The Seattle Kraken can learn some major lessons from the Carolina Hurricanes, who completed a historic run through the playoffs and lifted Lord Stanley’s Cup as the NHL’s best team on Sunday.
Led by a forward-thinking scientist/blogger/stathlete-turned-general manager, Eric Tulsky has pulled several rabbits out of his hat over the last two seasons while molding his roster into the perfect blend of players to fit the unique, high-pressure style of hockey that head coach Rod Brind’Amour demands.
What’s interesting about Tulsky’s approach is that every personnel move seems to be made with an eye toward how a player fits into that high-pressure, high-shot-volume system. That clear-eyed vision for a specific—and truly unique—style of play helps Carolina identify the types of talent to target for secondary and tertiary roles. At the same time, Tulsky has done a masterful job of acquiring big-time players who help drive the bus.
Heck, even after taking a massive swing to land Mikko Rantanen last season and seeing negotiations to retain him go belly-up, Tulsky made the best of the situation and somehow came out ahead. Remember, he acquired Taylor Hall as a throw-in as part of that deal, and Hall ended up being a point-per-game player in these playoffs.
Then, recognizing the risk of losing Rantanen for nothing, Tulsky cut his losses and flipped him to Dallas for Logan Stankoven, two first-round picks, and two third-round picks. At 23 years old, Stankoven’s 11 goals in the postseason led the Hurricanes. It’s safe to say Stankoven fit the vision.
The Kraken may never play a style like what we saw from the Hurricanes, but what can general manager Jason Botterill and the rest of the front office take away from Carolina’s run? A lot.
Establish an identity and never waiver from it
What is Kraken hockey? Five years in, we still don’t definitively know the answer to that question. For a brief flash during the team’s second season, Seattle’s style was defined by staunch defense mixed with a balanced, four-line attack that came at opponents in waves and generated scoring from throughout the lineup.
But the organization quickly moved away from that balanced approach, effectively letting the entire high-scoring fourth line go after that season. Morgan Geekie—who scored 39 goals this season for the Boston Bruins—and Ryan Donato—who scored 31 goals in 2024-25 in Chicago were both allowed to leave via free agency, with Seattle even declining to extend a qualifying offer to Geekie. Daniel Sprong also departed before returning for a failed second stint last season.
The point is, it felt like the Kraken were starting to figure out what kind of roster could succeed, as long as they got scoring from all four lines. But after reaching the second round of the playoffs, then-GM Ron Francis quickly changed course, reverting to a more traditional makeup that featured a grinding fourth line rather than one capable of producing offense. The problem is that successful teams with classic grinding fourth lines also tend to have a true first line—something Seattle has never really had.
The good news is the Kraken don’t need to do an about-face to replicate what the Hurricanes built. Based on two of their three coaching hires, there’s no question this organization values tight defensive structure, not the shoot-from-anywhere mentality that defines Carolina’s game. If that’s the long-term vision, winning through defense and a balanced attack, that’s fine. But Seattle needs to commit to that identity with every fiber of its being.
Playing a Carolina-style, high-pressure, high-volume game is not the lesson here. Instead, the lesson is to understand who you are, who you want to be, and ensure that every personnel decision supports that vision. Does a player on your roster help at both ends of the ice? If not, he may not be a fit. Can a potential acquisition contribute in all three zones? If so, pull the trigger. If not, don’t make the deal.
Depth plus top-end talent
As we saw with that second-year Kraken team—and again with this Carolina group—depth matters. Seattle can lean into that defensive identity (if that is truly what it decides to be) by continuing to build a foundation of players who do the right things in all three zones.
But if it commits to that approach, it will also need a small collection of game-breaking forwards—the types of players who, when given even a small window, can capitalize on chances and change a game in an instant.
The Kraken haven’t really had those players to date, save for perhaps Jared McCann, who once scored 40 goals but is coming off a lackluster, injury-marred season. Adding a true high-end scorer or two this summer, while continuing to supplement the rest of the roster with reliable two-way players, could move the needle back toward playoff contention.
Players like Dylan Larkin (we don’t believe he would want to come to Seattle) and Robert Thomas would help in both ways, as might—to a lesser extent—a middle-tier player like Jake DeBrusk, guys who can score and also play responsibly in all three zones. The Kraken could also go in a different direction and add a forward who is more offensively minded like Jason Robertson or Jordan Kyrou, but then they may want to supplement such an acquisition with a purely defensive move to balance it.
