As Kraken season ends with a thud, which players could be exiting this summer?
With a whimper, the Seattle Kraken season mercifully came to an end Thursday after they lost both games of a back-to-back, 4-1 at Vegas on Wednesday and 2-0 at Colorado on Thursday. Following the Olympic break, the Kraken posted an embarrassing 7-17-2 record in 26 games and took themselves from third place in the Pacific Division all the way down to the sixth-best odds in the NHL Draft Lottery.
Normally, we would use this space to provide you with Three Takeaways from the game(s). But considering there’s not much to really even write about from these two contests—save for some solid performances by the Kraken’s AHL goalie duo of Nikke Kokko and Victor Östman, who made his first NHL start and stopped 33 shots in Denver—we’re taking this in a different direction.
Last week, Kraken CEO Tod Leiweke promised a “prolific” offseason, which implies that big changes will be coming to the roster. Of course, such an implication would mean that the team will add talent, but to do that, spots also have to be cleared.
If things really are going to dramatically change, then multiple Kraken stalwarts will likely have to depart. Here are the players that may have played their last games in Kraken uniforms.
Unrestricted free agents
The Kraken UFA’s are pretty obvious candidates to be on their way out. Although the Kraken don’t have a deep prospect pool of defensemen, I’d be surprised if Jamie Oleksiak returns next season. I’d be even more surprised if Jaden Schwartz returns.
Both players have been around since Day 1 and have contributed in big ways, with Schwartz registering 79 goals and 89 assists in 301 games across five seasons and Oleksiak racking up 21 goals and 68 assists in 389 games while playing in a defense-first role. Both players are 33 years old, and the fact that Seattle re-upped Jordan Eberle before the trade deadline but did not do so with either of these players tells me they’re likely on their way to the market.
For the other two UFA’s—Eeli Tolvanen and Bobby McMann—I’m not sure what the future holds.
Tolvanen is in his prime at 26 years old and has received high praise at times this season from coach Lane Lambert for his versatility. He was one of the highly regarded moves Ron Francis made as general manager, claiming him off waivers from the Nashville Predators and watching him flourish into a key contributor. But he also saw his role diminish late in the season and even got healthy scratched. With that in mind, is there still mutual interest between the two parties?
Meanwhile, McMann is the most interesting question of the four. He personally had an outstanding showing as a member of the Kraken, with 10 goals in 18 games after being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the NHL Trade Deadline. He also only said great things about the organization, but has he really been happy here? The team has been in turmoil since he arrived, imploding around him every step of the way and tailspinning out of the playoffs. McMann definitely saw the worst version of what this team can be, and he will be one of the more coveted free-agent options on the market this summer.
If he’s even interested in returning, we would expect the Kraken to have to pay out the nose to keep him.
Trade candidates
We at Sound Of Hockey also think the Kraken should be willing to listen on every player on the roster. If there’s a deal to be done that’s going to bring back some semblance of star power, GM Jason Botterill needs to at least consider it, even if moving a player out feels painful.
Here are a few players that—although it wouldn’t be fun to see any of them go—could be traded this summer.
On my recent Sound Of Hockey Podcast interview with Kraken broadcaster John Forslund (viewable below), he independently brought up Jared McCann as a player that could go.
McCann, who has registered 20 or more goals in all five of his seasons in Seattle and topped out at 40 in 2022-23, has one year left on his deal. His latest season was disrupted by injuries, leaving him to play just 52 games—the fewest he’s had by a long shot since joining Seattle.
Losing McCann would sting. But he’s one of those guys on the roster who could fetch real value, and if Botterill doesn’t see the 29-year-old as part of the long-term plan, then this is the summer to move him.
Likewise for Vince Dunn. Since the Kraken acquired Brandon Montour in free agency on July 1, 2024, I’ve always wondered if there was a world where Dunn could become expendable, given that the players have similar profiles, and the team is clearly committed to Montour, who still has four years left. With Dunn’s $7.35 million AAV contract also set to expire after next season, now is the time to move him if the front office is looking to maximize value.
And then, of course, there’s Shane Wright, whose name percolated in trade rumors for a good chunk of this season. By all accounts, Wright had a disappointing season. Everyone in Seattle expected him to take another big step and become one of the Kraken’s core players in 2025-26. That didn’t happen, plain and simple.
After scoring 19 goals and 25 assists under Dan Bylsma in 2024-25, Wright looked lost at times this season, while Lambert tried him in a wide variety of roles, including moving him to the wing to try to simplify things for him. In the end, he produced just 12 goals and 15 assists.
Surely the hope was that he’d emerge as the team’s No. 2 center this season, pushing Chandler Stephenson down the depth chart. Instead, you could tell Lambert was having a hard time trusting Wright and even worked around him for much of the campaign by having him take almost exclusively offensive-zone starts.
I don’t think Wright belongs on the wing, but I’m also suddenly having a hard time understanding where he fits in general when considering the longer term. Here’s why. Let’s say, for the sake of a thought experiment, that the Kraken acquire a true No. 1 center this offseason. That would move Matty Beniers into a No. 2 center role and Chandler Stephenson into a No. 3 center role—positions in which I believe both players would excel.
Being that Wright has not yet overtaken Stephenson, where does that leave him? On the wing? On the fourth line? I don’t want him in either of those spots, so packaging him as part of the deal to land said magical No. 1 center could be the way to go.
The thing that stinks is that Wright does appear to be a young player who would benefit from a change of scenery. Giving up on him right now could mean trading him for less than he’s worth—and what’s worse, you can just imagine him getting that change of scenery, getting to a new team, and blossoming into an outstanding player.
Still, it is feeling likely that he could be dealt this summer.
What say you, Kraken fans? Which other players could be on the move?
P.S. We’ll have lots more content in the coming days, but since the season has finally come to a close, I thought it was a good time to say thanks for following along all season. I appreciate you. Keep it friendly in the comments.
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.
