After finishing last in the Pacific Division in their maiden 2021-22 season, the Seattle Kraken made a statement in just their second year in the league. The young franchise reached its first Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2023, upsetting the Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the first round to become the first team in NHL history to win its inaugural playoff series against the defending Stanley Cup champions.
After a seven-game loss to the Dallas Stars in the second round, the team aimed to build on its unexpected success. However, since that run to the Western Conference semifinals, the Kraken have missed the playoffs for two consecutive seasons, finishing tied for fifth in the Pacific two years ago and seventh this past season.
With only one post-season appearance in its four seasons, Seattle has yet to give its fanbase much to get excited about. Playoff berths — successful ones, specifically — are a primary measure of a franchise’s growth, stability and long-term potential, and the Kraken are still searching for that proof.
Meanwhile, in comparison, fellow expansion team the Vegas Golden Knights — four years older than the Kraken franchise — have reached the playoffs in seven of their eight seasons, winning 12 playoff rounds in that time and capturing the Stanley Cup in 2023.
A central issue with the Kraken throughout their first four years of existence has been a lack of clear direction regarding who they are, where they want to go and how they will get there. As they enter their fifth season, the hope is that this will change under new general manager and executive vice president Jason Botterill, who replaces Ron Francis after his promotion to president of hockey operations, and new head coach Lane Lambert.
Our examination of each of the NHL’s 32 teams in 32 days continues here.
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Newcomer to watch: Mason Marchment
The Kraken acquired Marchment from the Dallas Stars on June 19 in exchange for a 2025 fourth-round pick and a 2026 third-round pick. The 30-year-old winger, who is six-foot-five and 212 pounds, had spent the past three seasons with the Stars, and before that, had stints with the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs. From Uxbridge, Ont., Marchment recorded 47 points (22 goals and 25 assists) in 62 regular-season games during the 2024-25 campaign, then added one goal and four assists over 18 playoff games as the Stars advanced to the Western Conference Final.
His offensive skill appealed to a Seattle team that ranked 16th in the NHL last season with 2.99 goals per game. “I think Mason has a unique combination of size, skill and strength,” Botterill said at the time of Marchment’s acquisition. “He works well down in the corners and around the net, and that’s an element we want to continue to add to our group here.” Botterill also noted that Marchment’s experience reaching the WCF in each of the past three seasons with Dallas would benefit Seattle, as it means “he knows the intensity of playoff hockey.”
Under-the-radar player to watch: Vince Dunn
Only seven of 30 players selected by the Kraken in the 2021 expansion draft remain in the organization, one of whom is Dunn. Although he gets plenty of attention in Seattle’s market, the left-shot blue-liner isn’t always part of broader NHL conversations. Dunn, 28, began his career with the St. Louis Blues, who drafted him 56th overall in 2015. He showed promise there and was steady, but his bigger role with the Kraken has allowed him to take on more responsibility. With Seattle lacking a true No. 1 defenceman, Dunn is often considered its best option, and he’s been deployed on the top pairing with fellow expansion pick Adam Larsson.
The Mississauga, Ont., native has averaged over 20 minutes per game during his time in Seattle and has been relied upon to move the puck and spark offence from the back end. His best offensive season came in 2022-23 — when the Kraken were at their peak — with 64 points (14 goals and 50 assists) in 81 games. This past season, he produced 39 points (11 goals and 28 assists) in 62 games, missing six weeks in the fall due to injury. However, over the past few seasons, his defensive reliability has slipped, and that’s an area he’ll likely look to improve this year.
Top prospect: Berkly Catton
Drafted eighth overall by the Kraken in 2024, Catton has a real shot of making Seattle’s opening-night roster. If he doesn’t stick around with the NHL club, the 19-year-old centre will have to be returned to the WHL, where he’s coming off back-to-back 100-plus point seasons with the Spokane Chiefs. He recorded 116 points (54 goals and 62 assists) in 68 games during the 2023-24 season. Then, as the Chiefs’ captain in 2024-25, the Saskatoon native produced 109 points (38 goals and 71 assists) in 57 games — third in the WHL — then added 42 points (11 goals and 31 assists) over 20 playoff contests as Spokane advanced to the WHL Championship Series.