Regardless of what route they take, there is an obvious need for an injection of high-end talent, and finding such players who still fit the vision (whatever that may be) is a serious challenge for the front office. Even if they land a big fish, will the Kraken become a Stanley Cup contender by next season? Of course not. But with several big names rumored to be available this offseason, there is an opportunity to get meaningfully better.
Enjoy the fruits of draft-and-develop labor
It was fascinating to see two teams with such different roster-building philosophies—Vegas essentially saying “to hell with the draft,” and Carolina building its core through homegrown talent—meet in the Stanley Cup Final.
Seattle has quietly built a strong pipeline of prospects and young players. Matty Beniers is growing into a true leader, Shane Wright is close to establishing himself as a full-time NHL contributor (though he could perhaps benefit from a change of scenery), Berkly Catton and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard appear ahead of schedule, and Jake O’Brien is on the way, along with several others. That pipeline will only deepen at the 2026 NHL Draft in a couple of weeks.
Considering how many players on Seattle’s roster last season were either drafted by the organization or developed within its system, this has been an area of real progress. Those young players will continue to improve as they enter their prime years, meaning this approach should pay increasingly larger dividends.
Drafting and development are long-term plays, and we’re only beginning to see the early returns. But as Carolina has shown, a core of homegrown players can serve as the bedrock of a contender with a sustained window for success.
That window is built through drafting and development, but trades can accelerate it. As a result, it may behoove the Kraken to begin dealing from this position of strength—though only with that identity question firmly in mind. Does a young player fit what this team wants to be? If not, he could be used to acquire someone who does.
No more philosophical resets
Part of the narrative over the past couple of seasons is that the Kraken’s unexpected success in Year 2 threw a wrench into Ron Francis’s long-term plan. Suddenly, the timeline was accelerated, and the organization drifted away from its original slow-build approach.
More recently, much has been made of the team’s ongoing “audit” this offseason—something we at Sound Of Hockey don’t believe was ever intended to draw as much attention as it did. What that process should ultimately deliver, however, is clarity around the question of what this team wants to be.
Seattle has leaned toward a structurally sound identity, and if that’s the path it chooses, it can absolutely work. But then Jason Botterill and his front office must fully commit to that vision—through every draft pick, every personnel decision, and every hire.
The Kraken don’t need to replicate Carolina’s style of play; doing so would essentially mean starting over. Instead, they should learn from the principles that helped the Hurricanes reach the top of the mountain—and apply them in a way that makes sense for Seattle.
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.
Welcome to “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. We are at the finish line, folks. No drafted or signed Kraken player remains active in this 2025-26 hockey season. That means it’s almost time for the “Down on the Farm” offseason hiatus.
I say “almost” because I’d like to return with one last column, a capstone mailbag, in the next week or two. If you’d like to see that happen and get a prospect question answered, let us know in the comments here or reach out to us on social media platforms or the Sound Of Hockey Discord.
I hope we’ll be back at this again next year. For now, though, I just want to say thank you to everyone who regularly read these columns and took this journey along with me. As you all know, it can feel a bit more like work than fun to keep up with the happenings of Kraken prospects across the globe. Your support, encouragement, and camaraderie in this foolhardy endeavor make it all worth it.
OK, one final time, let’s get to the agenda. We’ll recap the end of a stellar season for Julius Miettinen and the Everett Silvertips, get you a full data snapshot of the Kraken prospect pool, update you on where we stand in the draft season calendar, and crown our Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week… of the Year. (Or something like that.)
Miettinen and the Everett Silvertips fall in the Memorial Cup Final
Julius Miettinen played in the last CHL game of the 2025-26 season, the Memorial Cup Final, but unfortunately, he and his teammates came up just short against a surgical Kitchener squad.
The Silvertips outshot the Rangers through two periods and controlled extended stretches of even-strength play, but a couple of undisciplined moments led to a protracted 5-on-3 Kitchener power play to begin the third period. Kitchener converted twice on that opportunity, putting the Rangers up 5–1. The OHL champions would not relinquish that substantial lead, despite one quick response goal off a sweet cross-seam setup from Miettinen.
— xyz – Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) June 1, 2026
It is a bittersweet end to an outstanding season overall. The Silvertips won 57 regular-season games (nearly missing the all-time WHL wins record) and tied the record for fewest playoff losses (two) en route to a WHL Championship. For his part, Miettinen was awarded WHL Playoffs MVP and now holds the record for most WHL playoff goals by a Finnish-born player.
“It was an awesome year,” Miettinen said, before reminiscing that winning the WHL Championship was “a moment I’ll never forget.” That is, aside from the first few minutes after the final horn, which he admitted with a laugh are a bit of a “blackout” in his memory.
