The Seattle Kraken officially added a player back into the fold Monday and lost another one to a waiver claim. Daniel Sprong, who was in camp on a professional try-out, accepted a two-way deal worth $750,000 at the NHL level or $325,000 at the AHL level. Meanwhile, netminder Magnus Hellberg—placed on waivers Sunday—was snatched up by the Ottawa Senators, thinning out Seattle’s goalie depth chart.
Daniel Sprong signs
Sprong has had an outstanding training camp. He was the best player in an intrasquad scrimmage on one of the first couple days of practice, and he scored on a wicked one-timer in Seattle’s Sept. 27 preseason game against the Flames.
🚨 SPRONG BOMB! 🚨
Dunn serves it to Sprong on a platter, and the Dutchman blasts away. 1-0 Kraken.
Sprong is a goal scorer with blazing speed and a cannon of a shot. He joined the Kraken at the NHL Trade Deadline last season, in the deal that sent Marcus Johansson to the Washington Capitals, and scored six goals in the 16 games he played for Seattle down the stretch. But even as he was showing offensive prowess, we could tell from how coach Dave Hakstol talked about Sprong that the team thought he needed to show more at the defensive end of the ice.
Sprong, then a restricted free agent, was not tendered a qualifying offer after the 2021-22 season. That made him an unrestricted free agent, and he found himself without a contract as the offseason was winding down.
On Saturday, Sprong said free agency was a “wake-up call” for him, which ended with him coming back to Kraken camp on a PTO and fighting for a contract.
Sprong’s two-way play has always been the knock against him, but after he scored against the Flames this preseason, Hakstol made it clear he liked what he had been seeing from the winger. “I thought he played his ass off tonight,” Hakstol said after that game. “He played hard, and that’s what we want him to keep doing. He’s done that every day, and he’s just got to continue to do that in all three zones.”
How Sprong fits (or doesn’t?)
Now that he is under contract, it will be interesting to see how Seattle proceeds with Sprong. There is no obvious spot for him on the NHL roster, and although he will get a lower salary if he plays for the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, he will have to clear waivers to get there.
We think he would clear, because if a general manager out there wanted Sprong, that GM could have signed him at any point during his PTO. But, if Sprong does get claimed, then so be it, since Seattle clearly hadn’t factored him into the plans for the NHL roster coming into camp. That would also likely be a welcome outcome for the player, as he would get another shot at the NHL level.
Regardless of how it shakes out, this is a low-risk deal for the Kraken organization that should minimally provide a top forward at the AHL level and potentially some depth scoring punch at the NHL level.
Magnus Hellberg claimed by Senators
From a goalie gear perspective, we were devastated to learn Hellberg, placed on waivers Sunday with the intention of sending him to Coachella Valley, was claimed by the Ottawa Senators. Hellberg had one of the most unique setups we’ve ever seen, and tragically, we only got to see his Brian’s gear in preseason game action one time.
Magnus Hellberg makes a save for the Seattle Kraken. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Kraken fans should monitor what happens with Ottawa’s goalies when Talbot returns, because it would seem likely that Hellberg would go back on waivers at that time. If that happens and no other team claims him, Seattle could get Hellberg back and put him right into the AHL without having to put him back on waivers. That is how Seattle claimed and then lost Alex Barré-Boulet and Austin Czarnik last season, and lost but recovered Dennis Cholowski.
So, perhaps Hellberg shouldn’t retire his Kraken gear just yet.
The claiming of Hellberg makes us even more curious to see what will happen if/when Seattle tries to send Joey Daccord down to the AHL. He too will have to clear waivers, and we can’t help wondering if Ottawa would have grabbed him instead of Hellberg, had he been available. Hellberg is the second goalie claimed this preseason after Jonas Johansson went to Arizona, so there does seem to be some residual demand for goalie help as teams look to shore up the position.
Seattle is now down to Philipp Grubauer, Martin Jones, Daccord, and Callum Booth as its options to play for the Kraken and the Firebirds. If Daccord gets claimed, the Kraken will need to find some additional goalie help of their own.
Kole Lind and Andrew Poturalski clear waivers, more cuts coming
Including Hellberg, the Kraken placed 10 players on waivers Sunday. Of that group, we were most concerned about Kole Lind and Andrew Poturalski getting claimed by another NHL team, but both players cleared Monday and were assigned to Coachella Valley.
Lind had a good showing with the Kraken at the end of last season, and Poturalski has been a prolific scorer at the AHL level but has never gotten much of a chance in the NHL.
