Saying the past week perfectly encapsulates the season might be a bit dramatic, but the Kraken’s pendulum swings over the past few games felt wider than usual, reminiscent of the vibes earlier this season. This team has some signature wins against great opponents—Carolina, Florida, Los Angeles, Minnesota, and Vegas—but also some brutal losses, including Chicago and San Jose… twice. I know this is the National Hockey League, where anyone can beat anyone on a given night, but I can’t recall another Kraken season with such extreme Jekyll-and-Hyde performances.
In case you missed it, the Kraken opened their light week with a brutal 7-2 loss to the St. Louis Blues in what was arguably their worst game of the season. The Blues are a desperate team fighting to stay in the playoff race, but that’s no excuse for how poorly the Kraken played. The players knew it, too, and acknowledged as much in postgame interviews.
After a 7-2 loss on Monday, Jared McCann described an “embarrassing” performance in St. Louis:
“We’ve got to play for the logo on the front, right? It’s an honor obviously to be in the NHL.” #SeaKraken
@SeattleKraken
» https://t.co/2VLyCfNYz3 pic.twitter.com/0CS2PX5vKU
— 93.3 KJR (@933KJR) February 26, 2025
The Kraken then returned to Climate Pledge Arena for their first home game since Feb. 6 to face the Vancouver Canucks. From the opening puck drop, the tone was set with hustle and physical play, as players finished their checks. The Kraken struck first on a slick backhand pass from Shane Wright that set up Andre Burakovsky for a one-timer.
Though the first period ended with Vancouver leading 2-1, the game had a different feel—there was fight and effort, something completely absent in St. Louis. If the Kraken were going down, they were going down swinging. They responded with three second-period goals and never looked back. The atmosphere inside CPA was electric, and the win—Seattle’s first at home since Jan. 30—felt long overdue.
Other musings
- It’s been clear for a while that the Kraken won’t make the playoffs this season, and in terms of long-term success, the best outcome would be losing more often to improve their odds in the NHL Draft lottery. But I don’t care. I’d rather see them go on a run and miss the playoffs than win the lottery.
- The win against Vancouver marked Seattle’s fifth home victory on a Saturday night this season. Last year, they didn’t win a single Saturday home game.
- The 6-3 win was also the 14th time this season the Kraken have scored five or more goals in a game. They only did that 10 times last season.
- Three of those goals were tip-ins—the most tip-in goals they’ve ever had in a single game—and they were all beauties.
the seattle kraken are *excellent* tipperspic.twitter.com/dDq9Oiz3oF
— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) March 2, 2025
- Since returning from the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the Kraken have had just six power-play opportunities—their fewest in any four-game stretch this season. The downside? We haven’t gotten much of a look at the new power-play unit, specifically Kaapo Kakko, Shane Wright, Matty Beniers, Jaden Schwartz, and Vince Dunn. That group will be something to watch down the stretch.
- Eeli Tolvanen’s two goals on Saturday night were his 17th and 18th of the season, matching a career high with 21 games remaining. Not bad for a waiver claim.
- With Mitchell Stephens back in Coachella Valley and Yanni Gourde still on injured reserve, Tolvanen played on the penalty kill for the first time this season. He logged 2:17 of ice time as the Kraken successfully killed off all four minutes of Vancouver’s power plays.
- If you haven’t seen Kraken coach Jessica Campbell on Hockey Night in Canada, you should. It’s a great segment.
- It’s hard to imagine heading into the offseason with “backup goalie” as the Kraken’s top priority, especially for a team likely to finish in the bottom seven. But that might be the case. The Kraken’s points percentage with Philipp Grubauer is just .262, compared to Joey Daccord’s .566. It’s tough to say exactly what a serviceable backup would have meant for the team, but with a league-average option, they’d probably still be in the playoff picture. By the way, Grubauer was recalled from Coachella Valley on Sunday and is now back with the Kraken.
- The battle for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference has turned into a chaotic mess, with no team seizing control. Calgary currently holds the last spot, but they’ve been struggling lately.
- Not sure if anyone caught the NHL’s outdoor game over the weekend, featuring the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets at The Horseshoe, but it was a fantastic game with some incredible tributes to Johnny Gaudreau. While outdoor games have lost some of their mass appeal, I still enjoy them and think two or three per year is the right number.
Goal of the week
I already mentioned the tip-in goals, but I loved the entire Shane-to-Burky sequence. It really set the tone in the building that night.
Player performances
Jani Nyman (CVF/SEA) – Li’l Jani put up three points in the Coachella Valley Firebirds’ 6-5 win over the San Diego Gulls on Friday night. I expect we’ll see him in Seattle for a handful of NHL games down the stretch.
Clarke Caswell (SCB/SEA) – The Kraken’s fifth-round pick from the 2024 NHL Draft tallied four assists in two games over the weekend. The forward now has 75 points in 56 games this season.
Ryan Donato (CHI) – The former Kraken forward has two goals and three assists in his last three games. With a trade expected this week, he remains an easy player to root for come playoff time.
The week ahead
The Kraken have four games on the schedule this week, starting with a home matchup against the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. They’ll then hit the road for three games—Thursday in Nashville, followed by a back-to-back against Philadelphia and Washington over the weekend. Seattle already has wins against Minnesota, Nashville, and Philadelphia this season, so there’s an opportunity to string some victories together.
Now that Philipp Grubauer has been recalled, I wonder if he’ll see game action before the back-to-back. There’s no sugarcoating his struggles this season, but I’d like to see him play and hopefully regain some confidence.
Trade deadline
As much as I wish the focus this week was solely on the games, that won’t be the case with Friday’s NHL Trade Deadline looming. Things have been quiet on the Kraken front, but movement is picking up around the league. Nothing has changed since we published our Kraken trade deadline primer weeks ago, but that won’t stop me from speculating.
One potential trade partner for the Kraken could be the Washington Capitals. They’re reportedly looking for a depth center, and Yanni Gourde fits that mold. The Capitals expect Ryan Leonard to join the team after his season at Boston College, making him a key part of their future at center. If that happens, Hendrix Lapierre could become a valuable trade chip. While a Kraken trade for Lapierre specifically might not be in the cards, that’s the type of move I hope Seattle makes at the deadline.
There is still a good possibility that Gourde signs an extension to stay in Seattle for a few more seasons. If that happens, the Kraken could be in for a quiet deadline.
That’s all for this week! If you have any thoughts or questions, drop them in the comments.
The post Monday Musings: The Kraken pendulum swings appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
We had heard whispers that the NHL Trade Deadline might be quieter than expected for the Seattle Kraken. But that theory was emphatically debunked Wednesday when Elliotte Friedman and Pierre LeBrun reported that the Kraken were working on a deal to send veteran forwards Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
In return, the Kraken are reportedly receiving a bounty: the Lightning’s first-round draft picks in 2026 and 2027, Toronto’s second-round pick in the upcoming draft, and depth forward Michael Eyssimont, who is on an expiring contract. Lebrun has indicated that Detroit is involved in facilitating the deal, retaining 25 percent of Gourde’s contract, and that Seattle will retain half of his contract. The Kraken are also sending their 2026 fifth-round pick to Tampa Bay.
(Update: It is worth noting that the first-round picks are top-10 protected. If either ends up being a lottery pick, then the Lightning will have the option of sliding them back to 2028 and 2029).
Still, that is a massive return, especially considering Gourde has been playing exclusively on the fourth line and is set to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.
Getting three high draft picks was not the type of return we envisioned general manager Ron Francis to be seeking at this deadline, but the beauty of this deal is that those assets can now be used as currency to improve the roster—either in the coming days or during the offseason.
Gourde and Bjorkstrand will be missed
While this was a deal the Kraken couldn’t pass up, we will certainly miss Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand. The Maestro and the Pepperpot have both had some magical moments with the organization, from Bjorkstrand’s two-goal performance in Game 7 of Seattle’s lone playoff series win over the Colorado Avalanche to Gourde’s ever-present, mid-scrum smiles.
Assuming he doesn’t sign back in Seattle after the season (which remains a possibility), Gourde closes his Kraken tenure with 52 goals and 94 assists in 271 games over four seasons. He now returns to the only other NHL franchise he has played for as Tampa Bay gears up for a playoff run. Before leaving via the 2021 Expansion Draft, Gourde recorded 80 goals and 107 assists in 310 games with the Lightning, winning two Stanley Cups along the way.
Bjorkstrand, acquired in a trade with Columbus during the 2022 offseason for just a third- and fourth-round pick, tallied 56 goals and 85 assists in 224 games with Seattle. He has one year remaining on his contract, which will pay him $5.4 million next season.
Michael Eyssimont incoming
We will wait to hear from Francis later this week on the reasoning behind acquiring Eyssimont, but our guess is that it was a “warm body” move to help make the dollars work for Tampa Bay. It reminds us of how Daniel Sprong was thrown into the deal with the Capitals at the 2021-22 deadline, when Marcus Johansson was traded away. Sprong arrived with few expectations but ended up earning a role.
Like Gourde, Eyssimont is a depth forward on an expiring contract. He can help fill the void left in Seattle’s roster by playing fourth-line center down the stretch if needed.
The 6-foot-0, 191-pound forward has 10 points (5-5—10) in 57 games for the Lightning this season. He has played limited minutes, averaging just 10:41 per game, but that’s on a stacked Tampa Bay roster.
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 [email protected].