On his WHL Playoffs MVP award, Miettinen was gracious in recognizing the honor but preferred to keep the focus on what his team accomplished. “It means a lot to get that. I’m really proud of myself, but I wouldn’t have gotten that [award] without the guys. That was for us, not for me.”
🔊 "I hope that I can inspire Finnish guys to come here and play North American hockey."
— xyz – Everett Silvertips (@WHLsilvertips) June 2, 2026
Next up for Miettinen is a big role on the 2026-27 Coachella Valley Firebirds.
The NHL Combine is underway
The NHL Scouting Combine is currently taking place in Buffalo, New York. Running from June 1 to 6, the Combine hosts 90 top draft prospects and all 32 NHL teams for official prospect measurements, fitness testing, medical evaluations, and interviews. It’s the last major milestone before the NHL Draft in late June. And with the draft recently “decentralized,” it’s the last time before picks are made that most of the NHL’s decision-makers are gathered together.
In the abstract, I am tempted to downplay the significance of Combine testing. But Kraken GM Jason Botterill told Sound Of Hockey last summer that he sees value in these measures. So we should keep an eye out for the standout performers.
The Kraken are also taking advantage of this time to interview prospects, including in extended formats. For example, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic reported that the Kraken took WHL defenseman Carson Carels out for dinner this week in Buffalo.
Carson Carels had dinners with the Kraken and Sharks this week in Buffalo.
Carels projects to go near the top of the first round at the end of this month. He is the No. 4 overall prospect in the draft according to Elite Prospects and was ranked the No. 3 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
Similarly, Cam Robinson of Elite Prospectsreports that the Kraken also had a dinner with Keaton Verhoeff. Verhoeff is No. 12 overall according to Elite Prospects and was ranked the No. 4 North American skater by NHL Central Scouting.
Kraken prospects data update
For one final time during this 2025-26 hockey season, here are your Kraken skater prospect statistics:
Last but not least, we also have your year-end goalie statistics:
Video from the vault
It is our plan to have semi-regular “Friday Film Room” columns this summer in which we focus in on a few prospects, analyzing aspects of their game and development. Almost always this will include new or previously unreleased game videos for us to dissect together. For now, though, let’s go deep into the vault and get you a special prospect video. Matty Beniers’ shifts from the United States’ 2021 World Junior Championship Gold Medal win over Canada “Red, White, Blue, and Gold,” indeed.
Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week… of the Year
With the 2025-26 season at a close, we have co-champions. Julius Miettinen and Jake O’Brien each earned four “Prospect of the Week” honors, which, according to our arithmetic, gives them a share of the season-long title. This really ruined our trophy budget. Not sure what we’re going to do. Congratulations to them, regardless.
The other Kraken players who received Prospect of the Week superlatives are as follows:
3 wins: Jagger Firkus, Kim Saarinen, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard
Wyatt Cullen appears poised to be the first player drafted from the U.S. National Team Development Program, but Casey Mutryn has the potential to be a second first-round pick from the program. Mutryn is 6-foot-3 and a strong athlete who can really skate. This raises the floor of his profile. Add in the fact that he is young for the class and already plays a strong two-way game, and you have a player who brings an appealing package on draft day. I’ve liked what I’ve seen from him a good deal. The question he’ll face is whether there is enough playmaking in his game to drive offense at the higher levels professionally.
Mutryn was ranked No. 24 among North American skaters in the final NHL Central Scouting rankings. He was No. 41 on our mid-season Big Board.
Header photo of Julius Miettinen taken byEvan Morud, courtesy of the Everett Silvertips.
Curtis Isacke
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.
While there hasn’t been much news on the Seattle Kraken front, that doesn’t stop the guys from having a robust conversation about the team and where they might look to improve this offseason.
Plus, lots of talk about the Seattle Torrent and who they chose to protect… and expose to expansion.
Segments include Bad Boys, Down on the Farm, Weekly One-Timers, and What’s Good?
Yesterday, we got official confirmation that in “Phase 1” of the PWHL offseason, the Seattle Torrent protected three players from the unfolding expansion process: center Alex Carpenter, defenseman Anna Wilgren, and goaltender Hannah Murphy. (For an overview on how the expansion process will work, see John Barr’s preview post.)
From here, “Phase 2” is bound to be a painful one for the team and its fans. Forwards Hannah Bilka, Julia Gosling, and Danielle Serdachny, defender Cayla Barnes, and goalie Corrine Schroeder are among those players at significant risk of departing in the coming days. Could captain Hilary Knight join them?
Let’s take a quick look at (1) who the Torrent protected and why, (2) what the next phase of the offseason entails, and (3) who the Torrent could lose off the current roster in the next few days.
