“Down on the Farm” is your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. This week we’ll set the table for the Seattle Kraken prospects playing NCAA hockey this season, update on injuries and standout performances, and pass along other notes from around the Kraken system.
As always, if you have a Kraken prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey. Let’s dive in.
Several Kraken prospects assume key roles for their NCAA teams
Though they play here in North America, Kraken prospects playing NCAA hockey often fly under the radar. Several factors contribute to this. Most notably, fans and media based in the Pacific Northwest simply don’t see these players play as much. College players aren’t available to participate in Kraken rookie camp (or training camp) due to their college commitments. And once college games begin, it is often difficult or impractical to watch them because the various NCAA conferences have their own broadcast agreements or streaming packages.
At the same time, the college path from the draft to the NHL (or AHL) is a much slower one. Players often stay at school for three or four years before team and player are forced to make a call on the player’s professional future. This is a longer time horizon than applies to CHL prospects, for example, and it tends to push these players down the list of priorities.
That said, thanks in part to an NCAA rule change rendering CHL players eligible for college hockey, the Kraken have more prospects than ever playing in the NCAA ranks. Let’s check in on these players and where things stand for them.
Clarke Caswell | F | Freshman | Univ. of Denver (NCAA)
Forward Clarke Caswell, 19, played the last three seasons for the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL. After the Kraken selected Caswell in the fifth round of the 2024 draft, he was a leader for Swift Current on the ice (1.29 points per game) and off (as the team’s captain).
Still too young to play professionally in the AHL and with little left to prove in junior hockey, the NCAA option appealed to the young center. “When Denver showed their interest, it helped me make the decision,” Caswell told Bob Condor of SeattleKraken.com.
It would have been reasonable to expect a decreased role or move to the wing for Caswell following this college hockey move, but he earned a key position immediately. Caswell has skated as a top-of-the-lineup center and top power-play forward. Every game he ranks among the top Denver forwards in ice time. And the production has followed: With six points in six games, Caswell trails only Hagen Burrows (Lightning draft pick) and Eric Pohlkamp (Sharks draft pick) for the Pioneers.
Ollie Josephson | F | Freshman | Univ. of North Dakota (NCAA)
Similar to Caswell, forward Ollie Josephson was the captain of his WHL team last season and a key all-situations contributor. Josephson, 19, was not the prolific scorer Caswell was, though. He profiles as more of a defend-and-counterattack playmaker. He’s slightly smaller in stature and without the junior scoring resume, but the realistic best-case scenario for Josephson is as a Ryan Winterton-type professional.
With this in mind, it was not a foregone conclusion Josephson would have the opportunity to climb the developmental ladder this year. When North Dakota asked him to take a visit in Grand Forks, “I was fully going to go back to Red Deer,” Josephson told Condor, referring to his WHL club. The opportunity with North Dakota—another top NCAA team—was too much to pass up though.
Looking at North Dakota’s impressive depth chart over the summer, I was hoping Josephson would simply earn a regular, bottom-six role. Josephson has done so much more than that in the early going. He has skated as a top-nine center with a role on both special teams units. This is an immense opportunity for Josephson to prove that his low-event, defensive style can translate against stronger competition.
Ben MacDonald | F | Junior | Harvard Univ. (NCAA)
Perennially, MacDonald’s Harvard Crimson are the last team to take the ice for the season, and this year is no different. With Harvard’s season beginning Friday, the entire Kraken organization is finally underway. MacDonald, 21, has skated mostly on the wing for Harvard in his first two seasons. He has also operated from the half wall on Crimson power-play units, which has helped him improve his per-game scoring statistics year over year. Now a junior and coming off a solid Kraken Development Camp, MacDonald will look to take the production to the next level.
Barrett Hall | F | Junior | St. Cloud State (NCAA)
Now in his third year at St. Cloud State, Hall has elevated his status as a leader (alternate captain) and scorer (more than a point per game) for the Huskies. Hall’s nine points are second on the team behind only Anaheim Ducks draft pick Austin Burnevik. His plus-three plus-minus leads the team.