On Lind, Hakstol said the first couple days of his training camp weren’t his best, but he improved toward the end of his time. The message from Hakstol to Lind is that he needs to work on “solidifying his game and being the very best at what he does and doing that consistently.”
After the cuts, the Kraken have 29 players remaining in camp and will need to trim down to 23 players before the regular season gets underway.
Those left on the roster are in Alberta this week for a team-building trip bookended between Monday’s preseason game against the Calgary Flames and Friday’s preseason finale against the Edmonton Oilers.
With a new contract and now a new number, Kraken forward Jared McCann is excited for a new season.
McCann switched from the number 16 he wore last season to number 19, which he wore in junior hockey with the Soo Greyhounds and in the NHL with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He says there’s no superstition behind it, it’s just a number he’s always liked, and with last year’s trade of Calle Jarnkrok — who wore it last season — the number was up for grabs.
“Favorite number since I was a kid,” he said Friday after coming off the ice at the Kraken Community Iceplex for Day 2 of training camp. “When it came available, I just thought ‘you know what, I want to go back to my roots,’ and so I picked it.”
Like many of Seattle’s returning players, McCann says the vibe around the team is different this season with the core knowing each other, the city, and the system already.
“I feel good, feel comfortable,” McCann said. “But still trying to show the coaching staff that they made the right decision. I’m gonna work as hard as I can every day.”
The decision in question was the Kraken pulling the trigger on extending McCann’s contract midway through last season. He was taken in the Expansion Draft from the Toronto Maple Leafs and was scheduled to be a restricted free agent this summer.
But he turned in a career season and led the Kraken in scoring while setting personal highs in goals (27), assists (23), and points (50). The team rewarded him by locking up the 26-year-old for five more years at $5 million a year.
Those numbers bring along with them some high expectations to repeat the season he just turned in.
“Everybody says I’ve got a lot of pressure, but I put the most pressure on myself,” McCann said. “I know, sometimes I gotta ease up a little bit on myself because I know I can do it. I know I can be a good player.”
It’s early in camp, but after two days, McCann played on a line with Yanni Gourde at center and Jordan Eberle on the opposite wing. That line looked good, but it’s too soon to say if it will stay intact through the start of the season. Still, don’t be surprised if the trio gets a run in a preseason game or two.
McCann and Gourde didn’t play together much last season, but did connect toward the end.
“I think 10 games, we had some really good success together,” McCann said. “So [Kraken coach Dave Hakstol] liked what he saw so we’re just gonna try to keep it going.”
The line performed well in Thursday’s scrimmage and Friday during drills.
After shifts they could be seen conversing on the bench, talking about how best to attack on the next go around.
“He is a fast skater, he’s got a tremendous shot and it’s really fun to play with him.” Gourde said. “He does the right plays everywhere on the ice. It’s really nice to play with a guy like that and we’ve got to find some chemistry and a little bit of a routine to help each other out on the ice but so far, it’s been fun.”
Whether he remains on the training camp line or ends up playing with other guys, McCann should slot into the Kraken’s top six this year.
McCann played center for most of last season, although he moved to the wing near the end, including during his stint on Gourde’s line.
He’s back on the wing so far in camp and doesn’t seem to have any center envy.
“I’m comfortable wherever,” McCann said. “I got some open looks playing with Yanni. He’s a great player and creates a lot of space, especially getting pucks back on the forecheck. We work well together.”
There are expectations that McCann will be in the top six, and it’s a unit of forwards that is suddenly a lot deeper and skilled after offseason moves that brought in Andre Burakovsky via free agency and a trade with Columbus that netted Oliver Bjorkstrand.
For the players this summer, watching their team add on was motivating.
“We made some great, great moves this offseason,” McCann said. “And obviously we got Bjorkstrand in a trade that was a steal. We signed Burakovsky and he’s won two Stanley Cups. We’ve got a couple other guys too. We’re very excited to go.”
Kraken get physical
The temperature was turned up at training camp Friday. Not the actual temperature; the rink was still cold all throughout the day. But Hakstol amped up the physical plays. There were numerous drills designed to create puck battles along the wall, and there was hitting.
It’s something the coach wants the team to improve.
“That’s one area of competitiveness of our entire group, and we can raise that level,” Hakstol said. “Part of that happens in training camp. You’re always respectful of your teammates, and you want to make sure that you’re being intelligent and smart about it the first couple days of camp for sure. But, that’s one focal area, to continue to raise the physical competitiveness as a group.”