The Torrent protect three players during “Phase 1”
Carpenter, 32, is the team’s cornerstone pivot and was likely at serious risk of not returning absent protection. (I’ll get into this a bit more in a moment.)
Murphy, 22, was the youngest player protected by any of the existing teams. As the only goaltender in the league aged 24 or younger to start more than 10 games, the team likely views her as its future at the position.
The market also dictated this move. Failing to protect a goaltender likely would have put the Torrent at risk of losing both Murphy and her tandem partner, Schroeder. Six of the seven other existing teams protected a goalie. Schroeder, 26, finished within the top 10 in the league in save percentage and, as mentioned, Murphy is young and was drafted high. From a game theory perspective, it seems the Torrent were wise to ensure that at least one stayed.
“There’s a lot of teams that need good starting goaltenders. It’s probably difficult to wait for the draft, where you don’t exactly know what’s gonna fall where,” Seattle Kraken GM Meghan Turner told reporters after the protections were announced.
Wilgren, 26, was half of the Torrent’s first pair on the blue line with Barnes. Many on the outside (myself included) suspected that Barnes may have been the team’s preference for protection, but Wilgren was a defensive stalwart on a team that struggled in that area during the 2025–26 season. Turner emphasized to the media that she believes Wilgren is the type of defender the team needs to build around and is still ascending. “I think her production is just starting,” Turner said.
Anna Wilgren was one of three protections by the Seattle Torrent (Photo/Brian Liese)
“Phase 2” of the offseason will bring changes
The next phase of the offseason is all about the four expansion clubs—and is itself a three-stage process that begins on Friday, June 5, and concludes on Monday, June 8. From a Torrent perspective, the team will lose a maximum of three players signed to 2026–27 contracts during this phase. It can also lose an unbounded number of pending free agents. To begin, let’s take a closer look at each of the three steps in Phase 2.
#1: Expansion Foundational Offer
After the expansion teams submit negotiating lists, the first major milestone is the “Expansion Foundational Offer.” Each expansion team gets to designate one free agent (i.e., a player on an expiring contract) with a tender offer that the player must accept. (There is a “tie-breaking” mechanism if two teams designate the same player.) The tendered player receives a contract starting at at least $100,000 annually. This is a contract at the very top tier of the league. The player gets to decide on the contract term, between one and four years.
#2: Foundational Player Offers
After those players are allocated, the second step is “Foundational Player Offers.” While the rules are a bit opaque, it seems these offers can go to any unprotected players, whether signed to 2026–27 contracts or not. These contract offers are formulated by the expansion clubs, are for at least two years in length, and carry an ascending annual value starting at a minimum of $80,000. This salary is still near the high end of the league. (For example, Barnes and Bilka’s current contracts are for $70,000 annually.) The difference with this second tier of offer is that the offered player is not required to sign it. She can decline and, if she is a free agent, opt instead to sign with another club in Phase 3.
#3: Foundational Roster Completion
The final step of “Phase 2” is a draft-like process that will occur if one or more of the expansion teams cannot sign five total players through the processes described above. This “Foundational Roster Completion” process is limited to players signed for 2026–27 only, and the expansion team inherits the existing contract.
Defender Barnes is signed through the 2027–28 season. The Torrent also have the following unprotected players signed through this upcoming season: forwards Serdachny, Bilka, Jenna Buglioni, Lexie Adzija, Mikyla Grant-Mentis, and goaltender Schroeder. Forwards Jada Habisch and Lily Delianedis, along with defender Lyndie Lobdell, are restricted free agents. The team’s remaining players, including Gosling, are unrestricted free agents this offseason.
Here is an overview of the top unprotected skaters available, sorted by points per game:
And here are the top unprotected goalies available, sorted by save percentage:
Who will stay and who will go?
Weighing all of this information, we can be fairly confident that losses will mount for Seattle in Phase 2. The team will likely lose three signed players. The question is whether additional unsigned, pending free agents leave as well before Seattle can settle on a deal with them in Phase 3. Let’s walk through the three stages again from a Torrent perspective.
#1: Expansion Foundational Offer
I find it unlikely that any team will use an Expansion Foundational Offer on any of Seattle’s players. Had Carpenter been available, she may have been a candidate, but Seattle avoided that possibility by signing and protecting her during Phase 1. Hilary Knight is another player who could hypothetically factor in here, but, as we see above, she’s older than many of the other unprotected candidates, and her production has dipped below the elite tier. Unless it is for marketing reasons, I doubt Knight is designated here.