“I think I’ve just been getting stronger, which helps out a whole bunch, and it kind of goes into the skating aspect of it,” Catton said during Seattle’s development camp in July. “Going back to junior to try to work on that (last year) was a big thing. And I think that improved a lot. Then, obviously, just the pro aspect … just playing more of a pro game. I think that got a lot better.”
Three burning questions
1. Can Philipp Grubauer hold onto the backup job?
Although he was Seattle’s starting goaltender in their inaugural season, Grubauer has been relegated to a backup role since 2022-23, first behind Martin Jones, and then Joey Daccord in each of the past two seasons. The 33-year-old has not posted a save percentage above .900 since joining the Kraken, after hitting that mark in every other season of his career.
In 2024-25, the German netminder endured his worst campaign to date, recording a 3.49 goals-against average and .875 save percentage over 26 starts. Seattle won just eight games with him in net, with only the San Jose Sharks and New York Islanders getting fewer victories from goalies outside their No. 1 options. His struggles led to him being placed on waivers and assigned to the AHL for the first time in a decade, where he worked with Coachella Valley goaltending coach Colin Zulianello, who has since been promoted to Seattle’s staff.
Grubauer showed signs of life upon his return, going 3-2-0 with a 2.19 goals-against average and .915 save percentage from March 8 through the end of the season. That stretch gave the Kraken a hint that he may still have a resurgence in him. Despite off-season buyout speculation, Seattle opted to keep Grubauer, but also added competition by signing 31-year-old free agent Matt Murray to a one-year, $1-million contract.
2. What identity will this team have under Lane Lambert?
About to embark on just their fifth NHL season, the Kraken are already onto their third head coach. Dan Bylsma was fired on April 21, after just one season with the team, following Dave Hakstol, who led the team from June 2021 to April 2024. Lambert now takes over with a résumé that saw him begin his coaching career in the WHL and AHL before breaking into the NHL as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators. He later went on to serve as an assistant with the Washington Capitals, helping them win the Stanley Cup in 2018, and as an associate with the New York Islanders before being promoted to the head job for a season and a half.
Lambert went 61-46-20 in 127 regular-season games as the Islanders’ bench boss and 2-4 in six playoff games before being replaced by Patrick Roy in January 2024. Most recently, he spent last season as an associate coach with the Toronto Maple Leafs. The 60-year-old from Melfort, Sask., was a second-round pick of the Detroit Red Wings in the 1983 NHL Draft and had 124 points in 283 regular-season games as a forward for the Detroit Red Wings, New York Rangers and Quebec Nordiques.
“When you put a list together of all the possible candidates, you’re trying to look at different things,” Botterill said, after Lambert’s hiring was announced. “We talked about leadership, we talked about someone focused on working with our young players, but also having a presence to handle our veteran players. And as we started going through things with Lane, we realized, ‘Wow, we’re talking a lot about the same vision.’” Lambert’s staff sees the return of Jessica Campbell, while the rest of the assistants and the goaltending coach are new.
3. Which young player is poised to break out?
While the Kraken have no shortage of good players, there’s debate over how many qualify as great, and whether the team has a true star at all. But one thing they do have is a promising group of young talent, led by forwards Matty Beniers, 22, Kaapo Kakko, 24, and Shane Wright, 21.
Beniers, the 2023 Calder Trophy winner, had an impressive rookie season in 2022-23, with 57 points (24 goals and 33 assists) in 80 games. Since then, though, his production has dipped to 37 and 43 points in the past two years. Even so, the second-overall pick in 2021 continues to develop a strong all-around game and is reliable defensively.
Wright, taken fourth overall in 2022, followed a slower path to the NHL but appears to be on a clearer upward trajectory now. In his first full season, in 2024-25, he posted 44 points (19 goals and 25 assists) in 79 games. Seattle used him in a mostly sheltered role, and although his defensive game remains a work in progress, the offensive potential is evident.
Kakko, meanwhile, joined the Kraken via a trade with the New York Rangers in December 2024 and re-signed this summer to a three-year, $13.575-million contract. He finished last season with a career-high 44 points (14 goals and 30 assists) in 79 games, including 30 points (10 goals and 20 assists) in 49 games after the trade. With more opportunity in Seattle than he had in New York, Kakko has the chance to break out.
Forwards Jani Nyman, 20, and Eeli Tolvanen, 25, along with 23-year-old defenceman Ryker Evans, are also key parts of the mix, rounding out a core of young players fuelling optimism in Seattle.
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