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The post REPORT: Kraken trading Gourde, Bjorkstrand to Lightning for huge return appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
For those Kraken fans hoping the team will tank the rest of the season for the highest possible draft pick, Seattle’s game Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild was ideal. The game was fun to watch, and the home team put in a good effort, but spotting a strong defensive squad a three-goal lead and then trying to battle back was too big of a hill to climb. Ultimately, the pro-tank crowd got the outcome it wanted, with a Seattle comeback falling just short and the Wild skating away with a 4-3 win.
“I thought there was a lot of good [in our game],” coach Dan Bylsma said. “I just felt the puck went in a little too easily for various reasons at the beginning of the game.”
The Kraken tilted the ice and allowed just one shot on goal as they tried to find the equalizer in the third period, but Filip Gustavsson stood tall for Minnesota and stopped all 11 Seattle offerings.
The big storyline coming into this one was Yanni Gourde’s return to action and the implications of the upcoming NHL Trade Deadline, but Shane Wright did some things that also deserve mentioning.
Here are Three Takeaways from a 4-3 Kraken loss to the Wild.
Takeaway #1: Here’s Yanni!
Yanni Gourde played Tuesday for the first time since Jan. 2. The pesky veteran center missed 22 games after undergoing surgery to repair a sports hernia. Adding to the intrigue of his return, he has been widely rumored as a potential trade candidate before Friday’s deadline.
In terms of his performance, he looked like his old self. He was fast and physical, and in the middle of the second period, he went right to the top of the blue paint, where he ran into Gustavsson and mucked things up with his signature Yanni Gourde smirk.
“We missed him since Jan. 2,” Bylsma said. “To have his energy and his passion was noticeable for us to have him back in the lineup tonight.”
Gourde logged 12:53 of ice time and registered the second assist on Brandon Montour’s rocket of a shot that cut Minnesota’s lead to 4-3 with 11 seconds left in the second period, setting up an exciting third.
There’s a bigger picture to consider with Gourde’s return, though; with the NHL Trade Deadline looming on Friday, Gourde has been frequently mentioned in trade rumors, and if he were to move, then this would have been his last home game as a Kraken.
He was asked about this after the game and said, “I’m focusing on what I can control, and that’s— yeah, I can control showing up tomorrow, working hard, and that’s all I can control. So that’s what I’m focused on, and we’ll see what happens the next few days.”
He was also asked if there have been discussions about a contract extension with Seattle, and he said, “Yeah, we’ve been—“ before cutting himself off and adding, “There’s been communication. That’s all I’ll say.”
If I were a betting man, I’d say he sticks around, but stay tuned.
Takeaway #2: Shane Wright is blossoming
Shane Wright has been talked about a lot this season, but it’s remarkable to think back to how he looked before his series of healthy scratches earlier this year compared to how he looks now. The kid is flying around the ice, and every time he’s out there, he does something that makes you raise your eyebrows.
While I’ve always been cautiously optimistic about Wright’s future, I’ve also had reservations about how high his ceiling will be. But seeing him play with this level of confidence makes me think the sky is the limit for the 21-year-old center if this is the norm for him.
“I’m obviously trying to play confident, try to play my game and just continue to improve and continue to learn as much as I can and just kind of grow with every game I play,” Wright said.
After posting two assists in Seattle’s win Saturday over Vancouver, Wright scored a power-play goal Tuesday, one-timing Oliver Bjorkstrand’s seam pass and getting a little help from Brock Faber’s stick blade to fool Gustavsson at 14:10 of the second.
WRIGHT AS RAIN!️
Great seam pass by Bjorkstrand, and Shane Wright gets a little help from Faber’s stick for the power-play goal.
4-2 Wild. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/CmKneqXKtn
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 5, 2025
He now has seven power-play goals on the season, leading the team by three (Bjorkstrand and Montour are tied for second with four each).
If this is who Wright will consistently be—and I’m beginning to believe it is, as he has remained effective for two months now—then Kraken fans should have high hopes that he can be a cornerstone player for many years to come.
Takeaway #3: Goals going in “too easily”
There were some interesting quirks in this game. The Kraken didn’t challenge for goalie interference on Vinnie Hinostroza’s deflection goal at 12:27 of the first to make it 1-0 (Bylsma said they didn’t challenge because Jamie Oleksiak pushed Hinostroza into Joey Daccord). They did challenge for a missed high-stick call after former Kraken Devin Shore appeared to make it 5-3 in the third period and won that one. They also got a rare penalty shot and power play on the same play after Faber was called for slashing Eeli Tolvanen on a penalty shot and then boarding him, earning two separate infractions (Seattle failed to score on either).
The biggest issue was that Seattle gave itself too big of a hill to climb, falling behind 4-1 in the first half of the game before turning on the afterburners and trying to claw back.
Statistically, it was a tough night for Daccord, who faced only 20 shots and ended the game with an .800 save percentage. But he was disrupted on the first goal, had a dual-layer screen on the second goal with Hinostroza and Josh Mahura both standing in front of him when Jared Spurgeon banked a perfect shot off the post, then watched as Frederick Gaudreau got a bounce off Jamie Oleksiak’s skate, and Mats Zuccarello and Marcus Johansson executed a pretty give-and-go to make it 4-1 in the second.
To Seattle’s credit, it eventually clamped down on the Wild in a way we haven’t seen too often this season, controlling the last 27-ish minutes of the game. But in the end, it still wasn’t enough.
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 [email protected].
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The post Three Takeaways – Yanni Gourde returns, Kraken fall short in 4-3 loss to Wild appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
In a scoreless game against the Chicago Blackhawks at Climate Pledge Arena on Nov. 14, Seattle Kraken captain Jordan Eberle sprinted after defenseman Connor Murphy, hoping to strip him of the puck and create an offensive opportunity just 17 seconds into the second period.
Eberle lunged, trying to lift Murphy’s stick, but as he did so, he lost his footing. Both players went down and began careening out of control across the freshly resurfaced ice, destined for a hard, dangerous slam into the end wall. Murphy was lucky to go into the boards feet first, but Eberle was in a more vulnerable position, prone on his stomach as he crossed the goal line. A split second before impact, he managed to twist his body backward, absorbing the crash with his lower back instead of his head and neck.
While he did well to position himself in a less dangerous way than if he had gone in headfirst, the force of the collision was still too much for his body to withstand.
“I hit the boards hard, and I just knew instantly something was wrong,” Eberle said.
As Murphy got up and skated away, Eberle remained down on all fours while conversing with athletic trainer Justin Rogers. The silence in Climate Pledge Arena was deafening, as the home crowd held its collective breath, waiting to see if the veteran forward would get back up.
He eventually made it to his feet and coasted slowly to the bench, doubled over in pain. When he got off the ice and attempted to step toward the tunnel, his legs didn’t respond as expected.
“I got up and skated to the bench, and as soon as I took a step, I was like, ‘Oh, I can’t walk.’ And then the athletic trainers had to help me.”
No immediate answers
Rogers and assistant athletic trainer Phil Varney helped Eberle down the tunnel and into the athletic training room, where he was examined. Fearing the 34-year-old had broken his hips, it was determined Eberle should go to the hospital in an ambulance. There, Eberle underwent a CT scan, but to his surprise, the scan didn’t reveal anything out of place. He still couldn’t lift his legs, though, so he was quickly referred to a local trauma surgeon by the Kraken medical staff.
“I went and saw a hip specialist, and he looked at it and immediately was like, ‘Yeah, this is what you’ve done. You’ve separated your pubic symphysis joint.’”
The pubic symphysis joint is where the right and left portions of the pubis connect in the middle. By stretching this, the two sides of Eberle’s pelvis had increased laxity (or looseness), leaving his lower body without structural integrity. It was a serious injury requiring a rare surgery to repair.
An unprecedented injury in hockey
The hip specialist explained that to repair the pubic symphysis joint, a plate would need to be screwed onto the bones to reconnect the two sides of the pelvis. While this gave Eberle a clear diagnosis, the injury was virtually unheard of in hockey, and a lack of shared knowledge in the sport about how to recover from the procedure made him apprehensive.
“Before I got the surgery, I reached out, tried to find a hockey player who had done this, and there was nobody,” Eberle recalled. “I tried to find a football player too, and there was nobody.”
Seattle’s medical staff had to think outside the box, searching for athletes in other sports who had experienced a similar injury to gain insight into the recovery process.
“Our doctor here found some rugby players who had done it. He spoke to two of them who had done it, and they were good, and he spoke to a third who didn’t do it and tried to recover naturally, and he ended up needing the surgery later on.”
That was all the information Eberle needed to move forward with the procedure. On Nov. 22, the Kraken announced that he had undergone pelvic surgery and would be out for three months.
Bad timing
There’s never a good time for a major injury, but this was especially bad timing. Eberle’s wife, Lauren, was nine months pregnant and due to deliver the couple’s third child at any moment. (In fact, just days before the fateful crash into the boards, Sound Of Hockey had spoken with Eberle about the challenges of becoming a dad in the middle of an NHL season.)
Indeed, baby girl Landyn was born two days after the surgery—while Eberle was completely immobilized.
Jordan Eberle holding his newborn baby, Landyn, while immobilized. (From Lauren Rodych-Eberle’s Instagram)
“None of the praise should go to me,” Eberle said. “I was just lying in a hospital bed. My wife basically did it all, so she had three kids, and basically, I was the fourth kid lying there too.”
Thankfully, Jordan’s mom was able to come to Seattle and help Lauren, as were Lauren’s parents for various stretches.