#2: Foundational Player Offers
This is the stage where the Torrent should begin to lose players from the 2025–26 roster. An expansion team could offer Barnes or Bilka a raise (from $70,000 to $80,000+) and more term on a contract. Each player has arguably earned it.
Beyond the signed players, free agent Julia Gosling could be in the mix for a contract as well (perhaps from Hamilton, near her native London). Gosling’s departure would be particularly painful since she was a core young offensive piece and, as a free agent, would not count against the cap on three roster players lost.
It is possible a team also offers Schroeder a hefty raise to sign her directly rather than compete with the other expansion team for her services in the final Foundational Roster Completion stage. Maybe it’s even likely.
#3: Foundational Roster Completion
To the extent they have not already been signed, this final stage could see up to three signed players like Bilka, Barnes, Serdachny, or Schroeder depart via a draft.
Could Cayla Barnes be on her way out? (Photo/Brian Liesse)
Predictions
For now, I’ll predict that Bilka (Las Vegas?), Barnes (San Jose?), and Gosling (Hamilton?) sign Foundational Player Offers with new teams during the second step of Phase 2. This would leave the Torrent exposed to losing one more signed player in the Foundational Roster Completion step. I’ll project that Schroeder is taken in that process.
This would leave Serdachny as the young, unprotected player returning to Seattle. (The margins are slim, though. Could Barnes, for example, return instead of Serdachny? Could Bilka’s injury dissuade a team from signing or selecting her? These things are in play.)
As for Knight, I suspect it’s unlikely that she receives an Expansion Foundational Offer. After she clears that hurdle, it will be entirely in her hands whether to sign with a new team or return to Seattle, because she is not eligible for the Foundational Roster Completion process as an unsigned player. Given her comments expressing her desire to be back in Seattle next season, I’d be surprised if Knight did not return to the Torrent on a new contract in the weeks ahead.
* * *
What do you think about the Torrent’s protections or path forward? Let us know in the comments below.
Curtis Isacke
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.
As Darren Brown explained in our introduction to the offseason, the Seattle Kraken face weighty questions this offseason.
What are the goals for on-ice competitiveness? How does the organization improve its execution once goals are selected? How can the team composition be changed to conform to the team’s goals? How are on-ice performance deficiencies addressed? How does the organization repair trust with the fanbase?
Decisions made on these and other issues this offseason will have significant consequences years into the future.
The Kraken approach the offseason with the assets to make changes
The Seattle Kraken enter the offseason with significant assets. When accounting for likely minor restricted free-agent deals, we can project the team with $76 million of 2026-27 commitments under the 2026-27 salary cap of $104 million. This leaves the team with $28 million in cap space despite relatively few glaring open roster spots.
Even beyond money, the Kraken’s asset stock is robust. (That is not to say those assets might not have been greater had the team charted a different path over the last 12 months, it’s just an existing fact.) The team has three picks in the top 40 of the 2026 NHL Draft and a top-10 prospect pool according to most analysts.
Seattle also has prime-aged, above-average veterans on reasonable, expiring contracts that would appeal to contending teams if made available. Vince Dunn and Jared McCann are the two names that come to mind first and foremost.
Seattle Kraken offseason objectives
From my vantage, the team’s offseason focus should not be on improving (or tanking) the total talent level of the 2026-27 roster—or at least that should not be the primary objective. Ideally, the Kraken would be guided by these five objectives instead:
Leverage lessons learned to implement front office improvements
Target external young talent in trades matching the core timeline
Create lineup opportunities for internal young talent, fostering competition
Maintain baseline competitiveness to foster culture, development, and medium-term success
Hold key draft and prospect assets unless inconsistent with the above
Let’s dig into each of these areas. I’ll also sprinkle in a few hypothetical offseason changes, trades, or signings that would, in my view, be indicative of a reasoned and successful offseason.
#1: Leverage lessons learned to implement front office improvements
The first and most essential building block of a successful offseason is the recognition of areas for improvement internally, from the top down. The organization needs to leverage lessons learned during the Ron Francis leadership era and incorporate new strategies and solutions from the team’s postseason review processes.
From the outside, we cannot speak with any authority regarding most deficiencies that may or may not exist within the organization or staffing of the front office.
That said, one evident priority is to identify the on-ice objective—the “direction,” so to speak—and then clearly communicate the objective within the office walls at Kraken Community Iceplex. The team has said as much. In highlighting areas of adjustment within the front office, Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said at his postseason press availability that “the way I operate with my staff is direct communication.” The Kraken will have “clear goals” going forward, Botterill said.
