cheering us on at home or on the go. To have both TEGNA and Prime Video as trusted partners is a dream come true. I can’t wait for more fans to fall in love with Kraken hockey.”
The viewing area for both the over-the-air option and the streaming option will cover Washington, Oregon, and Alaska (KGW in Portland and KREM in Spokane will carry the games, since KONG and KING 5 are not readily available in those markets).
Why move away from ROOT?
The broadcast team at ROOT did a fantastic job. We’ve watched plenty of local broadcasts from other markets, and we can honestly say (biases aside) that the Kraken broadcast has been one of, if not the best in the business over the past three seasons.
But there were barriers for fans or potential fans to access games on TV, and limited streaming options made games on ROOT difficult to find without some sort of significant financial investment from viewers.
The content wasn’t the issue. The issue was simply that for fans to watch ROOT, they not only needed a cable subscription like Xfinity, they also got an added kick recently of having to pay even more for an elevated tier to access the sports network.
For those that had switched out of cable, Fubo TV was a fine solution, but to get ROOT, “cord cutters” still had to pay north of $100 per month.
Now, there are more economical (and even free) options available to viewers, a huge win for Kraken fans.
What’s happening with the broadcast team?
Up to now, games have been produced mostly by ROOT employees and/or contractors, with some Kraken personnel factoring in. Moving forward, production of the games will not be handed over to TEGNA, though their employees will certainly be involved.
Instead, a lot of the production will now be done “in house” by the Kraken, meaning more of the individuals working on the show will be team employees, and they will use some of TEGNA’s existing infrastructure. This is a shift from how things were being done previously and (we assume) gives the team a bit more control over branding, graphics, visuals, etc.
The difficult piece here is that there are good people at ROOT who did a great job on broadcasts for three seasons that are now facing uncertainty. On the flipside, we wouldn’t be surprised to see the Kraken hire some of these individuals who have already been part of the show.
As for the on-air broadcast team, all the Kraken employees that you became accustomed to seeing will be around next season. So, we expect John Forslund, Eddie Olczyk, JT Brown, Alison Lukan, and Nick Olczyk to continue participating in 2024-25.
Other on-air personalities that appeared on games previously are ROOT employees, including Piper Shaw. Currently, there isn’t much that we can share on this front.
Good news for Kraken fans
Whichever way you slice it, this is a positive move for Kraken fans. Our hope is that it will truly allow the team to reach more new fans and get hooks into more casual fans to turn them into diehards. The franchise has done a solid job of building its brand locally, but we have wondered about the true reach beyond the Seattle metro area. This is a huge shift that should really help on this front.
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email darren@soundofhockey.com.