Zaccharya Wisdom | F | Junior | Western Michigan Univ. (NCAA)
Wisdom, 21, played his first two college hockey seasons as a bottom-six winger for Colorado College. Over the summer, Wisdom transferred to Western Michigan University, a national championship contender. At the time I viewed it as an opportunity for a modest upgrade in competition level and a chance to improve his production when surrounded by better talent. His production in the early going has borne that out. His .67 points per game through six games would be an NCAA career high.
Wisdom and Western Michigan square off against Hall and St. Cloud State twice this weekend.
Notes on three more Kraken prospects
Lleyton Roed | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
Roed was injured during the second prospect scrimmage against the Vancouver Canucks at Kraken Rookie Camp. Subsequently, it was reported to be an upper-body injury that would require a two-month absence. Even so, Roed returned to the Firebirds lineup on Thursday night approximately two weeks ahead of schedule. Roed tallied an assist in the Firebirds win.
Tyson Jugnauth | D | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
Speaking of the Firebirds win, defenseman Tyson Jugnauth was credited with the overtime winner on a shot that was initially saved but took a “fortuitous” bounce of a San Diego Gulls defender. Jugnauth will certainly take it; it’s the young blueliner’s first professional goal.
Jagger Firkus | F | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
As we have detailed over the last couple of weeks, a lot of responsibility has fallen on a group of young Firebirds players to grow into the scoring production void left by Max McCormick, Jani Nyman, and others. With Eduard Sale sidelined week-to-week, the pressure was probably felt most keenly by second-year forward Jagger Firkus.
Well, Firkus responded with two goals and two assists in three contests this week. If the Firebirds are going to hang around the playoff picture this season, I suspect Firkus’ emergence as a consistent top scoring threat will be a big reason why.
Kraken prospects data update
Nathan Villeneuve is really hitting his stride in the OHL right now. The Sudbury captain had nine points (two goals, seven assists) in three games over the last week. That effort is enough to earn him Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week.
Jake O’Brien now leads the OHL in total points and points per game.
Semyon Vyazovoi, 22, is scalding hot right now. After a slow start, he now leads the KHL in save percentage among all under-25 goalies with at least nine games played.
Nikke Kokko left the Firebirds game last Friday, Oct. 24, with an upper-body injury. The Firebirds have since deemed Kokko day-to-day. Victor Ostman has started each Firebirds game since, with Jack LaFontaine active as the backup.
As mentioned above, MacDonald’s Harvard Crimson finally join the fray Friday against the University of Connecticut Huskies. The Deep Sea Hockey Games of the Week pit Kraken prospects Hall and Wisdom against each other on both Friday and Saturday.
Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: J.P. Hurlbert
Hurlbert was widely regarded as a top-45 prospect coming into the year after a solid season for the United States National Team Development Program. Now with the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL, he has taken his scoring production to a new level. His 28 points in 15 games lead the entire WHL by a wide margin. If he keeps up any semblance of this scoring pace, he won’t make it out of the first half or Round 1 in June.
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.
If you missed Tuesday’s game between the Seattle Kraken and Montreal Canadiens and plan to go back and watch, I might recommend skipping ahead a bit. In fact, you can probably fast-forward all the way to about 13 minutes remaining in the third period, when Montreal defenseman Jayden Struble took an ill-advised penalty inside Seattle’s blue line, hooking Berkly Catton on the hands.
That’s when the tide finally started to turn for the Kraken, who looked flat through the first two periods. They’d shown more jam to start the third but had then just allowed their second power-play goal against at 5:55 of the final frame.
But on that Struble penalty, Seattle coach Lane Lambert opted to send out the second power-play unit instead of the first—which had struggled mightily in the contest—and Catton connected with Brandon Montour to finally get the Kraken on the board.
From there, it was the Brandon Montour Show, as he put the team on his back and willed Seattle to an astonishing point in the standings.
The Kraken ultimately came up short, but that was one heckuva comeback. Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken overtime loss to the Canadiens.
Takeaway #1: Brandon Montour… that’s it… that’s the Takeaway
Like most of the Kraken, Montour wasn’t having his best outing through two periods. One sequence that stood out came late in the first, when he threw an errant pass toward Adam Larsson, then got caught flat-footed in no-man’s land and was walked by Kirby Dach. Joey Daccord sprawled and flared his left pad out, robbing Dach and keeping the score 2-0 through the first period.