Ep. 378 – Oh, THAT’S How You Make the Playoffs?
With just a couple meaningless games left for the Seattle Kraken this season, things are very much winding down on another disappointing season. After the Los Angeles Kings clinched a spot by beating Seattle, the guys discuss what might have been if the Kraken had just gotten a little hot down the stretch.
Plus, more talk about Ron Francis departing and Tod Leiweke’s press conference, and much more Kraken talk.
Segments include Weekly One-Timers and What’s Good?
SUBSCRIBE! ENJOY! REVIEW!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Three Takeaways – Kraken lose 5-3, Kings clinch playoff spot
In their final home game of the year, the Seattle Kraken actually found a fairly ideal outcome. In classic 2025-26 Kraken fashion, they fell behind by three goals and then tried fruitlessly to stage an epic comeback in the third period. It ended up being too little, too late, but it made for a reasonably exciting game and gave home fans something to cheer about, while also keeping themselves alive in a race for a top-five draft pick.
“A couple of bounces over our stick, and [Quinton] Byfield made us pay,” coach Lane Lambert said. “Certainly our game management at times in the second period wasn’t great… But I thought we generated some chances, some opportunities, and I wasn’t unhappy with the way we were playing, I just didn’t like the scoreboard.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a 5-3 Kraken loss to the Los Angeles Kings.
Takeaway 1: Oh, that’s how you make the playoffs?
One thing Los Angeles coach DJ Smith alluded to after the game is that his players have largely rallied around legendary two-way center Anze Kopitar, who is set to retire after the season, closing out an outstanding 20-year NHL career. Kopitar impacted this game with an assist on Adrian Kempe’s goal that ended up being the game-winner at 12:29 of the third period.
#SeaKraken line up to shake Anze Kopitar’s hand on his final visit to Seattle. pic.twitter.com/6unQXzMkW3
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 14, 2026
Whether Kopitar is the reason the team has earned a postseason berth is open for debate, but what Los Angeles has done down the stretch is exactly what I kept expecting the Kraken to do after the Olympics, but they just never did it. They never got on even a small hot streak, which could have solidified a playoff position, instead winning no more than two consecutive games from Feb. 25 onward.
The Kings, on the other hand, got hot at exactly the right time. As the Great Pacific Pillow Fight raged on deep into the season, Anton Forsberg rose to the occasion and backstopped Los Angeles to wins in five straight starts, and the Kings as a whole won six of their last seven. That was all they needed.
That kind of run is not crazy. If Seattle had just done that at any point since the break—they had plenty of opportunities with strings of beatable opponents—they may have been the ones celebrating after this game instead of the Kings.
Takeaway 2: More chemistry from Kakko and Gaudreau
The Kraken may have missed an opportunity earlier this season to get Kaapo Kakko and Freddy Gaudreau together. They’ve played a total of 59 minutes together, most of which came on the wings of Chandler Stephenson in the last month or so. But the last couple of games, Gaudreau has been the center with Kakko on the wing. The other wing against Calgary on Tuesday was Jared McCann, but he was shut down for the last three games, so Berkly Catton slid into that spot for this one.
The constant in those last couple has been Kakko finding Gaudreau to create Grade-A looks, and Gaudreau converted for the second game in a row Monday after previously not scoring since March 19.
In this one, Ryan Winterton had a shift playing with that duo, and he made an outstanding play to win a puck battle against three LA defenders. The puck popped out to Kakko at the right side of the crease, and he found Gaudreau at the left side for a wide-open net.
FREDDY G! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 14, 2026
For the second game in a row, Kaapo Kakko sets up Gaudreau, this time after a great forecheck by Ryan Winterton. #SeaKraken back within 3-2. pic.twitter.com/5xWvim4lzt
“I like to play with him,” Kakko said of Gaudreau. “I mean, I feel like we kind of think the same on the ice. I already know where he is, and he knows where I am.”
Kakko, by the way, has arguably been Seattle’s most consistent player in the later stages of the season. He said the Olympics helped his confidence.
Meanwhile, there’s no question this has been a frustrating year for Gaudreau, who was traded to Seattle from Minnesota, a team that has emerged as a true Stanley Cup contender this year. After scoring 18 goals there, he’s managed just seven this season, with two of those coming in the last two games.
Perhaps Kakko and Gaudreau finding each other is better late than never, and they can be reunited and find that chemistry again next season.
Takeaway 3: Tough night for Ryan Lindgren
By the 13:19 mark of the first period, Quinton Byfield had scored two goals—one off a 2-on-1 and one off a breakaway—with both coming thanks to Ryan Lindgren-related mishaps at the offensive blue line.
On the first goal, Matty Beniers cleanly won an offensive-zone face-off back toward the side boards. It didn’t come off the wall as hot as Lindgren expected, causing him to hesitate in stepping up for the puck. That little hesitation was enough time for Byfield to jump off his hashmark and poke it around Lindgren, creating the 2-on-1 and giving Los Angeles a 1-0 lead 2:43 into the game.
The second one was just a bad break. Jordan Eberle’s pass intended for Lindgren at the point hopped over his stick, and Byfield was off to the races.
https://t.co/ykJWMsVd74 pic.twitter.com/1waj1AKUQr
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 14, 2026
“You know what? [Lindgren] gives it everything he’s got,” Lambert said. “I think that over the last little while he’s definitely had some, I guess you could call it, bad puck luck, with a couple of those power-play goals a couple games ago that go off his stick. But he’ll continue to battle, he’ll continue to grind. That’s just the way he is, but… I thought there was some frustration on his part.”
Bonus Takeaway: Jacob Melanson is a psycho
How about Jacob Melanson, getting challenged to a fight by Samuel Helenius, having it broken up by the refs, then stepping out of the penalty box and immediately dropping the gloves in earnest?