“When you’re immobile for a month, and you’re just in a bed, you can’t do as much as you want. But I think [Lauren] was a big rock and a big reason why I’ve gotten to this point.”
A long road to recovery
In addition to the support system Eberle had at home, he also praised how the Kraken organization handled his recovery, allowing him to focus entirely on getting back to full strength at the right pace.
“I kind of had an idea in my head [for when I wanted to get back], but, once again, there wasn’t really any basis behind it, as far as anyone doing it. So just the mental roller coaster was— I think I had a great support system here, and with the team, they were just like, ‘Make sure you take care of it, and when you get back, you get back.’
“There wasn’t any pressure to come back early or late. There was no information on any of it, so it was as simple as trying to get better each day. And when days weren’t good, you tried to stay positive. When days were good, you just tried to keel it back a little bit… It was a wild experience.”
That patience from the organization was needed, because Eberle’s progression back from the injury was a long, arduous road. He spent a month in a hospital bed, then progressed to a wheelchair, then to crutches, and eventually to walking and skating.
Eberle admitted that the uncertainty of the situation was always on his mind during the recovery.
“I’d be lying if… yeah, of course,” Eberle said when asked if he had considered whether he may not be able to play again. “I think any time you get the news of what happened and [have them] basically telling you what the surgery entails, and no one’s ever done this, I mean, it crosses your mind. But I think once you start progressing each day, and you start moving… I think I tried not to let that get to me as much as it was in my head.
“[And then it was] not so much about not ever playing, it was more so about not being the same player with what they had to do. But once I got on the ice, and made progress each day, and I saw myself getting better, and I saw each step that I was taking of basically learning to skate with a plate where something shouldn’t be, then I got better and better and better.”
Jordan Eberle skates in a game Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. (Photo/Brian Liesse)
While there was no pressure to hit a specific return date, the Kraken’s estimated three-month recovery timeline turned out to be almost exactly right. Eberle was back in game action on Feb. 22 against the Florida Panthers. Since then, he has skated in five games, logging as much as 17:06 of ice time and registering an assist in each of Seattle’s last two games against Vancouver on Saturday and Minnesota on Tuesday.
More work left to do
Knowing what Eberle endured makes his return all the more impressive. Seattle coach Dan Bylsma shares that admiration for his perseverance.
“What’s remarkable about his recovery is just the work and the determination Ebs put in off the ice to [get back] in a relatively unknown situation,” Bylsma said. “There’s not a prescribed rehab for an athlete, for the surgery or the injury that he had, and so it was a little bit of an unknown. And the way he plowed through it, the way he worked through it, is quite remarkable.”
And while Eberle is back competing in the NHL, he knows he still has plenty of work to do to return to the level he was playing at before the injury—when he looked to be on pace for a career season.
“I’m happy I’m at the point now where I’m not thinking about it on the ice, I’m just playing, you know? There’s probably a little bit of tightness there, but that’s just going to happen for the rest of the year, probably. And I’m hoping once I get back to a good summer of training and get my speed and my quickness back, I can get right back to where I was.”
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 [email protected].
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The post “I just knew something was wrong” – Inside Jordan Eberle’s grueling comeback from rare pelvis injury appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
Good morning, and happy NHL Trade Deadline day to all who celebrate and/or get incredibly stressed out by it. On Thursday, the Seattle Kraken made one last pre-deadline whimper in Nashville, losing 5-3 to a very bad team and getting outplayed for most of the game.
I won’t go quite as deep in this one as I do with other Three Takeaways, but there were a couple of interesting notes, so let’s touch on those before we get back to refreshing social media every 30 seconds looking for trade news.
Seattle came out hot and took a 1-0 lead on Adam Larsson’s goal (he should have had three or four in the game), but then it was all Nashville for much of the remainder of the contest.
These are Three (relatively quick) Takeaways from a 5-3 Kraken loss to the Predators.
Takeaway #1: Brandon Tanev held out for possible trade
It is no secret the Seattle Kraken are willing (and perhaps wanting) to move Brandon Tanev in advance of Friday’s 12 p.m. Pacific deadline. They are so committed to moving him, in fact, that they held him out of this game to ensure he didn’t get injured just before a deal could get consummated.
With how this market has developed over the last few days, I’m certainly curious to see what kind of return Seattle can get for Tanev and others. Given that the market has proven to be a very strong seller’s market, I’m all for Seattle having a busy day.
If Tanev goes, it will sting for many fans who have enjoyed his hard-nosed style since Day 1, but it’s the right move for Seattle to get as much as possible for him and his expiring contract.
Takeaway #2: Newcomers showed well
With Tanev out, Yanni Gourde traded away, Mikey Eyssimont now in the fold, and Jacob Melanson and Ben Meyers called up from Coachella Valley, coach Dan Bylsma assembled a brand-new fourth line consisting of the latter three players.
Melanson didn’t play much in his NHL debut, logging just 9:53 of ice time, but he lived up to his billing as a gritty player willing to muck things up and go to hard areas. We know the organization has been high on Melanson, a 21-year-old winger selected in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL Draft, and we believe he has a future with the Kraken, especially now that players cut from that same cloth (Gourde and Tanev) are gone or soon to be gone.
I especially loved one of Melanson’s early shifts when he forechecked hard in the corner to create some chaos for Nashville’s defenders, then beelined to the top of the crease and started whacking away at loose pucks, narrowly missing a goal of his own and creating a rebound opportunity for Larsson. He was also seen in the middle of a scrum after throwing his body around behind Nashville’s net.
With missing teeth, a big cut across his nose, and a willingness to do the things you want a fourth-liner to do, Melanson fits the mold as a player that could grow into a fan favorite if he sticks around. Perhaps that will at least partially alleviate some of the pain of veteran core players exiting.
Eyssimont played a little more than Melanson, logging 12:39 of ice time. I didn’t notice him as much as Melanson until late in the game when he scored his first goal as a Kraken off a quick-strike tip of a Josh Mahura shot-pass.
A MIKEY STRIKEY!
Mikey Eyssimont scores in his first game as a #SeaKraken.
5-3 NSH, though. pic.twitter.com/aEOSdOUbsz
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 7, 2025
On a night when Yanni Gourde assisted on Oliver Bjorkstrand’s first goal for the Tampa Bay Lightning, it was fun to see Eyssimont get one, even though it came in garbage time.
Takeaway #3: It could be an interesting day
Plain and simple, this wasn’t a very good game for the Kraken, but I’ve turned my full attention to the trade deadline at this point.
There have been some massive rumblings around the NHL from late Thursday into Friday morning, and returns for players of any kind of value have been massive.
When the Kraken are working on moves, Francis and his staff tend to hold their cards very close to the vest. So, although Seattle hasn’t been mentioned in many other recent rumors outside of Tanev, it would not surprise me to see a flurry of movement as the morning goes on.
Here’s hoping Seattle can take more advantage of this wild trade market. We shall see…
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 [email protected].
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The post Three Takeaways – Tanev held out, Melanson and Eyssimont show well in Kraken loss to Predators appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
As expected, Brandon Tanev has been traded to the Winnipeg Jets for a second-round pick in 2027, as reported by Darren Dreger. Tanev was held out of Thursday night’s game in Nashville for trade-related purposes while this deal was finalized. It’s a homecoming, in a way, for Tanev, who spent parts of the first four seasons of his NHL career in Winnipeg.
The second-round pick is a solid return for Tanev. The Kraken will have to wait until 2027 to use it, but like the picks acquired in the Yanni Gourde/Oliver Bjorkstrand trade, it could also serve as a valuable asset in a future trade.
Tanev was the Seattle Kraken’s 2021 Expansion Draft selection from the Pittsburgh Penguins and has been with the team since its inaugural season. He has appeared in 238 games for Seattle, tallying 83 points (41 goals, 42 assists) and also played in all 14 Kraken playoff games, contributing four points (one goal, three assists). One of his most memorable goals for the Kraken was a shorthanded tally in Game 2 of the first round of the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Colorado Avalanche. The Kraken won the series but lost that game 3-2, though Tanev’s celebration lives on.
Tanev’s skill set
Tanev was not known for his scoring contributions but rather for his high-energy and physical play, which earned him the nickname “Turbo.” The fast-skating Tanev ranks in the 91st percentile in the NHL for speed bursts over 20 mph, according to NHL Edge data as of March 6.
In addition to his speed, Tanev was a key penalty killer, leading all Kraken forwards in average shorthanded ice time (2:19) since the inaugural season. He was a fixture on the penalty kill and will be missed.
Defensively, Tanev leaves Seattle as the franchise leader among forwards in both blocked shots (243) and hits (558). These stats underscore the heart and effort he brought to the ice, which is why he became a fan favorite in Seattle.
Fourth-line shakeup
This season, Tanev primarily played as a fourth-line winger. With Jordan Eberle easing back into the lineup and rotating between the third and fourth lines, he was bound to return to a top-six role. Oliver Bjorkstrand’s trade to the Tampa Bay Lightning accelerated that transition, as Eberle joined the second line against the Nashville Predators on Thursday night. Jacob Melanson, Ben Meyers, and Mikey Eyssimont formed the fourth line in that game, while Tanev sat out for trade-related reasons. The trio was noticeable as a true fourth line.
Tye Kartye was recalled from his stint in Coachella Valley and will likely slot back in as well, meaning the fourth line will be a rotating mix of players. As the season winds down, expect more call-ups from Coachella Valley to give young prospects valuable NHL experience. Players like Jani Nyman (“Li’l Jani”) and Ryan Winterton could see ice time before the year is up.