Woof. Sloppy puck play leads to a power move by Kirby Dach. Joey Daccord stretches out and robs him with the left toe. pic.twitter.com/A0jqc5bEOY
But just when Seattle appeared ready to fade quietly into the night, sinking into a 3-0 deficit with 14 minutes left, Montour lifted up his teammates with two goals and an assist in under 10 minutes.
Both his goals were simple one-timers through traffic, using Montreal defenders as screens. On the first, he fired low on the ice and got a fortunate redirection off Alexandre Carrier’s stick that ramped the puck into the top corner over Jakub Dobes.
BRANDON BOMBTOUR! 💣
The power play comes through! Catton with a simple pass, and Montour one-times it and gets a good bounce off Alexandre Carrier. Schwartz with the screen. #SeaKraken on the board, but still a big hill to climb.
“Just getting the shot,” Montour said. “I don’t even know— at that time [of the power-play goal], we might have had 12 shots on net, 11 shots on net. We didn’t give that goalie much work tonight, but [we had Jaden Schwartz], guys in front of the net, I just tried to get it there and kind of find a lane. Nice to see them go through.”
Montour’s next trick was helping Eeli Tolvanen turn a broken play into a perfect setup for Shane Wright. Both Montour and Tolvanen drove hard to the net, lost the puck, then kept the play alive with a retrieval and pass behind the net back to Montour. He quickly found Wright in the slot, who ripped it through traffic and beat Dobes clean.
Then, with the game on the line, Montour did it again—completing Seattle’s three-goal comeback with his second of the night. With Daccord off for an extra skater, Montour blasted another one-timer from distance that found its way in.
“We found ways to get a few more pucks to the net [in the third period] and get them in,” Lambert said. “Obviously, we did a really good job 6-on-5, and our power play scored a big goal for us to get us going. And again, it’s just another shot. There were power plays at the start of the game where we just passed it around. We’ve got to get pucks to the net.”
Remember, Montour is playing with a heavy heart; he’s just one game removed from a leave of absence after the passing of his brother, Cameron, on Monday following a battle with ALS.
“It’s pretty amazing to see [what he’s doing],” Wright said of Montour. “What he’s been through the last couple of weeks here, to even just be here, let alone playing as well as he is, and perform at that level. He always performs that way, day in, day out. It’s really special.”
Takeaway #2: Some interesting line shuffling
As Seattle struggled to generate any semblance of offense through the first two periods, the only trio that consistently created pressure was the fourth line of Tye Kartye, Ben Meyers, and Ryan Winterton.
Late in the second, with the Kraken desperate for a spark, Winterton, who looked fast and pesky all night, was suddenly elevated to the second line with Jaden Schwartz and Chandler Stephenson.
When Seattle came out for the third, Lambert had also moved Jani Nyman down to the fourth line, while the new third line featured Mason Marchment, Wright, and Tolvanen.
The juggling worked. And while Nyman’s move to the fourth line could be seen as a demotion, he made an almost immediate impact, going right after Dach following a dangerous hit on Meyers.
Yikes. Bad hit by Dach on Ben Meyers, and the whole #SeaKraken team goes after him.
Wright’s goal that got Seattle within 3-2 came during the ensuing 4-on-4.
“I think it was fantastic [by Jani],” Lambert said. “We have to be team tough, and when one of our teammates gets hit, which we considered it to be a dirty hit, we have to stand up for him. And I thought it was a good momentum turner.”
Takeaway #3: Cole Caufield finishes the job
Just like when the Kraken and Canadiens went to overtime in Montreal on Oct. 14, Cole Caufield scored his second of the game to end it. The circumstances were different this time—Seattle rallied instead of Montreal—but the result was the same.
COLE CAUFIELD ÉTABLIT UN NOUVEAU RECORD DE FRANCHISE POUR LE NOMBRE DE BUTS EN PROLONGATION
“Honestly, we had the puck, we lost the puck, they made a stretch pass, and we got it back,” Caufield said. “Hockey happens fast, and I saw a hole there, and luckily it went in. I [made it look] like I was going behind the net, and I just stopped up. I’ve never played goalie before, but that can’t be too easy to grab the post there. So, I just made a read.”