Helenius is WAYYYYYY bigger than Melanson and has fed him his lunch previously in the AHL.
https://t.co/ykJWMsVd74 pic.twitter.com/1waj1AKUQr
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 14, 2026
“I just wanted to fire up the crowd there and wanted to get the guys going,” a stitched-up Melanson said after the game. “We had a fight a couple years ago, but I wanted some redemption.
“I don’t think I can say what I said in the box. I talked to him before the game, just seeing what he was up to, and he kind of jumped me at the start. I wanted a fair square off, and he gave it to me, so I appreciate that from him.”
On Melanson fighting to try to spark the team, Lambert said, “Loved it. We need more of it.”
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.
“He was my best friend” – Ryan Winterton on the loss of his brother Jacob and support from the Kraken
The Seattle Kraken were in Toronto for an October matchup with the Maple Leafs, coincidentally right in the backyard of young Kraken forward Ryan Winterton’s childhood home. As he rode the team bus, he received a call that no 22-year-old should have to field. The cancer his older brother Jacob had been fighting was deemed terminal. He had six months to live.
“I remember getting the call. I was on the bus, and… it wasn’t embarrassing, but I just couldn’t keep it together,” Ryan said. “And just hearing that news about your best friend being terminally ill, it doesn’t matter who it is, it’s never easy to cope with, let alone your brother.”
A former junior player for the Flint Firebirds and Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League, Jacob’s ordeal began during his fourth season playing U Sports hockey for the University of Guelph Gryphons. As that last season wore on, he had battled through pain in his shoulder but assumed it was something a surgery could fix when he was done playing, perhaps something like a torn labrum.
And with the Canadian healthcare system working differently than that of the United States, it took many months between when Jacob first started feeling pain and when he could get an MRI to determine what the issue was.
“You have to wait a while to get in,” Ryan explained. “It’s not like the States where if you just need [a surgery or a scan], you can get in and pay for it. You have to wait, and [in his case], I want to say it was like six months or nine months. So it wasn’t like he could just go in and see what was wrong with his arm… It was really bothering him.”
When Jacob finally got the MRI sometime in April 2025, he was told he needed to go to the hospital right away. There, he received his diagnosis: osteosarcoma.
At the time, Ryan was in Coachella Valley, where the AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds were preparing for the Calder Cup Playoffs. Learning that Jacob had bone cancer was devastating, but optimism remained that he could be cured and continue on with his life.
It wasn’t until another month later that the Winterton family learned the gravity of the situation. The delayed diagnosis had been long enough for the cancer to metastasize from Jacob’s shoulder into his lungs.
The Kraken organization quietly steps in
As Jacob’s prognosis deteriorated, Ryan received immense support from his teammates, and the Kraken organization quietly stepped in and did everything in its power to try to help save Jacob.
“They sponsored him to come here to get treatment, because nothing in Ontario was really working,” Ryan said. “There’s not as good of cancer research there as there is here, especially in Seattle. So he tried to do a clinical trial, and obviously, that was kind of the last hope.”
Jacob spent about 40 days in Seattle, using that clinical trial as a last-ditch attempt to find something that worked against his illness.
“[The treatment] didn’t work, but at the end of the day, it was still [owner Samantha Holloway], [CEO Tod Leiweke], and members of the ownership group coming together and sponsoring him to come out here and live and just try and give him last hope, you know?”
The Kraken’s support came without fanfare. It wasn’t something the team publicized, but when Sound Of Hockey asked, the team confirmed that Holloway and members of the ownership group sponsored Jake’s clinical trial and supported the family in Seattle.
“The Wintertons are an incredible family, and Garth, Lesley, Ryan, Jake, and Julia hold a special place in our hearts,” Holloway said. “Jake was a remarkable young man who showed so much courage, and we’re lucky we got the chance to know him. It meant a lot to be able to support Jake, Ryan and their family, and we’ll continue to be there for them.”
The feeling is mutual between the Wintertons and the Kraken.
“The organization and everyone involved will forever go down in my family’s hearts, and I consider this home now,” Ryan said. “So I think we owe a lot of thanks to people. Obviously, it’s not the way we wanted it to go, but at the end of the day, we still are very thankful for what everyone’s done. I know Jake was very, very happy about what was going on and the care he was given.”
“The toughest couple weeks of my life”
As the Kraken were preparing for a then-crucial game at the Nashville Predators on March 19, Ryan received more bad news. Jacob’s cancer had spread again into his esophagus, and doctors were now giving him just two weeks to live.
“[Jake] didn’t want to be in a hospital anymore,” Ryan said. “He wanted to get home and see his friends, and that’s when I was… We were in Nashville, and then I got the call, and I was going to play that game. And then I woke up from my [pre-game] nap, and I just didn’t feel… it didn’t feel right to go out there, and potentially [get injured and] jeopardize not seeing my brother again. It was just something I couldn’t live with, and I’m very thankful I didn’t play that game.”
Meanwhile, the rest of the Winterton family and Jacob’s girlfriend had embarked on a 37-hour road trip from Seattle back to Ontario so that Jacob could spend his last days at home and be near his friends. Ryan said his dad, Garth, drove straight through without staying overnight anywhere along the journey.
Ryan made it home a couple of days later. He recalled arriving around 10 p.m., and Jacob had been waiting up for him.
“My parents had told me how tough the mornings were for him, like he couldn’t catch his breath. We kind of had a feeling at that point that that was it. So I saw him at 10 o’clock that night, and then in the morning, the same thing, he wasn’t doing good. He actually took out his oxygen tube when he was sleeping, by accident, and was really struggling that morning.”
The family called 911 and got Jacob to the hospital.
“He was ready,” Ryan said. “He didn’t want to do another morning where he thought he was going to suffocate on his own air. It’s tough to talk about, but he was ready, and he didn’t want any more suffering.
“It was the toughest couple weeks of my life, and I’m sure it will be until I die.”
Jacob Winterton passed away on March 25. He was 25 years old.
Remembering Jake
Ryan loved his brother and admired him throughout his entire life.