The Tanev trade is no surprise
Hockey is a business, and while it’s tough to see original Kraken players leave, there were indications that Tanev was unlikely to re-sign with Seattle after this season. In that context, getting a valuable asset in return is a positive. The Kraken continue their push to improve and get younger, and this move aligns with that objective.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
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The post BREAKING: Brandon Tanev traded to Winnipeg Jets for second-round pick appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
Now that the dust has settled on the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, I wanted to share my thoughts on what the Seattle Kraken did—and didn’t do—taking a more holistic view than in past articles that focused more specifically on the Yanni Gourde/Oliver Bjorkstrand deal and the Brandon Tanev deal.
In total, the Seattle Kraken moved out four players—Gourde, Bjorkstrand, Tanev, and Ding Dong Daniel Sprong [tear]—and received two top-10 protected first-round draft picks, two second-round picks, a seventh-round pick, and 28-year-old depth forward Mikey Eyssimont, who is on an expiring contract and could theoretically be brought back next year if Seattle wants him.
In terms of return, it’s a fantastic haul of draft capital that gives Seattle five first-round picks and five second-round picks over the next three NHL Drafts.
Coming into this deadline period, I was personally hopeful that the organization would use it as an opportunity to bring in more young players—guys who perhaps haven’t had the chance to excel at the NHL level yet or who are stuck in situations where the upside is clear, but the fit just hasn’t worked for whatever reason (i.e., more Kaapo Kakko types). Instead, general manager Ron Francis swung deals almost entirely for draft picks, which does seem to be the more common return this time of year.
Currency for future deals
At face value, the draft picks acquired won’t help the team for years. A 2026 late-first-round pick likely wouldn’t have a shot at becoming a full-time NHLer and making a real impact until at least 2029, maybe later. But even late first-rounders are valuable chips in this league, so Francis and his staff should be able to parlay them into NHL-ready talent during the offseason.
Francis confirmed this as the plan in his press conference on Friday.
“I said we’ve got 10 picks. We’re not sitting here hoping to draft 10 players, we’re hoping to use those picks as capital to try and acquire players and speed things up.”
While this trade deadline was a full-blown seller’s market, it’s exciting to think about the kind of talent Francis could land if he really is willing to throw around first- and second-round picks this summer.
They could have done more
I was generally very impressed with the return Seattle got for the trades it made. Bringing back two first-rounders and a second in the Gourde/Bjorkstrand deal is nothing short of remarkable, and getting a second-round pick with no salary retention for the expiring contract of overpaid fourth-liner Brandon Tanev is more than fair. So, credit where it’s due—because on the heels of the Kakko trade earlier this season, Francis and Co. did a great job with these moves.
Heck, even getting a seventh-rounder for Sprong is notable, considering he was acquired for a bag of pucks earlier this season and didn’t even stick with the NHL club.
The greedy side of me wishes Francis had continued striking while the iron was hot, though. Trading Bjorkstrand—who was an All-Star last season, had 16 goals and 21 assists this season, and still has a year left on his contract—was a signal that the team was ready to shake up its core beyond just moving impending unrestricted free agents.
With the kinds of returns being thrown around for players of that caliber, I was curious to see what Francis could get for guys like Jamie Oleksiak and Jaden Schwartz, whose names somehow stayed out of any major rumors leading up to the deadline.
Again, credit where it’s due, but there was an opportunity to bring back even more and create an even bigger shakeup in a core that hasn’t delivered enough success.
The health excuse
I’m also not a fan of the injury excuse, which Francis brought up in his press conference—while also simultaneously stating that injuries shouldn’t be used as an excuse. He implied that the team was closer to contention than it appeared, even though it was 11 points out of a playoff spot when the trades started, and that missing Jordan Eberle for most of the season, along with significant injuries to Vince Dunn and Yanni Gourde, hurt their chances.
“Obviously, we want to get healthy and hope that that happens next year,” Francis said. “We have to look at things, because obviously I felt going into the season, we’re a team that could compete for a playoff spot, and we’re not there.”
It’s true that those injuries had a major impact on the team’s ability to compete, throwing the lineup into a seemingly never-ending state of flux. But then I think about a team like the Minnesota Wild, who beat the Kraken last week. They have been decimated by injuries this season and have been without their superstar forward Kirill Kaprizov since Jan. 26. In fact, Kaprizov has only played 37 games all season, and other key players like Jonas Brodin, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Jared Spurgeon have also missed significant time.
I’m not saying Minnesota is the ideal model to follow—they’ve never won a Stanley Cup—but despite many injury issues, they are still firmly in a playoff spot. My point here is that a roster needs to be deep enough to withstand a few injuries to key players, because injuries happen every single year to every single team.
So, here’s hoping that the draft capital acquired at this deadline is put to good use and that the Kraken ice a much more talented team next season that can withstand the absences that will surely happen again.
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 [email protected].
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The post Closing thoughts from the Seattle Kraken’s trade deadline appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
All things considered, it was a pretty fun weekend of Seattle Kraken hockey. In back-to-back games with travel, Seattle prevailed 4-1 against the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday and had the Eastern Conference-leading Washington Capitals on the ropes for much of Sunday afternoon before falling just short in a 4-2 loss.
Now that Seattle has fully thrown in the towel on its postseason hopes, the results don’t matter as much anymore—just getting to watch entertaining games is all we ask for.
Here are Three Takeaways from an fun pair of Kraken games against the Flyers and Capitals.
Takeaway #1: Big weekend for Chandler Stephenson
Center Chandler Stephenson—despite some criticism from Kraken fans due to the seven-year, $43.75 million contract he signed as a free agent—has quietly put together a solid first season in the Pacific Northwest.
He had a standout weekend, scoring a shorthanded goal on a breakaway Saturday in Philadelphia and assisting on Jordan Eberle’s Sunday, the captain’s first goal since returning from a pelvis injury.
Stephenson’s assist Sunday was pretty. Eeli Tolvanen gained control of the puck along the boards in the neutral zone and flicked it ahead past three Capitals players. Stephenson collected the puck and skated in on a 2-on-1 with Eberle, threading a pass through newly acquired Capitals forward Anthony Beauvillier. Eberle buried it short-side.
O Captain! My Captain!
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 9, 2025
That was Stephenson’s 32nd assist of the season, leading the Kraken in that category. He now has 43 points (11 goals, 32 assists), ranking second on the team behind Jared McCann.
Takeaway #2: Gru back in the net
Philipp Grubauer got his first start in net against the Flyers on Saturday since being recalled from the Coachella Valley Firebirds. He made the most of his AHL stint, going 5-2 in the minors, and returned with a strong performance.
Grubauer allowed just one goal, and even that came off a fluky play. Ryker Evans attempted to poke the puck away from Owen Tippett but inadvertently popped it up, causing it to bounce off Tippett and trickle past Grubauer.
Statistically, Grubauer posted a .958 save percentage, his second-best outing of the season. He was the best penalty killer on the ice too, helping Seattle shut down all five of Philadelphia’s power play opportunities.
One common criticism of Grubauer is that he doesn’t always make the big save when needed. That wasn’t the case Saturday. With the game tied 1-1, rookie sensation Matvei Michkov collected a rebound and backhanded what looked like a sure goal toward an open net, but Grubauer reached back with his glove and snagged it out of the air. Just 38 seconds later, Matty Beniers scored, and the Kraken never looked back.
Takeaway #3: Special teams
Seattle had four power play opportunities against the Capitals but couldn’t convert. They maintained possession in the offensive zone but struggled to generate quality chances against Washington’s seventh-ranked penalty kill (81.7 percent). Adding in a 0-for-3 effort against Philadelphia, the Kraken went 0-for-7 on the power play over the weekend.
On the flip side, they didn’t allow a power-play goal and even scored shorthanded, finishing plus-one in special teams situations. The Flyers, coached by John Tortorella, came up empty on five power plays and have struggled all season, converting just 15.3 percent of their chances.
Seattle’s power play continues to be a problem, clicking at just 18.4 percent—26th in the NHL and below last season’s mark of 20.7 percent (16th in the NHL).
Bonus Takeaway: The back-to-back struggles continue
Seattle came out strong against Washington, outshooting the Capitals 14-7 in the first period and taking a 1-0 lead. The Kraken have struggled with slow starts this season, but that wasn’t the case Sunday. However, despite a solid effort, they ultimately fell to the now league-leading Capitals. It never felt like they gave up—until Alex Ovechkin sealed the game with an empty-net goal, the 886th of his career.
The Kraken are now 0-10 in the second leg of back-to-back games. They have one more back-to-back set this season on March 18-19 against the Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild. While the playoffs are out of reach this year, figuring out how to win these tough turnaround games will be crucial if Seattle hopes to make a playoff push next season.
The post Three Takeaways – Seattle Kraken split weekend matinee back-to-back games appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
The Seattle Kraken wrapped up the week 1-3-0, but the story of the week wasn’t the outcomes on the ice. In case you’ve been in isolation since last Wednesday, the Kraken made three trades, sending three cornerstone players off to greener pastures. Last Wednesday, the Kraken traded Yanni Gourde and Oliver Bjorkstrand to the Tampa Bay Lightning for two first-round draft picks, a second-round pick, and Mikey Eyssimont. Then, on Friday morning, the Kraken sent Brandon Tanev to the Winnipeg Jets for a second-round pick.