Caufield remains an elite scorer, surrounded by other top-tier talent that makes Montreal a skilled and increasingly dangerous team for the foreseeable future.
“I thought [Caufield] was excellent on both sides of the puck,” Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis said. “I thought he was crisp, and he defended hard. He had his fastball tonight.”
Seattle’s season series with Montreal is now complete, with the Kraken finishing 0-0-2 against the Habs. Perhaps these two teams will meet again in the Stanley Cup Final, though?
Okay, I’ll show myself out.
It would have been nice for the Kraken to cap off the comeback with a win, but earning a point on a night when they trailed 3-0 with 14 minutes to go is no small feat.
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.
After the Kraken defeated the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in overtime at home on Oct. 11, Golden Knights coach Bruce Cassidy said something about Seattle that piqued my interest:
“They had a game plan, and they weren’t going to lose D up the ice. Even though I think they did a pretty good job of getting involved in the offense, it didn’t allow us a lot of odd-man rushes to get through the neutral zone clean. So I think it took us a while to figure that part out.”
The high-flying, downright lethal offensive talent of the Vegas Golden Knights couldn’t generate odd-man rushes against Seattle? How is that possible? What has head coach Lane Lambert changed so successfully?
“I wouldn’t say there’s necessarily a ton of things different,” Matty Beniers said. “I think Lane is just big on details and making sure everyone knows where they need to be at all times, and we’re gonna be there. That just builds trust over time.”
Since that Vegas game, I’ve been watching closely for odd-man rushes against—and anecdotally, there just haven’t been many.
To make sure my eyes weren’t deceiving me, I checked in with best friend of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Alison Lukan, who confirmed that the Kraken are, in fact, No. 1 in the NHL at limiting odd-man rushes against.
How about that?
Good tracking, staying above their defensemen
A few goals against have come off the rush—one that jumps to mind is the Alex Newhook goal in Seattle’s 5-4 overtime loss in Montreal—but even in those cases, the Kraken have generally had numbers back.
On that Newhook goal, for instance, Seattle had three players in defensive posture, with Mason Marchment back and helping Adam Larsson and Vince Dunn. The Kraken defenders were technically outnumbered, since Habs defenseman Alexandre Carrier jumped up to support Ivan Demidov, Newhook, and Oliver Kapanen, but Demidov still had to make an elite cut to get around Dunn and thread a perfect seam pass to Newhook.
Alex Newhook scores off a rush and a great pass by Ivan Demidov, and the #SeaKraken are chasing for the first time this season.
“I think [we’re doing] pretty good [in limiting odd-man rushes],” Lambert said Monday. “I think that we’ve talked about it as a group here. I think there’s some things that we can do better when we come into the zone with some of our reads, so that will again enhance our ability to not give up any chances or things like that off the rush, so it’s a work in progress.”
I also spoke with Beniers on Monday about Seattle’s improved defensive structure and mentioned the Demidov–Newhook connection as one of only a handful of times I could recall an opponent scoring off a rush.
“The Demidov play was brought up today,” Beniers said with a smile. Funny timing.
It makes sense that this play would be discussed with the Canadiens visiting Climate Pledge Arena on Tuesday. But it also shows just how intent Lambert and his staff are on not allowing the same mistakes to happen twice.
Beniers said Lambert has emphasized “tracking”—another term for backchecking—and how players should react when they find themselves behind the play and chasing to rejoin Seattle’s defensive unit.
“That’s definitely a focus for us,” Beniers said. “On every play that could potentially happen, Lane’s trying to make sure that we have a plan for each time. If it’s a speed kick, if it’s a standing still guy on the wall, if there’s guys coming back, and you’re the fourth guy, or you’re the third guy, or you’re the fifth guy, he paints it pretty clear, so we know what we’re doing.”
Another factor Beniers pointed to in explaining Seattle’s success at limiting dangerous chances is “having a good F3.”
For context, F1, F2, and F3 refer to forechecking responsibilities, with F1 and F2 being the first two forwards into the offensive zone, usually pressuring the opponent’s puck carrier or working down low. The third forward (F3) stays high, available for a shot and ready to support the defense when the puck transitions the other way. When that happens, Beniers says the F3 must stay above any defensemen joining the rush.