“He meant the world to me. Growing up, he was two years older than me, and just growing up through hockey, through whatever it was, you just always look up to your older brother. And I was talking to the host of the funeral, and I was saying my brother had so many friends around his age, obviously two years older [than me], and he would always have parties and have friends over at our house. And the one thing about him is that he was never embarrassed of me and would always bring me around.
“Like, those guys that he was best friends with are my best friends now, because he let me be around them all the time, whereas if I was the older brother and my younger brother was trying to party or hang out with me, I would tell him to beat it. But it was just kind of his demeanor that he really was passionate about me and everything he did. And he was my best friend, obviously.”
Ryan remembered that as Jacob was fighting for his life, he showed incredible strength and that he was the one constantly trying to keep the family’s spirits up, not the other way around.
“We should have been lifting him up and telling him what he wanted to hear. But instead, the entire time, he was just the best through it all, and just making sure that we were okay.”
Tragedies and times of crisis often have a way of bringing people closer together. For the Wintertons, Jacob’s initial diagnosis meant that he and his girlfriend would move to the Winterton family home, where they stayed for a year, with the exception of his treatment in Seattle. Ryan really appreciated that he got to spend most of the summer with his brother in Ontario before leaving for training camp.
“I know my parents are grateful that they got to spend the whole year with him and his girlfriend, and it just brings everyone closer. And I think the most important thing for that is just to stay close now. Because, I mean, that was his wish, was to just stay very close. And it’s easy to do that when that’s your brother’s only wish.”
While these were unfathomably hard times for the Wintertons, Ryan finds solace in knowing that his brother is resting now.
“In a sense, it’s a relief that he’s not suffering anymore,” Ryan said. “I would say the last little… about two months was really hard for him and for my family, just watching what he had to go through. So now that he’s at peace, it’s obviously terrible that we don’t get to talk to him anymore, but there’s a sense of relief where we know he’s in peace, and he’s not struggling anymore.”
Support from inside the Kraken dressing room
Every now and then, hockey fans get a brief glimpse into the humanity of the players. One such glimpse came Thursday night after the Seattle Kraken defeated the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3 in a shootout.
Winterton was outstanding in his second game since rejoining the team, making a crucial backtrack play in the third period that broke up a 2-on-1 rush and leading coach Lane Lambert to say: “What I think of Ryan Winterton is he just keeps getting better and better. He’s all around the puck, he probably had five chances to score tonight.”
The Kraken have a tradition of passing off a player-of-the-game Sonny Hayes racing helmet from the movie F1 after wins. On this night, it so happened that Brandon Montour had the helmet in his possession from the last time Seattle had won. He gave it to Winterton.
bigger than hockey 💙🩵 pic.twitter.com/j5xK6Lsw6r
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) April 10, 2026
“There’s more to this game than just us in this group,” Montour was heard announcing to the dressing room in a video released on Kraken social media channels. “I’ve been dealing with it all year. Wintsy’s been dealing with it as well. Here you go, bud.”
The connection between Montour and Winterton runs deeper than just that ceremonial helmet pass and hug. Montour also lost his older brother, Cameron, after a long fight with ALS back in October, coincidentally around the time when Ryan was learning about the severity of Jacob’s prognosis.
An extremely emotional Brandon Montour discusses losing his older brother Cameron this past week after a long fight with ALS. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/Gau614Xm96
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) October 25, 2025
Yet while Montour, 32, has been dealing with that grief throughout the season, he has also quietly been lending support and consolation to his much younger teammate.
“I spoke to [Ryan] throughout the year, and as the time was coming, he was asking questions on how to handle it,” Montour said. “It’s a tough conversation just because there’s no way to handle it. It’s just a tough situation that you have to kind of just have with you and carry with you and deal with. I thought hockey helped me.”
When Jacob moved to Seattle to pursue the treatment that the Kraken were sponsoring, Ryan said that Montour insisted on getting the family’s temporary address in the city so that he could send them food and make sure they were as comfortable as possible.
“He obviously doesn’t have to do that, and he just wants to because he’s that good of a guy,” Winterton said. “Monty is just one of the best guys I’ve met. Especially being [10 years older than me], he’s just been always the guy that would come up to me and make me feel comfortable. When I was a call-up, he’d make me feel comfortable, he just has that thing about him that makes you want to come close to him and his family.”
Ryan also corroborated that he and Montour had kept in touch while Jacob appeared to be nearing his final days. Montour’s treatment toward Ryan has earned him admiration with Lesley and Garth Winterton.
“My dad met [Montour] once, my mom maybe met him once, and just the fact that he’s taken me under his wing and tried to take care of my family when they were here with getting them food. It just, I honestly can’t really say enough good things about Monty, and I’m just grateful that he’s such a good guy and was there for me through it all.”
Montour said he also sees a lasting connection forming between the two in the wake of their coinciding family tragedies.
“He sticks to more of the younger crew, but he knows I’m there for him, and it’s bigger than hockey,” Montour said. “Everything’s bigger than hockey when it comes to family and how close him and his brother were. I know how he’s feeling, and it takes time, but I’m glad that he’s, obviously, battled back and been able to play the last couple games.
“Anything I can do to lend a hand or help him in any way, and this goes beyond this year. Even if one year, we end up on different teams or whatever, we’re close and I’ll always stay connected to help him out.”
Carrying on Jacob’s legacy
Like Montour said about hockey helping him cope with the loss of his own brother, Winterton also called it “refreshing” to be back with his Kraken teammates and to have hockey to help get his mind off everything he’s gone through over the past year.
“It obviously still hurts and stuff like that. But the guys have been awesome, coaching staff, organization, just everyone has been so good about this whole situation, and for that, I’m grateful.”
As Ryan now moves forward in his hockey career and begins to close out this exceedingly difficult chapter in his life, he knows that when he steps on the ice, he’s not doing it alone.