All three players had devout followings among Kraken faithful, and in the case of Tanev and Gourde, they were two of the remaining original NHL Expansion Draft picks from 2021. Both Tanev and Gourde were on expiring contracts, so neither of their trades came as a surprise. We also predicted a player with term might be traded as well: enter Bjorkstrand.
Now what?
As of now, the 2025-26 Seattle Kraken roster got worse with Bjorkstrand’s departure, but what the team lost in on-ice skill, they captured in significant currency that can be leveraged to make next season’s team better. The Kraken now have five first-round draft picks and five second-round draft picks over the next three drafts. But don’t think that signals the Kraken are rebuilding.
General manager Ron Francis made himself available to several media outlets since the trade deadline, and he made it clear that the team plans to use these newly acquired assets this offseason. Speaking to Ian Furness on KJR radio last Friday, Ron said, “We are not looking to draft 10 players with these 10 picks. What we’re hoping to do is package the first and second or two seconds or two firsts or whatever we have to do in the summertime leading up to the draft to go out and get somebody.”
These situations are usually available when teams are up against the cap, but with the upper limit of the salary cap going up by $7.5 million next season, getting teams to flip valuable assets might be easier said than done now that all 32 teams get some more breathing room.
The Kraken currently have over $20 million in cap space for next season, but they will still need to sign pending restricted free agents Tye Kartye, Ryker Evans, and last but not least, Kaapo Kakko.
Here is a quick look at the cap situation for the Kraken next season:
That is a lot of cap space, and there is also a scenario where they don’t spend it in free agency and hope someone needs to dump a bigger contract after free agency, like Columbus handed Bjorkstrand over to Seattle or Minnesota with Kevin Fiala back in 2022.
Forever grateful for Yanni Gourde
We all knew it was coming, but from a fan’s perspective, losing Yanni Gourde was a heartbreaker. I don’t think you could have launched a franchise with a better personality than Yanni. I remember his first training camp back in 2021 when he was flying around the ice with a red non-contact jersey while rehabbing from an offseason shoulder injury.
From Day 1, his compete level was so fun to watch. He was a spark plug on the ice and left it all out there every game he played. He was obviously a huge part of the 2023 playoff team and was a player built for the playoffs. He led the Kraken in points in their only playoff appearance, including this beauty of a timely goal in Game 1 of the second-round series against Dallas.
I also loved his uncanny ability to be consistently transparent in interviews when most hockey interviews give you the same cliché responses. He was great when we had him on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast too, but one of my favorite interviews was the one he gave Piper in a game where the Kraken looked awful.
There was also the human element that gave us a glimpse of Yanni and the Gourdes off the ice. It is impossible to narrow down one moment as my favorite, but this season’s Gourds with Gourde was a great look into how he and his family shared some of his off-ice life in Seattle.
We will miss you, Yanni, and wish you all the best for the rest of this season and beyond.
Oliver Bjorkstrand
Listeners of the pod know that Bjorkstrand was one of my favorite players. Getting him for a third- and a fourth-round pick in the summer of 2022 was a steal for Ron Francis and company. Bjorkstrand was very soft-spoken off the ice, which was part of his charm. He was a big reason why the Kraken even qualified for the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and they would not have advanced to the second round without his two goals in their 2-1 win in Game 7 of Round 1 against the Colorado Avalanche.
I was also able to interact with Oliver a bit off the ice when I presented him with a loaf of Rugbrød for our preseason podcast interview. I wish you all could have seen his surprised face as I pulled the loaf out of the bag. He was always nice to people around him and always gracious with his time.
The Kraken games over the last week
Oh, yes, and games were played. As mentioned earlier, the Kraken went 1-3-0 over the last week with a 4-3 loss at home to the Minnesota Wild, a stinker of a game against the Nashville Predators in a 5-3 loss, a dominant 4-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers, and then a tough 4-2 loss to the Washington Capitals on Sunday. Other than the Nashville game, the players competed when they could have easily started to mail it in the rest of the season. If they play like they did over the weekend for the rest of the season, I will be happy to watch this team the rest of the way.
Kraken Trivia: With the departures of Gourde and Tanev, seven players remain with the Seattle Kraken organization from the expansion selections. Can you name them?
Other musings
- Part of the Bjorkstrand/Gourde trade was Mikey Eyssimont being included in the package from Tampa Bay. He was a fourth-line player averaging under 11 minutes of time on ice and on an expiring deal, so I didn’t expect much. But after two games, he looks like a solid fourth-line option for the Kraken next season.
- When the news broke about the Bjorkstrand/Gourde trade, I was stepping onto the ice for a lunch skate. After the skate, I had about 20 text messages from various hockey people. In case there was any doubt, the overwhelming consensus was extremely positive for Seattle. I really like how the Kraken have handled all trade deadlines to date.
- The Kraken have now acquired 12 draft picks (one first-rounder, six second-rounders, two third-rounders, two fourth-rounders, and one seventh-rounder) with their expansion pick selections, plus Kaapo Kakko.
- With Bjorkstrand moving on, that’s one fewer Seattle Kraken player that will participate in the Olympics next winter. Don’t worry, there will still be a reason to watch Denmark — Kraken prospect Oscar Fisker Mølgaard is expected to be on the Danish team.
- Ron Francis confirmed that one of the top Kraken prospects, Jani Nyman, will be getting called up to Coachella Valley for some games with the Seattle Kraken before the season ends. He is the only Kraken prospect I would pencil in for next season. Even then, I am still using a pencil.
- The Kraken went 0-for-4 in the Washington Capitals game over the weekend. That is one of the big opportunities for improvement next season, and I wonder if Nyman is part of the solution.
- One of Ron Francis’ media stops was on the pregame show on the Kraken Hockey Network before the Washington Capitals game on Sunday.
Goal of the week
I love the whole sequence of this Matty 4-on-4 goal against Philly.
Player performances
Adam Larsson (SEA) – Larsson isn’t known for his offense, so he rarely gets mentioned in player performance reviews. However, over the last four games, the Big Cat has two goals and two assists. After he scores is also one of the rare times we get to see Larsson smile.
Alexis Bernier (BAC/SEA) – The 2024 third-round selection of the Seattle Kraken had five points over his last three games for Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the QMJHL. Bernier is fifth in points among defensemen in the Q this season.
Victor Ostman (CVF/SEA) – The Kansas City Mavericks goalie got called up to Coachella Valley and won his first AHL game last week, saving 23 out of 25 shots in the Firebirds’ win over the Calgary Wranglers. Ostman was a free-agent signing last spring and is having a good season for the Mavericks in the ECHL with a record of 21-7-4.
The week ahead
The Kraken return home for a challenging three-game homestand with games against Montreal, Utah, and Winnipeg. There will be a lot of eyes focused on Juraj Slafkovský and Shane Wright in the Montreal game. If you don’t know the backstory, for most of the season leading up to the 2022 NHL Entry Draft, Wright was projected to go first overall. Weeks before the draft, the projections started to shift. Montreal selected Slafkovský first overall, and Wright slipped to the Seattle Kraken at fourth.
Since then, there has been a confirmation bias campaign by both fan bases to prove which player is better. Wright has also been unfairly scrutinized for his development path, going back to junior his post-draft season and playing last season in the AHL. Meanwhile, Slafkovský made the jump immediately to the NHL and has already played 181 NHL games.
Looking at this season, Wright has 15 goals and 23 assists, and Slafkovský has 11 goals and 24 assists, further igniting the debate over who is better. The reality is that both players appear to be good NHL players, but this is a fun side story that will likely never go away. Montreal still has a lot to play for, sitting just three points out of a playoff spot, and they were embarrassed back in October when the Kraken scored eight goals in their 8-2 win in Montreal.
The game against the Jets will also be interesting, as Tanev will be right back on the ice at Climate Pledge Arena, facing the team that just traded him.
Trivia Answer: The Seattle Kraken players that were selected in the 2021 expansion draft that remain with the team are Joey Daccord, Jared McCann, Jordan Eberle, Jamie Oleksiak, Vince Dunn, Adam Larsson, and Cale Fleury.
The post Monday Musings: A Kraken farewell to three fan-favorite players appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
The mood was noticeably light at Kraken Community Iceplex on Tuesday, where the Seattle Kraken returned for their first full home practice since last week’s NHL Trade Deadline, which saw four players—Oliver Bjorkstrand, Yanni Gourde, Brandon Tanev, and Daniel Sprong—jettisoned from the organization.
Even for a team where so many things have gone wrong this season, the players surely felt the impending deadline weighing on them. Now that it’s in the rearview mirror, perhaps that changes the sentiment around the group a bit.
“The deadline and the events of the deadline always are introspective to where you’re at in the season and how your team’s doing,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “As a group, the guys realize we’re not where we want to be or where we think we should be. And the focus here the rest of the way is getting to our best hockey, getting to—both individually and as a team… projecting for the future.”
The group on the ice had a slightly different look, too, with newcomer Mikey Eyssimont skating at KCI for the first time, along with call-ups Cale Fleury and John Hayden. Recently recalled Jani Nyman also joined the team in advance of his expected NHL debut on Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens.
Li’l Jani Nyman arrives
Nyman’s arrival may not be drawing a big hoopla, but there are hopes among the Kraken and their fanbase that the 20-year-old winger from Valkeakoski, Finland, could be a full-time NHLer relatively soon.
A big, imposing presence at 6-foot-2, 212 pounds, Nyman stands out on the ice. It’s a specific skill he possesses that puts him on the cusp of playing in the world’s best league, though, and that specific skill is the reason he has been a successful pro scorer in both the Finnish Liiga, where he scored more than any under-20 player in nearly 40 years, and in the American Hockey League, where he leads all rookies in goals.