From there, the focus shifts to identifying and acquiring the core group of players necessary to achieve the objectives. That’s easier said than done, of course, but the team won’t have a chance without getting this first step right.
#2: Target external young talent in trades matching the core timeline
Put succinctly, my central offseason objective would be to refresh the forward and defense groups by adding at least one external young player to each group who fits a late-2020s window and brings more aging-curve and development upside to the core.
Could Sharks forward William Eklund be an offseason Kraken target? (Photo/Brian Liesse)
I considered at least three factors in settling on this core goal.
First was a clear-eyed assessment of the overall quality of the roster. From (good-natured, hopefully) jeers at Sound Of Hockey Fest before last season through an unpopular Olympic break prediction, I never viewed last year’s collection of talent as playoff caliber. A simple turn of the calendar is unlikely to change that fact because the roster remains, on balance, on the backside of the aging curve.
Second, I had to recognize that—despite its overall flaws—the roster does have a few young players who project as pieces of a winning core. These are players who should be strong performers and lynchpins of the team’s relationship with its fans. Matty Beniers tops the list. He may never be a point-per-game player, but he is a top-six center who can be trusted in all situations. Joey Daccord, while not immune from goalie inconsistencies, has shown over two seasons that he can be a 1A goaltender. Berkly Catton has shown that he has the makings of an on-ice playmaker and off-ice leader.
Equally important, there is a wave of younger players projected to arrive within a two-to-three-year time horizon, including Jake O’Brien, Julius Miettinen, Jani Nyman, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Jagger Firkus, Ty Nelson, and Tyson Jugnauth. Not all will work out, but each could realistically contribute to varying degrees.
This suggests the ideal contention window for the team’s existing organizational players opens in the late 2020s. An all-out sale and rebuild—the course seemingly favored by some of the more disenchanted in the fanbase—would scuttle any prospect of leveraging this window.
Third, I reached a grim conclusion when evaluating the options for immediate star-level talent acquisition (and acceleration of the team’s timeline). No doubt, the Kraken have the money to pay a star salary. The problem is unrestricted free agency does not contain such a player.
The player at the top of the market, Alex Tuch, is more like a solid first-liner. Tuch may fit the team’s need for an interior scorer who is hard to play against. I’ve long been a fan of his and mentioned him often as a Kraken trade target last offseason. But he falls well short of the threshold this team needs to reform its current trajectory, and he is likely already in his decline phase.
Assuming Tuch actually comes available, is there a version of this offseason where signing Tuch makes sense? Perhaps, but building around a free-agent acquisition is not the best approach to this offseason given the state of the team.
Now, it is possible that a prime-aged player like Jordan Kyrou could be had in a trade. I’m skeptical, however, that leveraging future assets to make a Kyrou-level addition to the existing veteran core would yield the desired results. You’d improve your near-term playoff prospects but may dim the contention window in the late 2020s and beyond in the process.
There are players who fall into a different category though. Should Jason Robertson be available in trade talks, I would consider it. Timeline acceleration becomes a more realistic conversation when you’re talking about a top-20 forward in the league. Likewise, should any of the first-line centers who have been discussed as trade targets (Auston Matthews, Robert Thomas, and Nico Hischier) be available, they would also make me pause and consider pivoting strategies.
Jordan Eberle and Jason Robertson battle for puck at Climate Pledge Arena (Photo/Brian Liesse)
That said, it strikes me that these are still ill-fitting solutions to the problems this organization faces. Of course, I would want to understand the availability and cost of any of the prime-aged star players. In the abstract, though, pre-prime players (24 years old or younger) who can grow with the current young group are better fits in my view.
On the forward side, Mason McTavish is one of my favorite trade targets. He is far from a perfect player, but McTavish plays a power-forward style that would be a welcome complement to Seattle’s top six. Anaheim faces an offseason where it should ideally sign Leo Carlsson and Cutter Gauthier to large, eight-year extensions. Add in five other forward contracts at or above $6.25 million AAV, and the Ducks are over-indexed on forward contracts. Since McTavish is an uncertain fit with the Ducks coaching staff (he was scratched at times), he could be an ascending player available for a palatable price. His deal has five years remaining at $7 million AAV, which would be no problem for Seattle with its cap status.
Elsewhere, could rumored deadline target Mackie Samoskevich be acquired in a deal built around a win-now piece for Florida, such as McCann? Matvei Mitchkov doesn’t check many of the boxes the Kraken need except for the most important one, generating offense; could Philadelphia be induced to move off him? What’s Cole Perfetti’s availability in Winnipeg? Could William Eklund be acquired from San Jose for a defenseman like Dunn now that the Sharks could land Ivar Stenberg at No. 2 overall in the draft? Taking a half step down, could forwards like Bradley Nadeau or Mavrik Bourque be crowded out of their team’s plans or cap structures? The list goes on.