“Now, it’s just living in his memory and knowing he’s watching us and just doing everything I can to make him proud. I know he was proud when he went, and [now I’m] continuing to live on his legacy.”
Header photo courtesy of Ryan Winterton.
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.
Photo Gallery – Kraken vs Kings – April 13th
Monday Musings: Winning is still fun
A week ago, the Kraken were all but eliminated. This week didn’t save the season, but it reminded us why we still watch. The Kraken split their four games with two wins and two losses, but the two wins came at home, which matters more. As the saying goes: if you’re going to stink, stink on the road.
The week opened with back‑to‑back losses to the Winnipeg Jets and Minnesota Wild. As ugly as the 6–2 and 5–2 results were, there was noticeably more compete than we’d seen in the games leading up to them. That set the stage for a return home to face the Vegas Golden Knights.
Vegas struck first and eventually went up by two early in the second period. To the Kraken’s credit, they rallied from down two and won in a shootout, only their second shootout victory all season. It was the most fun I’ve had at a Kraken game in months, and it snapped the losing streak that had effectively sunk the season.
Seattle followed that up with a 4–1 win over the depleted Calgary Flames on Saturday in Nikke Kokko’s first career NHL start. It was a chaotic week, but it ended with some genuinely happy fans walking out of Climate Pledge Arena.
Importance of winning… even now
I know there’s a subset of fans who want the Kraken to lose for draft‑position purposes, but I’ve never subscribed to the idea that fans should root for losses (even though Darren said we should in Three Takeaways). The fans who showed up Thursday and Saturday certainly weren’t rooting for losses, and I think there’s a bigger reason why these wins still matter.
I attended both games, and in each one I sat near fans who were attending their first Kraken game. I chatted with a few of them; both groups had been looking forward to their games for months. Watching them experience Kraken hockey for the first time was genuinely cool and they left overjoyed with the Kraken win.
Separately, as I was leaving Seattle Center, I saw two kids skipping down the sidewalk chanting, “Let’s go Kraken! Let’s go Kraken!” Those fans don’t care about draft odds. They came to see the Kraken win a hockey game, and some of them walked away with a memory they’ll keep for life. That matters.
To be clear, I don’t care about ticket sales or ad revenue. This is about creating fun, meaningful interactions with the sport I love: hockey. I’m not going to tell anyone how to root for their team, but I know winning was important to those fans, and I am sure they weren’t the only ones.
Thoughts on Ron
I’ve shared plenty of thoughts on the mutual departure of president of hockey operations Ron Francis on the latest Sound Of Hockey Podcast. Since then, I’ve had fans, friends, and teammates ask me about the move. My overall feeling is that something needed to change.
There’s no hiding from the fact that the on‑ice results over the first five seasons have been disappointing, with very few highlights since the 2022–23 postseason. The move also made me reflect on the franchise’s first five years.
As someone who cares deeply about the hockey community in the Northwest, I can’t help but feel there were squandered opportunities to grow the fan base and the sport, on and off the ice. Season 1 brought a wave of enthusiasm as new fans discovered hockey. Wins and losses didn’t matter much; the novelty carried the experience.
Season 2 brought a different energy. Out of nowhere, the Kraken became one of the biggest turnaround stories in 20 years. It was magical and entertaining, and it exposed new fans to everything I love about this sport. The playoffs amplified that even further.
Since then, the momentum has slowed. Growing the fan base wasn’t Ron’s job, but it’s undeniably tied to the team’s success. When the team doesn’t win, people stop tuning in.
As for roster construction, the mix of players simply hasn’t worked. There are moves you can criticize, but they’re relatively rare and not solely responsible for the team’s decline. The bigger criticism is about the moves he didn’t make, but we’ll never know what was actually on the table. Regardless, this is the roster that was built, and the results are what they are. Something needed to change, and it did.
Is the change enough? Fair question. I’m taking a wait‑and‑see approach, and I expect more changes before the NHL Draft in June.
If you haven’t seen it yet, check out Darren’s conversation with John Forslund. John has seen a lot of hockey and offers a level‑headed perspective on the current state of the team.
Quick quiz: Nikke Kokko became the first Kraken goalie to win his first career NHL start. Only one other goalie has made his first career start with the Kraken. Can you name him?
Other Musings
- The Kraken still have some intra‑Pacific matchups left, but as of now, they have the highest points percentage against Pacific Division opponents this season.
- Seattle is now 3‑0‑0 against the Golden Knights this season, with the final meeting coming Wednesday in Vegas.
- Counterpoint: the Kraken have the fourth‑worst record in the league over the last three seasons. Only Anaheim, Chicago, and San Jose are worse. This is part of why change is needed to attract players.
- I don’t have the data to prove it, but I’m pretty sure Ryan Winterton, Berkly Catton, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard formed the youngest line to play an entire game together in Kraken history.
- The Kraken have won 10 games this season when allowing the first goal, two of them in their last two games.
- As mentioned above, the Kraken got the rare shootout win against Vegas on Thursday. It required five rounds before Berkly Catton buried his opportunity. He is now 1-for-1 in shootout attempts. Matty Beniers is 3-for-12 but 2-for-2 this season.
- Congrats to Kraken prospect Clarke Caswell and the Denver Pioneers on winning the NCAA national championship Saturday night. Caswell had a goal and an assist in the 4–3 OT semifinal win over Michigan.
Goals of the Week
These two goals are very similar, and I loved both. The first one was Bobby McMann’s game-tying goal halfway through the third period against the Golden Knights on Thursday night.
The second Goal of the Week was Matty Beniers’ goal with just 4.4 seconds left in the second period to put the Kraken up by two on Saturday.
Performances of the Week
Jake O’Brien (BRA/SEA) – A regular in this section, O’Brien posted two goals and five assists in three games against North Bay in the OHL second round.
Nikke Kokko (SEA) – Won his first career NHL start and showed plenty of personality to go with his calm play.