“Almost immediately, you have to notice his shot,” Bylsma said. “That’s a big part of him being an effective player.”
Nyman agreed that his shot is his biggest asset but also knows that his skating (like his English) remains a work in progress.
“I think [I’ve improved] my skating,” Nyman said. “I’m a big man. I’m a big man, so of course I want to improve my skating.”
With his massive size, Nyman’s foot speed has always been the key area for improvement to put himself in contention for an NHL roster spot. Bylsma, who coached him at the end of last season in Coachella Valley, wants Nyman to ensure he’s always moving his feet to put himself in a position to use his lethal shot.
“The feet and the skating— in order for him to [use his shot], you’ve got to see him moving his feet. It can’t be a stationary game,” Bylsma said. “And that’s kind of what he’s developed this year: an all-around game and a skating game. He’s moving his feet and getting to spots where you can see that shot over and over again.”
That will be something to watch when Nyman makes his NHL debut Wednesday at Climate Pledge Arena. Does he look like he’s constantly moving to get himself open for opportunities? Or is he standing still along the half-wall, hoping his teammates can find him?
Bylsma will be putting him in a position to succeed, playing the right flank on the power play and—presumably—in a top-nine forward position.
“He’s a goal-scorer [with] a heavy shot, a big-bodied guy in the offensive zone, and he’s going to have a chance to [show that]. You’ll see him on the power play, we’re going to have four good lines as a result of him being in, but we’ll see him in a spot at 5-on-5 in an opportunity to show what he can do.”
Exactly where Nyman slots in at 5-on-5 remains to be seen and may not be revealed until warmups, as the team didn’t do full line rushes on Tuesday and is holding an optional skate on Wednesday.
Nyman excited for the opportunity
Like any young player on the precipice of his NHL debut, Nyman was all smiles after practice on Tuesday, sharing that his parents were en route from Finland to witness the momentous occasion.
“Oh, this is the biggest— [such a] big thing for my family and me,” Nyman said. “My mom and dad are coming right now to fly into here, and we are so excited.”
Helping him feel more comfortable in the NHL dressing room, Nyman joined a growing row of Finnish players, with his stall located next to those of Eeli Tolvanen and Kaapo Kakko. That gives him a chance to speak his native tongue and get shown the ropes.
“We speak a certain language, and yeah, it’s great [to have them here],” Nyman said. “It’s great to [make] new friends, and [I’m] very happy.”
Getting to know Mikey Eyssimont
Newly acquired energy forward Mikey Eyssimont also addressed the media after the skate, bringing folks up to speed on his background, style of play, and how his first week in the Kraken organization has been.
“It started off as kind of a whirlwind, but being able to settle into a road trip— I’ve done a thousand of those, so it’s kind of a nice way to get to know everyone,” Eyssimont said. “My game is a lot of speed and grit, so that’s something that’s kind of more of a decision than a skill. So if you play that way, hopefully, you can fit in anywhere. And I think I was kind of able to do that over the past three games.”
Eyssimont made a nice first impression, scoring a goal in his first game as a Kraken against the Nashville Predators, though it came late in a losing effort.
“It’s nice to get it out of the way. You know, you don’t want to be plugging away for that first one for a while. We lost that game, but I guess that’s the positive you can take from it.”
When Eyssimont was first announced as the lone player coming back in the Yanni Gourde/Oliver Bjorkstrand trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning (Seattle also obtained two top-10-protected first-round picks and a second-round pick in the deal), it was assumed he was something of a throw-in player to help Tampa Bay create the cap space to consummate the trade.
But Eyssimont, in the last year of his two-year contract with an average annual value of $800K, could be a fit for next season and is trying to prove that.
“[I just want to] help the team win games,” Eyssimont said. “This team, I think, has underachieved. We see how good we were against a top-two-or-three team in the league in Washington. That’s a game that if we play that same game 10 times, we win a majority of those games. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way.”
So far, Eyssimont comes as advertised with speed and energy, and at a very reasonable cap hit, he may be better suited to a fourth-line or even 13th-forward role than guys like Gourde and Brandon Tanev, who were combining to eat up a whopping $8.66 million of cap space.
So, there’s definitely some consideration being given by Seattle to keep Eyssimont around beyond this season.
“It’s an exciting group to be a part of because of the underachieving,” Eyssimont said, implying that the team could be much better next season. “There’s a standard here, and there’s still time in the season to meet that.”
Darren Brown
Darren Brown is the Chief Content Officer at soundofhockey.com and the host of the Sound Of Hockey Podcast. He is a member of the PHWA and is also usually SOH’s Twitter intern (but please pretend you don’t know that). Follow him @DarrenFunBrown and @sound_hockey or email [email protected].
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The post Kraken Notebook – Prospect Jani Nyman set for NHL debut against Canadiens appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
In a season that has brought some not-so-fun nights at Climate Pledge Arena, the Seattle Kraken managed to give their home fans a very fun night Wednesday. The Kraken rallied back from a two-goal deficit, scoring twice in the final 10 minutes to send the game to overtime, and then secured a game-winner just four seconds into the extra frame courtesy of a dazzling set play between Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour.
Seattle got a few monstrous individual performances from players like Montour and Jordan Eberle, plus a magical strike from Jani Nyman in his NHL debut and some late-game Matty Magic to equalize.
The Kraken came out flying in the first but only capitalized for one goal while also ringing three shots off the post. Montreal took control in the second and scored four straight goals, but Seattle showed its resiliency once again and earned a thrilling comeback victory.
“It was a really good first period, and they get the power-play goal, and they get the 4-on-4 goal, kind of special parts of the game, and then get up in the game,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “And I think going into the third, our mindset was, we thought there was enough there for us to come back in the game.”
Here are Three Takeaways from a memorable 5-4 Kraken overtime win over the Canadiens.
Takeaway #1: What a night for Montour
I’m starting with Montour’s performance, although Nyman was arguably the bigger story. Don’t worry, we’ll get to him in Takeaway #2.
Remember, Montour had his first-ever hat trick against Montreal when Seattle hung eight goals on the Habs in their barn back on Oct. 29. On Wednesday, he again was the top statistical performer, notching a whopping four points (2-2—4).
On why he’s had so much success against that particular team, Montour said, “It’s just shooting the puck, really… Guys are finding me in the right areas, and [we have good] net front. It’s nice to see a couple go through.”
Montour was everywhere in this game and got rewarded with both the game’s first and last goals.
On the first goal, 4:54 into the first period, Jordan Eberle notched his first of three assists by jumping to knock down Jakub Dobes’ rim-around clearing attempt. He found Montour streaking in and laid it out for him to skate in, pick his spot, and rip it past the Habs netminder.
BRANDON BOMB-TOUR!
Good forecheck by Jordan Eberle, who jumps to cut off the rim-around, then finds Montour.
1-0 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/Ge1etSMt1P
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 13, 2025
The last goal was the special one. As the teams lined up for the extra frame’s opening draw, the Canadiens positioned three players across the red line rather than keeping one back at the top of the circle for defense. Montour lined up on the right wing opposite rookie phenom Lane Hutson, who lamented after the game that he had “missed his check.”
Stephenson won the puck directly forward, and with the pre-determined play in place between the two players, Montour jumped past Hutson and was off to the races. He ripped a snap shot over Dobes’ glove and sent the fans home happy while also tying the all-time NHL record for the fastest goal ever to start a period.
SHEESH, TAKE WAS QUICK!
Brandon Montour scores the @Energizer overtime winner just FOUR seconds into the extra frame! pic.twitter.com/hZ0G4so6Xo
— NHL (@NHL) March 13, 2025
“That was Chandler, to be honest. He came up with it,” Montour said. “I told Chandler just to make sure he was staying back, just in case anything went south. I saw he bumped it up, and we went for it, so it was nice to see.”
Bylsma called the play “brilliant.”
The goal was Montour’s 15th of the season, setting a new franchise record for goals in a season by a defenseman.
“Monty’s kind of one of the spearheads for how we want to play,” Bylsma said. “Play fast and quick and with some moxie and some jam, and he’s the type of player that just has the big-time, big-play ability for your team. Obviously [you see that] with four points tonight.”
Takeaway #2: A special debut for Jani Nyman
Sometimes, when a young player makes his NHL debut, you see nerves and tentativeness. We never once saw that from Li’l Jani Nyman in this game. On the contrary, on his very first shift, he threw his big body around to win a puck battle in the defensive zone and start a breakout, then went straight to the top of the blue paint in the offensive zone, where he could be seen on many occasions throughout the game.
On Seattle’s first power play, Nyman got his first chance to let his lethal one-timer fly at the NHL level and nearly dented the post behind Dobes.
On his next great power-play look, which didn’t come until 10:53 of the third with Seattle trailing 4-2, Nyman didn’t miss. Eberle gained the zone and took the puck deep before banking it off the boards to Montour at the point. Montour sent it right back to Eberle, and that little back-and-forth exchange, which seemed inconsequential in the moment, created just enough time for Nyman to get himself lost in the slot.
Eberle slid a cheeky little dish into Nyman’s wheelhouse, and he ripped a snapper past Dobes.
LI’L JANI NYMAN SCORES HIS FIRST NHL GOAL AND HIS PARENTS ARE LOVING IT!
Great setup by Eberle for his third assist of the game, great finish by Nyman.