Shane Wright scored the winning goal during Friday’s Kraken scrimmage. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Shane Wright’s first ‘big’ NHL moment?
It was an early scrimmage that’s ultimately meaningless, but the Kraken rookie came up big in the afternoon’s finale.
Wright’s Team White was clinging to a late 1-0 lead when the Blue squad pulled goalie Philipp Grubauer for the extra skater and tied the game with just over a minute left.
In the waning seconds, Jaden Schwartz stole a Blue outlet attempt and slid the puck to his right onto a speeding Wright’s stick. Wright took a couple of strides and fired a top-shelf wrist shot that eluded Grubauer and gave Team White the win with about 20 seconds left on the clock.
“It’s pretty cool, obviously, even if it’s just a little game like that,” Wright said. “You want to win and to be able to score and help my team win is pretty cool. So yeah, I felt really good.”
Wright is attempting to prove that he’s ready for the NHL at 18 and had a good showing on Friday. Scoring a dramatic, scrimmage-winning goal doesn’t earn him a spot, but it went a long way towards showing he belongs.
“That’s the play that a lot of people will remember about the scrimmage today,” Hakstol said. “I remember a whole lot more. His practice today was competitive. He was physically strong and competitive. He continued to play with good pace.”
Being able to stay with the NHL pace and show a physical strength will ultimately dictate where Wright plays this season.
If he can handle it, he’ll play the full season with the Kraken rather than be sent back to the Ontario Hockey League. In his first game-like atmosphere, he looked the part.
“It really felt like I was moving well, like I was competing, making plays out there,” Wright said. “It was definitely a lot faster than the captain’s skates and more of a game situation for us too. But overall, really a lot of fun and I think I did pretty well.”
SEATTLE — The Kraken’s future was back on the ice Tuesday at the Kraken Community Iceplex for Day 2 of rookie camp. The rookies will get a day off Wednesday before the full team kicks off the club’s second-ever training camp on Thursday.
Seattle’s 2022 second-round pick Jagger Firkus is back in Seattle, and while he knows he most likely won’t make the NHL roster this season, he’s soaking up the atmosphere and everything that NHL camp has to offer.
“I feel more confident, that’s for sure,” he said. “Any time coming down to camp you always go back with more confidence. I think that’s one big thing I took away from development camp and just kind of learned from what the staff and what other people who are trying to teach me and I think I did a good job.”
Firkus is an entertaining player who was nicknamed the “Firkus Circus” for his flashy play and goals scored in junior hockey with the Moose Jaw Warriors of the Western Hockey League.
Though he was in Seattle at the Kraken practice facility this summer, the newness and eliteness of the building is still something that he is getting used to.
“Every time I see it, it catches me off guard,” he said of the facility. “And the staff here. They’re all unbelievable. They just want to help you and support you. It’s really good to be a prospect and know that everyone at the next level is willing to help you and willing to support you to get [there].”
Firkus will eventually be returned to Moose Jaw for what should be a good season for him. He’s coming off a 36-goal, 80-point season which resulted in him being drafted. Not only will he be better, but he’s a year older and with NHL camp experience.
He’ll benefit from playing on a strong Moose Jaw team with good players such as 2023 NHL Draft prospect Braden Yager. On Tuesday Moose Jaw opened as 10th on the CHL initial rankings – the Seattle Thunderbirds were ranked third.
“It’s a very exciting team, a really deep team, a really tight team,” Firkus said of the Warriors. “We have a good coaching staff. We want to win at all costs and I think that’s kind of what we’re going into this season with.”
For now, Firkus will head into the main Kraken camp and test his skills against the veteran NHL players on the roster. He may even get into one of the team’s preseason games next week. Then he’ll head back to junior and look for a deep playoff run.
All the while, he’ll keep improving and keep getting stronger – he says that he’s weighing in at 158 pounds, which is a couple of pounds above where he was at the draft.
“I just want to prove that I got better throughout the months that I wasn’t here,” Firkus said. “ I think I’ve had a good camp so far. So hopefully moving forward, I can keep getting better and better.”
Shane Wright’s quest for the NHL is underway
Seattle’s top draft pick in 2022 is looking to crack the lineup at 18 and play NHL hockey this season. He’ll see a jump in the competition on Thursday when the full team is on the ice for training camp.
Photo/Brian Liesse
He’s been in town a few days and took part in the unofficial captain’s skates with a number of the vets already.