Julius Miettinen (EVT/SEA) – Two goals and an assist in two second‑round games against Kelowna. Everett leads the series 2–0.
Quiz answer: Ales Stezka made his first career start for the Kraken on Feb. 23 of last year against Tampa Bay. It was the second half of a back‑to‑back while Philipp Grubauer was in Coachella Valley. Stezka made 19 saves on 22 shots in a 4–1 loss. He was 28 years and 48 days old compared to Kokko’s age of 22 years and 28 days on Saturday.
The week ahead
The Kraken finish the season with three games: the Kings on Monday, then a back‑to‑back in Vegas on Wednesday and Colorado on Thursday. If Seattle beats L.A. on Monday, they’ll set a franchise record for highest home points percentage in a season. An overtime or shootout loss would tie the 2022–23 mark.
Winning is important, but winning at home is especially important, and simply more fun. If the Kraken only win one more game, I hope it’s Monday.
I’m also hoping for one more call‑up from Coachella Valley before the season ends. My preference would be Tyson Jugnauth to see how close he is to making the leap. There isn’t an obvious roster spot for him next year unless a defenseman is moved. Jagger Firkus is the other candidate, but he’s injured and unlikely to return in time.
Other storylines to watch:
- Playing the spoiler: The Kings are in control of the final playoff spot. Depending on the Nashville–San Jose result, L.A. could clinch with a win in Seattle. I’d prefer not to see that celebration at Climate Pledge.
- First goal for OFM: I am sure everyone realizes by now how big of a fan I am of Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, and I would love nothing more than seeing him score his first goal in the National.
- Another Kokko start? He looked calm and composed Saturday, though he wasn’t tested much. According to Natural Stat Trick, Calgary generated just 1.68 expected goals in all situations, the second‑lowest total against Seattle this season.
The season might be ending, but the team still gives me reason to watch.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Three Takeaways – Nikke Kokko wins in first NHL start, 4-1 Kraken versus Flames
Ok, that’s enough winning for now, Seattle Kraken.
After cementing themselves as a non-playoff team with an epic post-Olympic collapse, the Kraken were within striking distance of a top-three spot in the NHL Draft Lottery. But then they rattled off two straight wins and climbed out of the bottom five. From a draft-positioning perspective, Seattle really needed to lose to the Calgary Flames on Saturday to give itself a shot at the top three, but alas, the team put together a decent performance against a terrible team and came away with a solid victory.
HOW DARE THEY?!
The stars had oddly aligned for a stinker of an outing, with all three of the Kraken’s regular goalies unavailable—both Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord have gotten injured in the last few games, and Matt Murray is currently away for personal reasons. So in came the AHL tandem of Nikke Kokko and Victor Ostman, and Kokko was tabbed to make his first start in the NHL.
“I thought we defended well,” coach Lane Lambert said. “With Nikke [coming in and making his first NHL start], I thought our guys did a really good job and made a concerted effort to give him as much help as possible. And when we needed him, he made some good saves for us.”
Hey, the Kokko angle is a fun story, and winning vibes are always nice, even if we should be rooting for losses at this point.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-1 Kraken win over the Flames.
Takeaway 1: Kokko plays well, goes for a goal
Kokko looked really solid in his first full NHL game; he was calm and confident throughout and really never in scramble mode. Part of that was strong defense in front of him and an inept opponent that appears to have mastered the “tank” game.
But Kokko did get tested a number of times and came up with 26 saves on the evening.
“I feel great,” Kokko said. “I was little bit nervous before game but when I… came to rink and started doing my routine and warm ups, then I enjoyed.”
Kokko has a hilariously cocky persona, and although his English is still a work in progress, his sense of humor shines through when you talk to him.
He raised eyebrows when he very clearly took a shot at the open net in the closing minutes, when Seattle led 3-1. The shot got knocked down and very nearly ended up as a goal against. When I asked if he was trying to score, he said, “Maybe,” and got a big laugh from the assembled media.
But he also told Piper Shaw in front of the whole arena that he had, in fact, tried to score and that, “I try to score before Joey [Daccord].”
Hall of Fame moment. Joey catching strays 💀 https://t.co/9p92qYgp26
— Piper Shaw (@PiperShawTV) April 12, 2026
Could you imagine if he had hit that in his first game?! Joey would have been devastated.
“He was awesome,” Freddy Gaudreau said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen a goalie that almost scored in his first game, but that would have been awesome. But he played an unbelievable game. He gave us confidence just by his energy. He was solid, he was poised, so it was awesome to see that.”
“I think I have only one good try [at a goalie goal so far this season],” Kokko said. “It was good [the Flames] don’t score that.”
Takeaway 2: Strong second period
After a really quiet first period, the Kraken scored three goals in the second, finally winning the “race to three” that Lane Lambert has talked about recently. It’s the second game in a row that they’ve scored three or more goals after failing to reach that number in the six games prior. Lo and behold, they’ve won both of these games.
“Sometimes you get a lead, you get comfortable,” Matty Beniers said. “I think it’s important to keep pushing. You can really kill teams’ momentum, you can kill their will early on in games when you get that third goal.”
The three in this one came courtesy of Gaudreau, Chandler Stephenson, and Beniers, who hit the 20-goal milestone for the third time in his career.
Beniers’ goal was a beauty, and it likely sealed the outcome of the game. With the clock ticking down in the second, he said he heard Stephenson yelling from the bench that there were five seconds left. From the right circle, he let a shot rip that snuck under the bar and gave Seattle a 3-1 lead heading to the locker room.
MATTY MAGIC! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 12, 2026
Goal No. 20 on the season for Beniers, who takes a pass from Ryker Evans in the right circle and snipes it with four seconds left in the 2nd.
3-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/sVUf4kCum8
From there, Kokko shut down the limited pushback from Calgary, and the Kraken rolled to a victory.