4-3 Habs. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/q0JLsIOnMs
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 13, 2025
“It’s an amazing pass,” Nyman said. “It’s easy work doing the score. It’s almost an empty netter.”
Nyman became the first Kraken draft pick to score in his NHL debut (Beniers had an assist in his first game, then scored goals in his second and third games). His parents had flown in from Finland for the game, too, making for some beautiful reactions after he scored.
“The message to him is go out and leave no doubt about what kind of player you are and what you’re good at,” Bylsma said. “And I think he did a good job of showing that tonight.”
Bylsma then flipped the script in his presser, asking me what I thought of Nyman’s performance. I said, “I thought he played pretty well.”
Takeaway #3: Interesting lineup
**Author’s note: Before I get into this Takeaway, let it be known that I do not care how much ice time any player gets, including Shane Wright. I trust the Kraken know how to deploy him and have shown they know what they’re doing with his development. That said, there was a funny interaction related to his ice time after the game, so I’m sharing it.**
Seattle didn’t run full line rushes in practice Tuesday and held an optional morning skate Wednesday, so I wasn’t sure how they’d line up in this game. We knew Nyman was in, and we also knew Bylsma wanted to put him in a position to succeed, meaning a top-nine spot.
So, who would be bumped down to the fourth line?
Surprisingly, it was Shane Wright, who has been one of Seattle’s best offensive players since December. When we tweeted the lineup, fans freaked out about Wright on the fourth line, so I asked Bylsma about the thought process behind it.
“With Jani going into the lineup, we went with four centermen, with Canner in the middle of the rink,” Bylsma said.
Fair enough.
But then he added: “So you’re the only person labeling it as the fourth line.”
Whoa! Whoa! First of all, I am definitely NOT the only person labeling it the fourth line, but it definitely is a fourth line that played fourth-line minutes (Wright had the most ice time of the trio with just 10:40). Second of all, I only asked the question because fans seemed to be fired up about it on social media, and I wanted to give Bylsma a chance to explain why that happened in this game.
Now, having said all that, I know Bylsma was (mostly) joking with his potshot at me, and I probably deserved it to some degree for asking a lineup question after a thrilling win. Plus, to further stuff me in that locker, the team looked mostly very good in this game and came away with a thrilling victory.
So, I guess you could say the lineup worked? Either way, no need to call security, I will show myself out.
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 [email protected].
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The post Three Takeaways – Jani Nyman scores in NHL debut as Kraken rally past Canadiens appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
At the end of February, we reviewed the unrestricted free agents (UFAs). Now that the dust has settled from the trade deadline, we’ll shift our focus to the Seattle Kraken players set to become restricted free agents (RFAs) after this season.
There are three RFAs to consider:
- Kaapo Kakko
- Ryker Evans
- Tye Kartye
Additionally, we’ll discuss forward Mikey Eyssimont, who joined the Kraken via the trade that sent Oliver Bjorkstrand and Yanni Gourde to the Tampa Bay Lightning. Eyssimont will become a UFA at the end of this season.
A critical factor affecting contract negotiations is the NHL salary cap increasing 29 percent over the next three years to $113.5 million by the 2027-28 season. For the 2025-26 season, the cap will increase to $95.5 million. This increase complicates direct dollar-for-dollar contract comparisons. Therefore, I’ll include cap hit percentages to better contextualize contract values.
Kaapo Kakko
Target: Five years at $6 million (approximately six percent of the cap)
Let’s start with the player on everyone’s mind—Kaapo Kakko (whom I’ve playfully nicknamed “Choco Taco” and hope it sticks). This is Kakko’s sixth NHL season, and his current career-best offensive output is 40 points (18 goals, 22 assists) during the 2022-23 season. The Finnish native entered the league with significant expectations as the second overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft and has been an NHL regular ever since.
Since arriving in Seattle, Kakko has injected noticeable energy into the top line. He has contributed 22 points (six goals, 16 assists) in just 33 games, which projects to roughly 55 points over a full season—which would be a new career high.
Including his earlier time with the New York Rangers this season and with 16 Kraken games remaining, Kakko is on pace for 47 points, which puts him on pace for a new career best.
The big-bodied winger excels at controlling the puck along the boards and driving into the offensive zone and isn’t shy about battling in front of the net. Notably, Kakko’s ice time has increased significantly, rising from 13:17 per game with the Rangers to 17:33 with the Kraken.
This increased ice time has boosted his points per 60 minutes (P/60) from 2.11 in New York to 2.28 in Seattle, ranking him fourth on the team behind Jared McCann (2.37), Jordan Eberle (2.49), and Shane Wright (2.65) as of March 12 for Kraken players with a minimum of 10 games played.
Despite these positives, Kakko remains somewhat unproven given he’s only played 33 games in a Kraken jersey. With only one 82-game season under his belt and being on pace for 79 this season, consistency remain a question. At just 24 years old, Kakko still has plenty of room for growth.
Comparable contracts
Comparable contracts for RFAs who signed through their early UFA years without hitting the 60-point threshold include:
- Adrian Kempe: Four years, $5.5 million average annual value (6.7 percent of an $82.5 million cap)
- Jared McCann: Five years, $5 million AAV (6.1 percent of an $82.5 million cap)
- Pavel Zacha: One-year “prove-it” contract at $3.5 million AAV (4.2 percent of an $83.5 million cap)
- Eeli Tolvanen: Two years, $3.475 million AAV (3.9 percent of an $88 million cap)
- Martin Necas: Two years, $6.5 million AAV (7.4 percent of an $88 million cap)
Prediction
An eight-year deal remains possible, but given Kakko’s track record, a contract similar to Jared McCann’s five-year term seems more likely. A five-year contract between $5.75 million and $6.25 million annually (about six percent of next year’s projected $95.5 million cap) would be logical.
This length would provide Kakko with financial security, earning roughly $30 million, while still allowing him to sign another NHL contract at age 29. While $6 million might initially feel high, it’s consistent with comparable contracts, largely due to the anticipated salary cap increase. A five-year term would also reflect the Kraken paying for Kakko’s projected performance improvements.
Kakko holds arbitration rights, but his modest production to date likely gives the Kraken leverage, potentially leading to a salary lower than this projection. Alternatively, Kakko could choose to bet on himself with a shorter one- or two-year deal at a lower AAV, recognizing the cap will increase significantly—to $104 million by 2026-27 and $113.5 million by 2027-28. A shorter term would let Kakko hit the open market as a UFA as early as next year.
If he pursues a shorter contract, Pavel Zacha and Eeli Tolvanen contracts represent lower-end comparables, though Kakko would command a higher AAV. Expect a short-term contract to fall between five percent and 5.5 percent of the cap, roughly $4.75 million to $5.25 million annually.
This approach would benefit both sides, allowing Kakko to showcase his growth while enabling Seattle to assess his long-term fit and manage risk.
Ryker Evans
Target: Two years at $2.25-$2.75 million (approximately 2.8 percent of the cap)
Ryker Evans is completing his first full NHL season and has solidified himself as a versatile asset. Primarily a third-pairing defenseman with Josh Mahura, Evans frequently steps into higher roles when injuries arise.
He also shows promise quarterbacking the power play, though his opportunities are limited due to being behind Vince Dunn and Brandon Montour in the depth chart.
Evans averages significant ice time at 19:33 per game, notable for a third-pairing defenseman, highlighting the trust placed in him by the coaching staff.
Drafted as Seattle’s second-ever pick at 35th overall in 2021, Evans has justified the Kraken’s selection as an over-ager. Evans has four years of RFA status remaining and is not arbitration eligible, making a bridge contract of one to three years most likely.
Comparable contracts
Comparable contracts for RFA defensemen signed immediately following their entry-level contracts (ELCs), with similar performance levels and expiring during RFA years include:
- Martin Fehervary: Three years, $2.675 million AAV (3.2 percent of an $83.5 million cap)
- Nicolas Hague: Three years, $2.294 million AAV (2.8 percent of an $82.5 million cap)
- Vince Dunn: One year at $1.875 million (2.3 percent of an $81.5 million cap)
Evans’ offensive skill set is similar to Dunn’s, as both are puck-moving defensemen who can quarterback a power play. Evans also contributes on the penalty kill. With the Kraken’s top-four defensemen seemingly locked in for next year, Evans is set to continue developing as the fifth defenseman. He could be preparing for a larger role once Jamie Oleksiak’s contract expires after the 2025-26 season.
Prediction
It feels likely that Evans will sign a bridge deal in the $2.25-$2.75 million range for one to three years, representing 2.5-2.75 percent of the salary cap. If the term were extended to four years, taking him to UFA status, his AAV would increase accordingly. In this scenario, former Seattle Kraken defenseman Will Borgen’s two-year, $2.7 million AAV contract becomes a more relevant comparison.
Borgen’s deal accounted for 3.2 percent of the cap, and Evans’ AAV would likely rise similarly. A four-year contract would likely push his salary into the $3-$3.5 million range, as the Kraken would be paying for additional control over his prime years.
Tye Kartye
Target: Two years at $1.3-$1.5 million (approximately 1.3 percent of the cap)
Tye Kartye joined the Kraken as an undrafted free agent, signing an ELC before the 2022-23 season. After spending one year with the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds, he made an immediate impression during Seattle’s 2023 playoff run when he was called up after Jared McCann was injured by Cale Makar (booooo!).
Primarily utilized in a fourth-line role during his first two seasons with Seattle, there was optimism he’d elevate his offensive game this year, but that has yet to fully materialize. After a solid rookie season with 11 goals and 20 points, Kartye’s production slowed this season, with only eight points in 52 games.