“It felt pretty good,” Wright said. “I think that if I’m competing, if I’m skating, I think that I can play at that level. I can make plays with those guys. Obviously, they’re a lot stronger than me, they’re a lot bigger than me, so I think that’s definitely something that I’ll have to adjust to a lot. I think that if I can get that speed down, I can get that compete down to the level those guys are. I think I’ll be able to compete there.”
Wright said he increased his workout intensity this summer knowing he’d be attending an NHL training camp with a shot at making the roster.
One advantage that Wright has is a Kraken roster with a number of players who made the NHL at a young age and have been through what he’s about to attempt. That includes players like Jared McCann, who played in the NHL at 19, and Adam Larsson, who like Wright was the fourth overall pick and played in the NHL at 18 the following season.
“There are a lot of guys on the team that have numerous years of experience in the NHL and have been there, done that with almost anything that has to do in the NHL,” Wright said. “ Anytime you can brush shoulders and talk to guys like that and pick their brains, it’s pretty cool. For me, having guys like that to talk to is pretty cool.”
Competitive drills Tuesday
If there was a theme for Tuesday’s camp it was to compete.
The team started with a possession drill where four players, two-on-two, would play in a small area on the ice and try to carry the puck over a red line at each end. It was cramped quarters and required skill in passing and skating.
There was a bit of controversy as Wright appeared to get the puck over the line, but a late back checker looked to knock it off his stick. Matty Beniers gestured that it didn’t count but he was overruled by the coaches.
Later in the day, the players split into two teams and formed a semi-circle around the goal. They took turns skating in on goal in an attempt to score. The winning team – in this case the team in the white jerseys – won, meaning the blue team had to do push-ups on the ice.
The Seattle Kraken open their second-ever training camp on Thursday, so Monday at the Kraken Community Iceplex, the day belonged to the future as the team’s first rookie camp got underway.
On the ice were most of Seattle’s prospects including Matty Beniers and Shane Wright. The one notable absence was 2021 third-round draft pick Ryan Winterton who is recovering from an injury he sustained last spring. The Kraken confirmed that Winterton would not be joining training camp this season.
Most of the rookies on the ice will be sent back to their amateur clubs for further development or to the American Hockey League’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The on-ice session was led by Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma to gain some familiarity with his future charges.
Ryker Evans hopeful for NHL shot
One rookie who has an outside shot of opening on the Kraken roster is defenseman Ryker Evans. Selected in the second round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Evans is coming off a superb season with the Western Hockey League’s Regina Pats. In 63 games with Regina, the almost-21-year-old scored 14 goals, 47 assists and 61 points.
“Had a bigger role with the team,” Evans said of his final year in junior hockey. “It was a lot more fun. I got more reps, and it allowed me to work on my game, allowed that to develop. Going into my last year was mostly just me playing for that contract and allowing me to show my skills and all that kind of stuff. It was a big weight lifted off my shoulders last season.”
Photo courtesy Regina Pats/Keith Hershmiller Photography
At the end of last year, he was sent to Charlotte as the Checkers prepared for the Calder Cup playoffs. He did not appear in any games but got to practice and get a taste of what the pro hockey lifestyle was about.
This summer, the focus turned to preparing for a strong show at Kraken camp.
“My goal is always to come in here and prove myself as to why I belong on the team and how I can help,” Evans said. “So, now it’s just time to show it and that was my preparation throughout the summer.”
Evans says he worked on his shot – he emphasized that he always works on his shot – as well as strength and patience with the puck to allow him to create space. Among the throng of rookies Monday, he was noticeable, although the day was mostly saved for drills and no real scrimmages.
It’s the second training camp for Evans who was also at the summer’s development camp. The familiarity has been helpful.
“It’s a lot easier this year,” Evans said. “I know a lot of the staff and the people here so it’s a lot more comforting to come in here and I kind of know the routine.”
What is a first for Evans is how long the summer lasted. The WHL is already in its preseason games, and in the past he would have already begun training camp.
Evans said this summer was the first time in six years he stayed at home this late. His father runs a skills camp in Calgary which allowed him to get on the ice.
One treat this summer for Evans was being able to see the Stanley Cup. His family has long been friendly with Cale Makar’s family, and they all celebrated Makar’s day at home with the Cup he won with the Colorado Avalanche. The big question was whether Evans touched it.
“No, I can’t do that,” he said, following the tradition of not touching hockey’s biggest prize until you win it.
Whether he cracks the Seattle roster or starts in the AHL, this will be a big transitional year for Evans. No longer will he live with a billet family in junior hockey where his meals are prepared for him. This year he will be a professional hockey player on his own.