“It’s getting back and staying above their D, especially against teams like Vegas with [Jack] Eichel that have active D or last game with Edmonton,” Beniers said. “They obviously have [Connor] McDavid flying around, and their D are pretty active too. It’s definitely a focus going into the game, just making sure we’re staying above them. And if you stay above a guy, you don’t give them a lot of time and space to create those rush chances.”
“It’s believing that we’re a good hockey team”
We’ve heard several players in the last week utter some variation of the phrase, “We believe we’re a good hockey team.” In discussing Seattle’s early-season defensive success with netminder Joey Daccord, he echoed that sentiment.
“I think it’s mindset,” Daccord said of what’s different about this version of the Kraken. “We’ve added some pieces, but we’re obviously down a lot of bodies right now and still finding ways to win. I think it’s a mindset from our group. I think it’s self-belief, I think it’s believing that we’re a good hockey team.”
Daccord added that having a strong game plan to keep opponents to the outside and limit rush chances is critical, but sustained success depends on total buy-in.
“I just think there’s a commitment to defensive structure and everyone being in the right spots,” Daccord said. “You look at the block that [Vince Dunn] made with a second left in the game [against Edmonton], those are game-winning plays. And that’s the mentality we have to have for 82 games.”
Injury updates
Seattle’s ongoing injury woes make its 5-2-2 start even more impressive. Even with Brandon Montour back from his leave of absence, the Kraken remain without four regulars—Kaapo Kakko, Ryker Evans, Freddy Gaudreau, and Jared McCann—all on injured reserve.
There’s some good news and some bad news on that front.
First, the good: Kaapo Kakko appears ahead of schedule in his recovery and could return sooner than the original six-week timeline suggested. The team gave that estimate on Sept. 28, which would have put the Finnish winger’s return around Nov. 9. But Kakko was a full participant in Monday’s practice, even joining line rushes and taking light contact.
He’s unlikely to play Tuesday against Montreal, but Saturday’s game against the New York Rangers looks like a realistic target.
On the other hand, McCann has now missed four games and doesn’t appear close to returning. I asked Lambert if McCann is progressing or still in a holding pattern.
“He’s in a little bit of a holding pattern,” Lambert said. “So, we’ll see where we go with him. We should know more here, day to day, as we go forward.”
The Kraken haven’t changed McCann’s official status, but based on Lambert’s comments and McCann’s continued absence from practice, I wouldn’t expect to see him in a game any time soon. Hopefully, whatever the Kraken do learn about their best goal scorer in the coming days doesn’t bring worse news than that.
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.
The Kraken are officially off to the best start in franchise history, and this week, they won games in style, knocking off last season’s Presidents’ Trophy winner, the Winnipeg Jets, and the two-time Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers. I try not to get too excited about early-season success, but honestly, they’re making it really hard to contain emotions.
Stingy hockey
One of the areas we flagged as a potential opportunity for improvement heading into the season was team defense. Head coach Lane Lambert came in with a reputation for being defensively sound, and so far, he’s delivered on that front.
The Kraken are allowing just 2.67 goals per game, the 10th fewest in the league, down more than half a goal from last season’s average. That’s a meaningful step forward and a big part of why they’ve been so competitive night after night.
The one area starting to show some cracks, though, is the penalty kill. Seattle’s penalty kill currently sits at 70 percent, which ranks 26th in the NHL. It didn’t start out this way; through the first four games, they were killing off 75 percent of their penalties, but things took a dip after Freddy Gaudreau was injured late in the second period of Game 4 against Ottawa.
Since that injury, the Kraken have killed just 67 percent of their penalties. That tracks, given that Gaudreau was on the ice for nearly 45 percent of Seattle’s total penalty-kill time before he went down. There’s no reason to hit the panic button yet, but it’s clear the Kraken miss Gaudreau’s steadiness and structure when they’re down a man.
If there are few areas of improvement the Kraken will be looking to tighten up heading into November, the penalty kill is probably one of them. Having said all that, Lambert did comment recently that he likes the way the penalty kill is performing, even though the stats aren’t reflecting particularly strong execution.