Takeaway 3: Nice chemistry from Kakko, Gaudreau, and McCann
There’s been a ton of line juggling down the stretch, while Lambert has tried to find combinations that could produce some offense. In this one, he put Gaudreau between Kaapo Kakko and Jared McCann, and I thought the line looked dangerous every time it was out there. Gaudreau, in fact, ended up with two great looks on one shift in the first period.
He also connected with Kakko for his sixth goal of the season, less than a minute after the Flames had taken a 1-0 lead.
FREDDY G! 🚨
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) April 12, 2026
This line has shown some chemistry. Believe that's the third time Kakko has set up Gaudreau, and this time he converts.
1-1 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/2LuIWLxdEY
“Sometimes, you just play with players, and it feels like you think what they’re thinking,” Gaudreau said of his linemates. “And I felt that way [tonight].”
I’d like to see them stick with that trio for a bit, even if just to find out if it can work again next season.
Ok, let’s get back to losing now.
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.
Ep. 377.5 – In the booth with John Forslund
On this great “.5” episode of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, Darren goes 1-on-1 with legendary Kraken broadcaster John Forslund.
The guys touch on a wide range of topics, from Lil Boo to Ron Francis’ departure, to a roster “facelift” to Eddie Olczyk’s future on the Kraken boradcast.
Awesome stuff. Enjoy!
SUBSCRIBE! ENJOY! REVIEW!
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Down on the Farm – Caswell to National Championship game, Saarinen to Coachella Valley
This is “Down on the Farm,” your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. This week, we’ll update you on a collegiate prospect playing for a national championship and a European player poised to begin his North American journey by joining the AHL Coachella Valley Firebirds for (at least) the next few weeks.
After that, we’ll get you up to speed on where the other Kraken prospects stand in their respective postseasons. Could the Kraken add a couple of CHL league championships and even Memorial Cup appearances to the list before all is said and done?
Oh yeah, and we’ll have our Kraken prospect notes, video, and the Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week, as always.
If you have a Seattle Kraken prospect–related question you’d like to see featured in a future column or mailbag, drop us a note below or on X or BlueSky at @deepseahockey or @sound_hockey.
Goalie Kim Saarinen will join the Firebirds, but what about the Men’s World Championship?
According to a Finnish-language report from Finland’s MTV News, goalie prospect Kim Saarinen will depart Finland this week to join the Coachella Valley Firebirds in Palm Desert, California. Like other 19-year-olds before him, it seems the goal is “to get a feel for the Firebirds organization,” according to the Finnish news outlet.
“I’m going this week to at least get to know them and train. I don’t know if they’ll let me play,” Saarinen told MTV News.
Saarinen’s Liiga postseason came to an end last week, with HPK bowing out in the second round. But Saarinen was a pillar for the team. According to MTV News, Liiga advanced analytics had Saarinen saving 14 goals above expected in the playoffs alone (if my translation efforts are accurate). This mark is the highest in the playoffs so far, despite HPK’s elimination.
At the time, Saarinen noted that he had not heard from the Finnish Men’s National Team about the upcoming World Championship. “If I get an invitation to the national team, it’s not out of the question that I would go there,” Saarinen told MTV News.
Since then, the Finnish Men’s National Team did include Saarinen on its camp roster. Pre-tournament games don’t start for a couple of weeks yet, and the tournament itself doesn’t begin until May 9 in Sweden. We’ll have to see if Saarinen factors into that mix after spending time with the Firebirds, but we should note that the current roster does not include any NHL players who may join the team at a later time.
Hat tip to Dozer on the Sound Of Hockey Discord for bringing the original report to my attention.
Clarke Caswell scores, helping Denver advance to National Championship
On Thursday, Clarke Caswell had a beautiful tip-in goal to level the score late in the third period of the University of Denver’s Frozen Four semifinal against the University of Michigan Wolverines.
"That's a beaut Clark(e)" 🌟
— NCAA Ice Hockey (@NCAAIceHockey) April 10, 2026
Clarke Caswell tips it in for the Pioneers with under three minutes remaining to tie it back up! #MFrozenFour x 🎥 ESPN2 / @DU_Hockey pic.twitter.com/ZbvK5RRwFk
With Denver going on to win in double overtime, Caswell and the Pioneers will now head to the National Championship game on Saturday, Apr. 11, at 2:30 PM PT. The Pioneers will face off against the University of Wisconsin Badgers, who defeated the University of North Dakota Fighting Hawks in the other semifinal. Ollie Josephson’s return to the North Dakota lineup wasn’t enough to buoy the Fighting Hawks, who fell 2–1.
Surely all of Kraken nation, including Sound Of Hockey‘s Wisconsin Badger alum Darren Brown, will join arms in rooting for Denver on Saturday.
**Editor’s note: How DARE you?! On, Wisconsin!
With Caswell responsible for the single most significant moment of the week for the second consecutive time, he’s your Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week. You can check out Caswell’s shifts from the team’s tournament win over Western Michigan below.
Kraken prospect postseason check-in
The majority of Seattle’s prospects who reached the postseason remain alive. Below you’ll find series results as of Friday, Apr. 10, and the upcoming schedule for those players—first organized by date and then by player. The CHL leagues are in the second round; the SHL has reached its final four, and the KHL is down to eight teams, currently in its league semifinal matchups.
Of note, Kraken prospect Jake O’Brien has two goals and three assists through Brantford’s first two games with the North Bay Battalion, both wins. Zeb Forsfjäll’s SHL team, Skellefteå AIK, is up two games to none in its series. Semyon Vyazovoi played well in the first game of his KHL team’s series, saving 24 of 25 shots, but they lost 1–0. Vyazovoi sat in Game 2, another loss.
Firebirds clinch the playoffs
As we mentioned in an update to last week’s column, Logan Morrison is now out week-to-week for the Firebirds. On the plus side of the injury news for Coachella Valley, Kaden Hammell, Ty Nelson, and Andrei Loshko have all returned to the lineup from injury absences in the last few games.