“It’s exciting,” he said. “You kind of gotta grow up pretty quick. But no, it’ll be fun. I know how to cook breakfast and like chicken and rice, but that’s about it.”
Ryker, along with his chicken and rice, will be a player to watch as the preseason progresses. He’ll get plenty of time to show his skills and prove he’s ready. Will he do it?
Matty Beniers and Shane Wright compete
Both of Seattle’s top young centers were on the ice Monday and found themselves head to head on more than a few occasions, especially during one-on-one drills. Wright showed off some defensive prowess by knocking the puck loose from Beniers on consecutive chances.
“It’s fun to have him out here,” Beniers said. “Because after practice he’s always wanting to work on stuff, and we bounce off each other with ideas and he just likes to have fun. He likes to work hard and think I’m kind of the same way, so it works.”
Beniers looked ready on Monday, skating with poise and putting his skill on display. He says that he’s added 10-12 pounds of muscle this season to better prepare him for what will be a tough first full pro season.
“I think it’ll be a lot tougher this year,” he said. “And you gotta be ready for it. Hopefully, it’s not as bad, not as tough as it sounds.”
Mystery goalie and the circus is back in town
Kraken second-round pick Jagger Firkus is back in camp after a strong showing in the summer development camp. The sparkplug is always worth keeping an eye on, and it’s expected that he will get playing time in the preseason games that are coming up.
He’s off to a good start scoring goals, having been in training camp with the WHL Moose Jaw Warriors. Firkus has already played in two preseason games with Moose Jaw, recording three goals and five points in two games.
In goal Monday was a goalie wearing No. 1 with no name plate. There is no such goalie on the roster, and there was speculation as to who he was. Even members of the Kraken communication team were not sure who the mystery goalie was. The prevailing rumor going around was that the Kraken didn’t have enough rookie goalies available for camp so they grabbed a guy who plays recreational hockey locally.
We made it through the long and dull summer in Seattle, a period otherwise known as the NHL offseason. The kick-off of rookie camp is a special time for us hockey sickos, and we are here for it. On Sunday, the Seattle Kraken announced their training camp rosters with Monday and Tuesday dedicated to the rookies on the squad and the main camp starting Thursday. We are seven days away from the first preseason game against Edmonton at Climate Pledge Arena, so we thought now would be a good time to look at some storylines to monitor for Training Camp. Here’s what to keep an eye on in week one.
Centers
With the selection of centerman Shane Wright in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, the Kraken have a positional challenge to consider. Add Wright to the quiver of Matty Beniers, Alex Wennberg, Yanni Gourde, and Morgan Geekie, and now the club has five centers for only four spots. One of them will center the fourth line and another will need to move to wing. Lines can and will change a lot during the season, but it will be interesting to see who is getting the reps at center in the first few days of camp.
Who advances from rookie camp?
It is safe to say that Matty Beniers and Shane Wright are locks to move on from rookie camp to the main camp, but the bigger question is who else will stick around for a bit longer? Safe money is on Ryker Evans, the Kraken’s second-round pick from the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, who had an excellent season with Regina in the WHL. After Evans, it is a bit of a toss-up. Undrafted forward Ty Kartye signed an entry-level deal with the Kraken in March and could be one of the players to move on to the big camp at the end of the week. Another candidate could be 2021 fifth-round draft pick Jacob Melanson. He tends to fly under radar but put up 35 goals in 54 games in the QMJHL last season. Advancing from rookie camp to the main training camp does not mean the player is destined for the big club any time soon, but it might signal the potential these prospects have for reaching the NHL.
Eyes on Wright
Seattle’s coveted first-round pick from the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Shane Wright will undoubtedly get a lot of attention. We think he will be given every opportunity to make this team, but it is far from guaranteed. Wright will need to prove he belongs in order to stay with the team all season. The coaching staff expects all the players to buy into their two-way game, and there is no doubt that Wright plays that style. But can he play that style in the NHL at 18 years old? Interesting to note, Cole Sillinger of Columbus was the only player taken in the 2021 draft to play the full 2021-22 season in the NHL.