Tight hockey
Lambert has also talked about patience and getting comfortable in tight games. So far, the Kraken are walking the walk in this regard. In the seven games where they’ve picked up at least a point, 93.4 percent of the game time has been played either tied or within a one-goal margin.
I’m not saying a one-goal lead suddenly feels safe, but it definitely feels safer than it used to. In each of the last two games, Seattle entered the third period up by one. Across those two games, the opponents nearly doubled the Kraken’s shot attempts in the third, but Seattle held firm, keeping their defensive structure intact and limiting dangerous chances to close things out. Here’s a look at the third-period shot attempts against from those two games:
The Kraken are also blocking more shots than ever. Through nine games, they’re averaging 18.4 blocked shots per game, up from 16.2 last season. It’s not just players throwing their bodies in front of pucks for fun—it’s a byproduct of how the team is defending. They’re protecting the middle of the ice, forcing opponents into lower-danger areas, and as a result, they’re getting in front of more shots.
And, of course, teams tend to block more when they’re ahead—especially late in games when they’re collapsing to protect the lead. Vince Dunn gave us a perfect example Saturday night, blocking two shots in the final 15 seconds to seal the win. That’s commitment.
Rolling through October
Heading into the season, there was plenty of concern (mostly from the Sound Of Hockey crew) that October could be rough for the Kraken. They faced a six-game road trip, eight of 11 matchups against 2025 playoff teams, and an entirely new coaching staff installing fresh systems. That’s a lot to handle right out of the gate.
Then you add a boatload of injuries on top of all that? Yeah, it had the makings of a rocky start.
Instead, the Kraken have turned it into one of the most impressive opening months in franchise history. No matter what happens Tuesday, October has already been a massive statement, and it’s been a lot of fun to watch.
Other Musings
The dying minutes of the Kraken–Oilers game featured some hysterically long shifts. For the Kraken: Jordan Eberle (1:44), Chandler Stephenson (1:40), Jaden Schwartz (1:45), Dunn (1:43), and Brandon Montour (2:22). For Edmonton: Evan Bouchard (2:21), Leon Draisaitl (2:28), Jake Walman (2:15), and Connor McDavid (2:30). That’s a lot of tired legs.
It was confounding to see neither team use a timeout in those closing moments. Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch probably didn’t want to give the Kraken a breather, while Lane Lambert likely didn’t want to give Edmonton a chance to draw up a play.
Saturday night was the first time this season that McDavid was held without a single shot attempt. The last time that happened was Dec. 28, 2024.
Saturday also marked the seventh time this season the Kraken scored the first goal of a game, the most in the NHL so far.
The Kraken are now 4-1-2 against last year’s playoff teams… Not too shabby.
In case you missed it, Kaapo Kakko is back skating and is currently day-to-day. It looks like he’s getting closer to returning, but with a three-day break between Tuesday’s game against Montreal and Saturday’s matchup with the Rangers, my money is on that Rangers game being his season debut.
Schwartz continues to be one of the more underrated players on the roster. He factored into all three goals against Winnipeg on Thursday, but his real value goes beyond the scoresheet. He is excellent along the walls, helping the Kraken gain and keep possession in key moments.
It’s way too early to be scoreboard watching, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t quietly rooting for every other Pacific Division team to lose every night.
Last week I said we’d get a better sense of how Lambert plans to handle the three-goalie rotation with Joey Daccord as the starter and Philipp Grubauer and Matt Murray as the backups. I was wrong. We still have no idea how this is going to shake out. Both backups have played fine—just fine—but neither has really grabbed the spotlight yet.
The Coachella Valley Firebirds picked up their first win of the season last Wednesday and now sit at 2-3-1. It could be a bit of a transition year for the Kraken’s AHL affiliate, but this roster is loaded with real prospects. My eyes lit up when I saw their top power-play unit: Logan Morrison, Carson Rehkopf, Jagger Firkus, Tyson Jugnauth, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard. Other than Morrison, every one of those players is 21 or younger.
And finally, a reminder that the PWHL season kicks off in November! PWHL Seattle opens on the road against PWHL Vancouver on Friday, Nov. 21, with their first home game a week later on Nov. 28. Tickets are limited, so if you want to witness history, now’s the time to grab them.