On the blue line, I’d be inclined to make a strong offer to Buffalo for left defenseman Owen Power. If the Sabres are going to bring back free agent (and local boy) Tuch, they need to free up salary cap space, and the Sabres may be a bit over-indexed with talent on the back end. Power fits Seattle’s need for youth on the blue line, defensive production, and penalty-killing ability. He could form a capable top pair with Brandon Montour in the near term while Larsson moves into more of a second-pair workload. The cost would likely be steep, requiring multiple premium draft picks, a roster player like Ryker Evans, and a prospect. But acquiring an ascending, potential No. 1 defenseman would be worth it.
Otherwise, could the Kraken acquire Jordan Spence from Ottawa in a package built around McCann, a scoring forward who could help the Senators now? Would Anaheim part with Olen Zellweger or Pavel Mintyukov as an alternative path to breaking its logjam of young roster talent? What’s Simon Nemec’s current standing in New Jersey? (I’d ask even though I’m not as high on Nemec these days.)
These are the types of moves I’d be pursuing. If the Kraken acquired McTavish and Power in offseason trades, for example, they might not be better in the standings next season. But the vision for late-2020s competitiveness would be much clearer. This would be a win.
Is Mason McTavish available in a trade? (Photo/Brian Liesse)
#3: Create lineup opportunities for internal young talent, fostering competition
On the internal development front, my goal would be to preserve NHL lineup opportunities for at least one more young player beyond those who have already established themselves. This could be a third-pair defense role, but for the forwards, ideally it would be in the top nine.
The Kraken have flexible pieces up front, including Freddy Gaudreau and Ryan Winterton, and on defense, including Josh Mahura and Cale Fleury, who can move in and out of the lineup if young players don’t step up. This should give the team comfort in taking the “risk” of leaving roles available for camp competition.
From my vantage, this is important for internal culture and development as the team’s prospects begin to knock on the door. Could we see a third-line wing spot that cycles through a dozen games each from Jani Nyman, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, and Jagger Firkus over the first half of the season? Could the Kraken cycle a veteran and Ty Nelson, or perhaps Ville Ottavainen, through a third-pair right-shot defense role early in the season? I’d like to see that start to happen.
This means refraining from significant additions in free agency that would block these opportunities. I would be interested in a reunion with Bobby McMann. It would help with the next priority listed here. Such a move would need to be paired with the departure of one or more veteran forwards, however, to promote this objective.
Could McCann be traded to a team like the Detroit Red Wings for a player on the verge that would factor into this mix (Michael Brandsegg-Nygård) or another strong up-and-comer to add to the Coachella Valley roster (Carter Bear)? Kaapo Kakko is the other possibility.
#4: Maintain baseline competitiveness to foster culture, development, and medium-term success
Returning to a point highlighted above, I’d look to avoid taking a significant step back in overall competitiveness in the forthcoming season. This matters to the team’s internal culture. Once an organization grows comfortable with losing, that mindset can be hard to shake. It is also important to the development of the young players. Centers like Matty Beniers and Shane Wright benefit in their own progress from playing with skilled players who can think and skate with them.
A competitive roster also helps Seattle in the perception battle. A long drought would injure the team’s relationship with its fanbase and also its reputation around the league for future free agents.
Most importantly, though, preserving a baseline of competitiveness is essential to the team’s overall timeline to true contention.
Enhanced visual for qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs. Thanks to @SasquatchNHL for suggestion to indicate Stanley Cup Champs. pic.twitter.com/KUmXqnlnmL
John Barr has shown that true rebuilds take longer than you might think. If the team is stripping away mid-tier players like Wright, Kakko, or Evans for futures returns alone, those steps would actively harm, not help, the team’s competitive prospects in the rest of the 2020s.
#5: Hold key draft and prospect assets where possible
The final objective is a simple one: hold the assets that could actually make you a legitimate playoff contender in the late 2020s. By focusing on additions below the star tier, the Kraken should be able to keep their own first-round picks in the coming drafts, while still keeping Tampa Bay’s first-rounders in play. The team would also be able to hold onto young players like Berkly Catton, Jake O’Brien, Julius Miettinen, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard.
If a game-changing acquisition is on the table, this priority could go by the wayside. Ideally, the Kraken would add young, external talent to their existing pool with the goal of peaking in two to three years.
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What do you think the team’s priorities and best targets should be? Let us know in the comments below.
Curtis Isacke
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.