The Killer B’s
If you are lucky enough to attend training camp in person, you will get to see reps and reps of the same drill. This enables you to focus in on individual players and compare them to each other doing the same drill. Keying in on Beniers for individual drills will be something special to watch, as his creativity and skill should be on full display. This will also be the first time we get to see offseason acquisitions Oliver Bjorkstrand and Andre Burakovsky up close and personal in Kraken jerseys. Bjorkstrand and Burakovsky have amazing shooting capabilities, and seeing them fire pucks in volume at practice should be a treat. A Bjorkstrand, Burakovsky, and Beniers line does sound cool, but it is premature to think it will happen or stick for the long term.
Tanev and Schwartz
Brandon Tanev and Jaden Schwartz were having productive seasons in 2021-22 before being sidelined by injuries. In Tanev’s case, he had season-ending knee surgery after a freak play against the Edmonton Oilers in mid-December. Schwartz’s diagnosis was never disclosed, but he was in and out of the lineup throughout the second half of the season. In both cases, the fanbase should be hopeful they return to pre-injury form. Both have been skating at Kraken Community Iceplex, and early reports are that they look good. Training camp should be a little more telling of where both those players stand in the recovery process.
Those are just a few of the storylines to watch throughout training camp this week. Keep any eye on SoundOfHockey.com and our twitter account all week for various reports from training camp as we ramp up to the start of the season.
The Kraken have elevated Alexandra Mandrycky into an assistant general manager role with the club. The promotion comes after Mandrycky served as the team’s director of hockey strategy and research during the buildup to the 2021 Expansion Draft and Seattle’s inaugural 2021-22 season. Mandrycky joins Ricky Olczyk and Jason Botterill as a third AGM in the Kraken front office, and the trio will work together to support general manager Ron Francis.
Mandrycky built the team’s analytical infrastructure and research and development department from scratch. Last season, she hired and oversaw a team of four employees, but her role will now expand significantly.
“I’ll continue overseeing the research and development team; we have a group of four now, and we’ll be adding a few more over the course of this season,” Mandrycky said. “Last year I worked really closely with the amateur scouts on the amateur draft, and part of this new role is our director of amateur scouting, Robert Kron, will report into me. So I’ll continue working with all of [the amateur scouting department] very closely.”
What is interesting about Mandrycky taking such a large stake in the amateur side of the organization is that advanced stats are often hard to come by for evaluating players in the amateur ranks. Mandrycky credits senior quantitative analyst Namita Nandakumar for developing the metrics necessary to help Francis, Kron, and the rest of the staff get the whole picture on prospective Kraken players.
She also says the organization has done an exemplary job of balancing the information her department gives with the more traditional reports that the amateur and pro scouts provide. “I think a question that gets asked a lot is, ‘Is this [player] an analytics guy?’” Mandrycky said. “I don’t know what that means… We’re using analytics to have conversations about players, but I wouldn’t want [Francis] to go out and sign a player that analytics liked, but the scouts hated.”
Paving the way
The promotion is a notable move, as Mandrycky continues to prove herself as one of the fastest-rising executives in the evolving NHL landscape. She broke new ground in 2019 when the team, then called simply “NHL Seattle,” hired her to build its analytics program. The hiring made Mandrycky one of the highest-ranking females in the league at the time. She has since solidified herself as a central figure in Seattle’s front office.
“Alex has earned this promotion through her hard work and dedication to making the Kraken a better organization,” Francis said via press release. “Her knowledge and effort are assets that will continue to serve her well in this role.”
Mandrycky previously spent three years working for the Minnesota Wild as a hockey operations analyst. Before that, she made a name for herself in the analytics community by co-founding what was then a popular site for tracking player data, War On Ice.
Mandrycky is not the first female to hold the assistant general manager title in the NHL, but she joins a very select group of impressive women who are helping to change the sport. Angela Gorgone held the title for the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim back in 1996-97, but no woman held the title between then and when former player agent Emilie Castonguay was hired into the position by the Vancouver Canucks in Jan., 2022.
After Castonguay was hired, Hayley Wickenheiser joined Toronto, Meghan Hunter went to Chicago, and Kate Madigan went to New Jersey, all with AGM titles. Vancouver also hired former pro scout Cammi Granato away from the Kraken to serve alongside Castonguay.
Still, the cultural importance of Mandrycky’s rapid advancement through the hockey world is not lost on her. “Visibility is so key,” she says. “In some ways, it’s nice to not be the first. Other people have paved the way, even though the path is short over the last year or two.”
Camp is just around the corner
The Kraken will start training camp for their second season on Thursday, Sept. 22, at Kraken Community Iceplex. Seattle’s rookies, a group Mandrycky was instrumental in assembling, take the ice a few days earlier on Monday, Sept. 19. Practices are open to the public.