Goal of the week
This was such a huge goal for the Kraken, and I just love the setup from Ryan Winterton who is probably one of the unsung contributors to the early Kraken success.
The fourth line has been a big part of the last two games – they get rewarded. Two big blocks by Kartye, a battle won by Meyers and then an odd man rush Winterton->Kartye-> 🥅 pic.twitter.com/YUZjswxKb2
Jordan Eberle (SEA) – Three goals in the last two games, including a clutch third-period tally that stood as the game-winner against Edmonton on Saturday night.
Nathan Villeneuve (SBY/SEA) – The Kraken prospect put up seven points over two games this past weekend. After missing the first six games of Sudbury’s season due to an injury sustained in Kraken training camp, he’s racked up 13 points in just seven games so far.
Semyon Vyazovoi (SYA/SEA) – The first goalie ever drafted by the Kraken (back in 2021) had three wins and a .936 save percentage over the last week in the KHL. He’s expected to come to North America next season.
The week ahead
After a busy start to the season, the Kraken have a lighter schedule this week with just two home games: Tuesday against the Montreal Canadiens and Saturday against the New York Rangers.
Seattle will look to avenge that overtime loss to Montreal from a few weeks back when the Kraken had the win in their grasp before the Canadiens tied it with under three minutes left in regulation. Montreal currently sits atop the Atlantic Division with a 7-3-0 record and has quickly earned the title of “most fun team to watch” in the early going.
On Saturday, the Kraken host the last-place Rangers—yes, Mike Sullivan’s new team is last place in the Metropolitan Division. New York has struggled to score and is still searching for its first win at Madison Square Garden, though oddly enough, they’re 3-1-1 on the road.
It’ll also be Will Borgen’s first game back at Climate Pledge Arena since the trade that brought Kaapo Kakko to Seattle last season. I always liked Borgen, who really hit his stride during the 2022–23 campaign. My favorite on-ice memory of his will always be that Winter Classic goal… but his “baking skills” might have left the bigger impression.
And finally…
To be clear, I still don’t know exactly what kind of team this is, and that’s okay. What I do know is that they’ve built a solid defensive identity, they’re winning close games, and they’re doing it while short-handed and still learning a new system. If that’s the foundation, the ceiling could be pretty high.
On an emotional day and night in which Brandon Montour returned from a four-game hiatus that was due to the tragic passing of his older brother, Cameron, the Seattle Kraken pulled out an impressive 3-2 win over the always-dangerous Edmonton Oilers.
“He’s a brother. I mean, anytime someone goes through something like that, it’s extremely hard,” Jordan Eberle said, his voice cracking slightly. “Just for him to be out here tonight and battling with us, it just shows his compassion and the level that he has… You just try to be there as much as you can for him.”
Meanwhile, the first game back after a long road trip is traditionally viewed as a difficult one for the home team, but Seattle was ready for the challenge. Although Edmonton pushed hard and spent long stretches in the offensive zone during the third period, the Kraken bent but didn’t break, sticking to their structure and snagging a few opportunistic goals.
In the end, Joey Daccord delivered an outstanding performance, Eberle scored two crucial goals, and the fourth line chipped in with some magic.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 3-2 Kraken win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Takeaway #1: An emotional day
Montour took the ice with the Kraken at Saturday’s morning skate for the first time since the team had announced he would be leaving the recent road trip to deal with a personal matter.
While the team practiced, word came that Montour planned to address the media about his absence. Following the skate, he stood at his stall and—unprompted—spoke through tears about the devastating loss of his brother after a long and painful battle with ALS.
“So, my older brother’s been dealing with ALS for three, four years now, and it was a rough week,” Montour managed to say. “I’m very proud and very happy to be his brother. He’s somebody that I’ve looked up to since, obviously, Day 1. [He was] a great son, brother, best friend, father. He’s got two baby girls.
“He battled hard. It puts everything in perspective with the highs that I’ve had in the last couple years with winning and hockey and having babies and creating my own family. [All that time], he was at home battling. Right until Monday when it happened, he was smiling, and he was ready.”