Even better, the team clinched a playoff spot last weekend. With seven wins and three losses in the team’s last 10 games, the Firebirds sit at No. 4 in the Pacific Division playoff field with five games remaining. The Firebirds have a home-and-home against the top team in the Pacific, the Ontario Reign, on Friday, Apr. 10, and Saturday, Apr. 11.
Notes on four other Kraken prospects
Julius Miettinen | F | Everett Silvertips (WHL)
There is perhaps no more polarizing prospect in the Kraken system for outside observers than Julius Miettinen.
This is curious because he’s not a player with an obvious flaw that some scouts could find disqualifying while others disagree. Miettinen is an athletic, well-rounded, strong-statured prospect who seems destined for a long pro career, likely with substantial NHL time. (If you were searching for an issue with his game, you could say his skating—both in terms of speed and dynamism—is closer to average and will need to improve if he’s going to be a long-time NHLer.)
This makes his widely divergent rankings an interesting case. On the one hand, Craig Button of TSN had Miettinen as the Kraken’s best prospect, and No. 21 overall in the sport, at the midseason mark. At the other extreme, Scott Wheeler of The Athletic had Miettinen as Seattle’s No. 11 prospect.
I don’t think I’m with Button because I have some concerns about his ceiling, currently viewing him as a complementary, bottom-six piece unless there are notable skating and puck-possession improvements. But Wheeler’s low-end ranking seems farther off to me.
Miettinen had a goal and an assist in Everett’s Game 1 win over Kelowna on Friday, Apr. 10.
HOW PRETTY! 🤩
— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) April 11, 2026
Matias Vanhanen, Landon DuPont and Julius Miettinen combine for a beautiful play to add to their lead! @WHLsilvertips | #WHLPlayoffs | #FeedingtheFuture pic.twitter.com/ljvhbF7OEt
Blake Fiddler | D | Edmonton Oil Kings (AHL)
After coming up short in overtime of Game 7 against the Saskatoon Blades, Blake Fiddler’s Edmonton Oil Kings are the only CHL team with a Kraken prospect to be eliminated in the first round. Fiddler was injured in Game 2 and didn’t play for the remainder of the series, and who knows—that could have been the difference for Edmonton.
I speculated we might see an amateur tryout agreement for Fiddler and the Firebirds down the stretch, but that hasn’t come to pass yet. The injury could factor into the equation. If Fiddler isn’t healthy enough to play, his rehabilitation for a full offseason could take precedence.
Tyson Jugnauth | D | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
Firebirds rookie blueliner Tyson Jugnauth had a wide-ranging conversation with Sound Of Hockey‘s John Barr and Darren Brown this week, which was included in the most recent Sound Of Hockey Podcast. Among many other things, Jugnauth touched on his areas of on-ice development, his summer workout plans, his best teammates to play with, who cooks the food among him and his Firebirds roommates, and, of course, his golf game in sunny Coachella Valley.
On the ice, Jugnauth continues to lead all AHL rookie defensemen in both total points (43) and assists (35).
Nikke Kokko | G | Coachella Valley Firebirds (AHL)
The Seattle Kraken recalled Nikke Kokko on an emergency basis following an injury to Philipp Grubauer against the Winnipeg Jets. Now, with Joey Daccord under injury evaluation too and Matt Murray away from the team on a personal matter, it’s possible Kokko could leap all the way from No. 4 to No. 1 on the NHL depth chart down the stretch.
Even if it’s only one game, it’s now very possible Nikke Kokko will earn a Kraken start this week. It would be the first of his NHL career, with his previous NHL appearance coming in relief in St. Louis last season. He allowed two goals on six shots in 30 minutes of ice time in that game.
**Author’s Note: Shortly after this column was originally published, on Saturday, Apr. 11, the Firebirds recalled Victor Ostman on an emergency basis. This indicates that even with Nikke Kokko previously recalled, the team does not have two other goaltenders healthy enough and available to play at the moment. This further suggests Joey Daccord will, indeed, miss time with a lower-body injury.
Jack LaFontaine (and another goalie, perhaps Kim Saarinen?) will carry the load for Coachella Valley in the short term.
Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
3 wins: Jagger Firkus, Jake O’Brien, Kim Saarinen, Julius Miettinen
2 wins: Clarke Caswell, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Logan Morrison, Nathan Villeneuve, Semyon Vyazovoi
1 win: Alexis Bernier, Barrett Hall, Ollie Josephson, Tyson Jugnauth, Nikke Kokko, Victor Ostman, Zaccharya Wisdom
Tracking 2026 NHL Draft prospects: Caleb Malhotra
CHL center Caleb Malhotra echoes his Brantford Bulldogs teammate Jake O’Brien. Like O’Brien, Malhotra has turned heads with big point totals. His 84 points in 67 games as a first-time draft eligible fall only slightly short of O’Brien’s 98 points in 66 games.
Malhotra backs up the scoring with a well-rounded profile that has led to his usage in all situations, including heavy minutes on both the power play and penalty kill. Malhotra is a likely lottery pick, checking in at No. 10 on the midseason Big Board and No. 10 on Scott Wheeler’s most recent draft ranking for The Athletic.
Recent prospect updates
April 4, 2026: Kraken prospects to the Frozen Four, Firebirds face a rash of injuries
March 28, 2026: Kraken prospect playoff preview
March 21, 2026: Saarinen’s Liiga dominance, and the Kraken development track record
March 13, 2026: Kraken prospects mailbag – part 2
March 7, 2026: Seattle Kraken sign Ryden Evers, trade from draft asset depth
February 27, 2026: Rangers claim Tye Kartye, Kraken re-sign two forwards
February 20: 2026: David Goyette suspended for 20 games
February 13, 2026: Projecting NHL futures for Logan Morrison and Jagger Firkus
February 6, 2026: Seattle Kraken prospects midseason mailbag
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.