News has been trickling out for weeks about the upcoming PWHL expansion draft, which will stock the four new teams joining the league this offseason. Rather than walk through every rule and sub‑rule of the process, I’m focusing on how this could realistically play out for the Seattle Torrent.
Phase 1: Existing team protections & foundational signings
This is when existing teams submit their three-player protected lists for players already under contract for 2026-27. There is a wrinkle: a team can sign and protect a pending free agent from another roster. I don’t see Seattle using that maneuver, but another club absolutely could target one of the Torrent’s UFAs.
Of the Torrent players currently under contract for next season, and therefore eligible to be protected in this phase, the list includes Cayla Barnes, Lexie Adzija, Hannah Bilka, Jenna Buglioni, Mikyla Grant‑Mentis, Hannah Murphy, Corinne Schroeder, Danielle Serdachny, and Anna Wilgren.
My shortlist comes down to Barnes, Bilka, Murphy, and Serdachny. You can make a case for any combination of the four, and I am sure there are people projecting Schroeder to be protected. I am also assuming that the team does not sign one of their pending UFAs with the hope that they make it through the next phase of expansion and re-sign at a later date.
Bilka looked like one of Seattle’s best players pre‑Olympics before her season‑ending injury. Her nine points in 14 games don’t jump off the page, but she led the team in points per game over that stretch and could really drive play with the puck on her stick.
Serdachny brings a lot of speed to the Torrent’s game, and that can be used to exploit teams in a league with a wide talent range which will get even wider with the addition of the four additional teams. She stood out post‑Olympics as one of the best Torrent forwards and averaged 0.75 points per game.
Barnes was the Torrent’s defensive anchor, logging the most ice time and regularly matching against top lines while running the power play.
Murphy, at 22, split starts with Schroeder and posted a .908 save percentage compared to Schroeder’s .915. It’s not a huge gap, and there’s no question in my mind that Schroeder is the better goalie right now. But Murphy’s age and upside matter here, which is why she made my short list over Schroeder.
Seattle could sign and protect a pending UFA like Hillary Knight or Alex Carpenter, but if I’m the Torrent, I roll the dice and hope they’re still available after Phase 3 since neither of them are signed for next season.
I’ve gone back and forth, but my current protection trio is Bilka, Serdachny, and Murphy, which likely means Barnes and Schroeder get scooped up. I don’t feel great about it, but that’s the math.
Phase 2: Expansion team foundational signing period
Existing teams sit this one out, but it’s the phase where the Torrent could lose players, both UFAs and players under contract. UFAs like Knight, Carpenter, and Theresa Schafzahl could sign with expansion teams at this stage.
Seattle could also lose up to three players under contract, depending on who was protected in Phase 1. The likeliest names in play: Barnes, Bilka, Murphy, Schroeder, Serdachny, and I’d add Anna Wilgren as a real possibility.
Phase 3: Preliminary open signing period
Any unprotected, unsigned players on expiring contracts can now negotiate with all 12 teams. Existing teams also get to protect three additional players, regardless of contract status, though protecting someone you haven’t signed feels like a wasted slot.
This is the window where Seattle could re‑sign Carpenter, Knight, or Schafzahl if they’re still on the board. I think there’s a chance Wilgren survives to this phase, and if she does, she’s probably one of Seattle’s three additional protections.
Phase 4: Expansion signing period
Expansion teams now select from the remaining unprotected and unsigned players to fill out their rosters up to 10 players.
It’s hard to get a clean read on where Lexie Adzija, Jenna Buglioni, or Mikyla Grant‑Mentis sit in the leaguewide hierarchy, but it wouldn’t surprise me if at least one of them are taken here. Adzija and Grant-Mentis were good contributors for the Torrent, and Buglioni was a rookie, so a team might be willing to take a chance on her potential.
Phase 5: Existing team-exclusive re‑signing period
Existing teams can now re‑sign any of their own players who remain without a contract for 2026-27.
For Seattle, that list could be long. Beyond the big names (Carpenter, Knight, Schafzahl), the Torrent would likely want to bring back Aneta Tejralova, Emily Brown, and Megan Carter.
Phase 6: Open signing period
At this point, any unsigned player can sign with any of the 12 teams.
Anything could happen
I’ve seen some national chatter and a bit of local speculation, but I’ve tried to avoid diving too deep so I’m not subconsciously influenced by other projections. I’ll be wrong about some of this (probably several things), but the exercise is still worthwhile.
What is clear is that the Torrent roster is going to look dramatically different next season.
So now I’m curious: Who are you protecting? Who do you think the Torrent re-sign?