An extremely emotional Brandon Montour discusses losing his older brother Cameron this past week after a long fight with ALS. #SeaKrakenpic.twitter.com/Gau614Xm96
It was one of those “bigger than sports” moments—a reminder that the professional athletes we admire are humans who sometimes face unimaginable challenges away from the rink. In the case of Montour, who is so affable and carries such a big personality, it’s hard to imagine the grief he’s managed through privately for years.
One thing we often hear from athletes who’ve endured emotional trauma is that returning to competition provides an outlet—a way to take their minds off what’s happened.
“It’s important to have him back, not only as a player, but certainly as a leader,” head coach Lane Lambert said Saturday morning. “And it’s important for him to get back into the groove of the game and maybe take his mind off a little bit of the outside part of it. But certainly, we feel for him, we’ve supported, and we’ll continue to support.”
Just as you wouldn’t have known Montour was carrying such a burden behind the scenes, you wouldn’t have known from watching him play Saturday that he’d just experienced one of the hardest weeks of his life. He looked like his old self—flying around, jumping up in the play, driving offense, and finishing with three shots on goal and a plus-one rating in 23:39 of ice time.
“In my mind, [Montour] didn’t miss a beat,” Lambert said. “Full credit to him for what he’s doing and how he played, and obviously, we’re all with him and feeling for him.”
Takeaway #2: Goals off rushes
Lane Lambert has placed plenty of emphasis this season on creating net-front traffic, and Seattle has found success scoring those gritty goals in tight. But that wasn’t how the Kraken scored their three goals Saturday against a leaky Stuart Skinner.
Instead, all three goals came off the rush—two from 2-on-1’s and one from a breakaway.
In a way, this game represented a “new way to win” for the 2025-26 Kraken, who turned defense into offense (another Lambert hallmark) on all three tallies.
Eberle opened the scoring early after Berkly Catton poked the puck past an over-aggressive Evan Bouchard, springing his linemates. Beniers slowed at the blue line and sauced a perfect pass. Eberle caught it and ripped it past Skinner, who looked oddly off balance.
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN! 🫡 🚨
2-on-1 after Vince Dunn dumped Connor McDavid on his tuchus.
Matty Beniers hits Jordan Eberle, and Stuart Skinner moves politely out of the way.
In the second period, the fourth line contributed after an outstanding defensive sequence led to another 2-on-1 for Tye Kartye and Ryan Winterton. Winterton made a phenomenal pass to Kartye, and Skinner did the Kraken another favor by getting himself caught down on the ice and ineffectively diving for the puck.
KARTYE PARTYE! 🚨
At the end of a long shift in the defensive zone, Ryan Winterton makes an outstanding pass to Tye Kartye.
“I was calling for it, but that was an unreal pass from [Winterton]. Made it pretty easy for me,” Kartye said.
Eberle’s second of the night pushed Seattle’s lead to 3-1 at 12:11 of the third, when Bouchard (who also scored a power-play goal) again misplayed the puck at the offensive blue line. He whiffed trying to swat it deeper, sending it straight to Beniers, who sent Eberle on a breakaway. Eberle snapped it over Skinner’s shoulder for what proved to be the game-winning goal.
O CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN AGAIN! 🫡 🚨
Bouchard whiffs on a puck at the blue line, and Beniers sends Eberle on a breakaway. He goes BarrDown Studios™️ for his second of the game.
When Daccord earned his 32-save shutout Thursday in Winnipeg, I wrote that he didn’t need to be spectacular because the Kraken defended so well in front of him. Seattle again defended well Saturday, but against the supremely talented Oilers, chances are inevitable.
Daccord was brilliant, yielding only a Bouchard power-play blast and a Darnell Nurse deflection goal.
“Joey’s been outstanding,” Eberle said. “I think there’s nights where he’s had to make some big saves, and tonight was no different. To get wins, you need good goaltending, and obviously, he’s been there.”
Daccord stopped 31 shots, many of them in the “10-bell” category, while Skinner at the other end occasionally looked like he was ducking out of the way. I can’t believe the Oilers didn’t upgrade their goalie situation this offseason.
Anyway, it was an excellent performance from Daccord and a massive win for the Kraken, who improved to 5-2-2 on the season.
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.