To reignite his game, he had a brief, successful conditioning stint in Coachella Valley, tallying four points (two goals, two assists) in three games. The stint appeared beneficial, as Kartye scored his first Kraken goal in over three months in his first game back.
Kartye’s physical style is a significant asset to his game. He ranks second on the Kraken with 154 hits, trailing only Tolvanen (202). However, when normalized by ice time, Kartye leads the team (minimum 10 games played) with an impressive 18.30 hits per 60 minutes, well ahead of Tolvanen’s 13.17. Kartye consistently brings energy and physicality, making him a fan favorite.
Comparable contracts
- Alexei Toropchenko: Two years, $1.25 million AAV (1.5 percent of an $83.5 million cap)
- Carl Grundstrom: Two years, $1.3 million AAV (1.5 percent of an $82.5 million cap)
- Michael Pezzetta: Two years, $812,500 AAV (1 percent of an $83.5 million cap)
As an RFA, Kartye’s qualifying offer from the Kraken must be at least 105 percent of his current base salary ($775k), equating to a minimum offer of $813,750. Given his contributions, Seattle is likely to offer above this threshold.
Prediction
Kartye turns 24 on April 30, meaning he still has three years of RFA eligibility remaining. Expect the Kraken to provide a moderate raise, resulting in a two-year deal worth around $1.3-$1.5 million annually.
This contract would allow Kartye the opportunity to further develop his offensive potential and provide Seattle a cost-effective, reliable fourth-line player. The ultimate hope is that Kartye evolves into a consistent middle-six winger capable of contributing offensively before negotiating his next contract.
Mikey Eyssimont
Target: One-year extension at $850K-$975K
Though it’s a small sample size of just four games, Mikey Eyssimont has made his presence felt on the Kraken’s fourth line, even chipping in a goal. Eyssimont is a fast skater who consistently gets the puck to the net. Initially viewed as a minor piece in the trade with Tampa Bay, Eyssimont could become an affordable depth option for next season.
With 16 games remaining, the Kraken will use this period to further evaluate Eyssimont’s fit within their system. If his solid play continues, general manager Ron Francis could extend Eyssimont for one year with a modest raise, likely between $850K and $975K. It is possible a second year of term would be required to get the deal done.
A solid group of RFAs
With three pending RFAs this offseason, I anticipate the Kraken will make efforts to retain each player. Given the substantial salary cap increase of $25.5 million expected over the next three years, early negotiations may help the Kraken avoid potential offer sheets, which teams can submit starting July 1. While it’s unlikely another team presents an offer sheet that Seattle wouldn’t match, it’s a scenario worth preparing for.
What do you think the Kraken should do with their RFAs? Would you offer more or less money than what I’ve predicted here, or is there anyone you’d let walk?
Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
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The post Seattle Kraken – Setting expectations for restricted free agents appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
Friday night, the Seattle Kraken celebrated Women in Hockey Night, and the boys honored the occasion with a 4-2 win over the Utah Hockey Club. The fans at Climate Pledge Arena were still riding the high from Seattle’s thrilling comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday and brought the energy to help will the team to another comeback triumph. This is the 18th come-from-behind win for the Kraken this season. Here are Three Takeaways.
Takeaway #1: Grubauer stands tall
This was Philipp Grubauer’s first game back in front of the home crowd since being waived and sent down to Coachella Valley, and the “Gruuuuuuuu” chants were heard throughout the night. Grubauer secured his second win in as many starts, delivering a performance that silenced critics who claim he never makes the big save or steals a game. On this night, he stole the game from Utah, making several key stops to keep the Kraken within striking distance and later preserving the lead.
Gru comes up huge with a point-blank save!Keeps the #SeaKraken within one. 5:46 left in the second. pic.twitter.com/vGNQ2B91R1
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 15, 2025They might have handed out the save of the game too early—because Gru just delivered a beauty!#SeaKraken hold onto their 3-2 lead with 6:48 remaining! pic.twitter.com/8FAJEZaEJI
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 15, 2025
Grubauer described his time in Coachella Valley as a chance to find his rhythm, saying, “[It’s about] reading the game. There are different situations against different teams, each with unique tendencies, and just seeing those game situations better.”
With a .939 save percentage over his last two starts, the German Gentleman has clearly found that rhythm. He was awarded the first star of the night and also earned the Kraken belt.
Takeaway #2: Bend, don’t break
Seattle got off to a dream start, with Eeli Tolvanen scoring his 20th goal of the season just 51 seconds into the game. But the momentum slowed after the opening 10 minutes, and Utah capitalized, with Nick Schmaltz tying the game before the first intermission. The sluggishness continued into the second period, and after a turnover in the neutral zone, Utah had a 3-on-2 rush that ended with Kevin Stenlund scoring into an open net to take a 2-1 lead at 7:35 of the second.
At that point, the Kraken could have folded, but instead, they dug in. A momentum-shifting hit from Jared McCann helped spark the comeback:
McCann delivers a big open-ice hit!Keller briefly considers dropping the gloves but wisely thinks better of it. Maybe this is the spark the #SeaKraken need! pic.twitter.com/Gfuvaxy2It
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 15, 2025
That hit energized the crowd again, and before the period was over, a lucky bounce off Brandon Montour’s skate found the back of the net to tie the game 2-2.
Head coach Dan Bylsma described the third period as “chaotic.” Grubauer continued to stand tall, and after a disallowed goal for Jaden Schwartz, Kaapo Kakko finally gave Seattle a 3-2 lead with a wraparound goal off a defensive miscue behind the net.
The Choco Taco delivers!
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 15, 2025
The Kraken never looked back, with Tolvanen adding an empty-netter to seal the 4-2 win.
Takeaway #3: Montour, Tolvanen, and Eberle playing well
Outside of the second period, several Kraken players had strong performances, whether it was generating offense, killing penalties, or delivering key hits. Three players stood out, though: Brandon Montour, Eeli Tolvanen, and Jordan Eberle.
Eberle, the Kraken captain, notched two assists, extending his scoring streak to three games. He now has six points (one goal, five assists) over that span, with all five of his assists being primary helpers. Despite hearing he would need time to get his legs back, Eberle looks back to form after returning from his serious pelvis injury. This three-game stretch is his most productive of the season.
Montour scored his 16th goal of the season, tying his career high, and he now has five points in two games (three goals, two assists). He is currently on pace for 46 points, which would be the second-best total of his career. The smooth-skating defenseman jumped into the play and got rewarded when an Eberle pass deflected off his skate and into the net. Alison Lukan said it best, “They don’t ask ‘how?’ They ask ‘how many?'”
Tolvanen, meanwhile, has caught fire, scoring three goals in the last two games to give him the first 20-goal season of his career. His goals on Friday night were his 20th and 21st of the season, and Bylsma praised him postgame, saying, “He’s got 14 more [games] to go. I think he can get to 25 [goals], and that would be an exceptional season for him.”
What’s next for the Kraken?
Seattle faces a tough test in its next game, as the league-leading Winnipeg Jets come to town on March 16. The matchup will also mark Brandon Tanev’s return to Seattle since being traded on March 7. The Kraken are 0-1-1 against the Jets this season, with both losses coming in tightly contested one-goal games. Expect another hard-fought battle, as the Kraken look to continue their stretch of positive play since the trade deadline.
Blaiz Grubic
Blaiz Grubic is a contributor at Sound Of Hockey. A passionate hockey fan and player for over 30 years, Blaiz grew up in the Pacific Northwest and is an alumni of Washington State University (Go Cougs!). When he’s not playing, watching, or writing about hockey, he enjoys quality time with his wife and daughter or getting out on a golf course for a quick round. Follow @blaizg on BlueSky or X.
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“Down on the Farm” is your weekly Seattle Kraken prospects update. Well, usually it’s weekly. We missed last week for the trade deadline, but return with an update on Ty Nelson’s progress in Coachella Valley, plus news and notes from around the organization over the last two weeks and a preview of the week ahead. (Note that this update does not include data from the games on Friday, Mar. 14.)
As always, if you have a prospect-related question you’d like to see featured in a future column, drop a note below or on X or BlueSky @deepseahockey. Let’s dive in.
Ty Nelson is gaining traction in Coachella Valley
Seattle Kraken defense prospect Ty Nelson has heard it his entire career. He’s too short. His game is too limited to find success at the higher levels.
But Nelson believes he has the skill and mindset to succeed.
“Throughout my whole life, I’ve never been the tallest kid, but I’ve been on the stockier side,” Nelson told Judd Spicer on a recent episode of The Fire and Ice Podcast. “And so, you know what, if I’m going to a corner with a guy that’s 5-foot-2, or I’m going into the corner with a guy that’s 6-foot-7, I’m going in there with the same mindset that I’m going to do anything to get you out of my way to get that puck.”
“That’s just the way that I’ve played hockey my whole life,” Nelson continued. “I’ve had that outlook on life, you know what I mean? You can’t tell me I can’t do something because I’m too small… I’m not…. I’ll prove you wrong…. You can’t limit me because I’m the shorter guy.”
That mindset has helped Nelson navigate what he admits was a difficult transition “trying to figure out the pace and speed of the [AHL].” Since that initial hurdle, he notes that this rookie AHL season has been about “becoming the best version of myself that I can.”
For Nelson, that growth has manifested most in two areas of his game. First, he points to the nuances and finer points of defending at the professional level. “Coach Stu [Bickel] [and I] have been doing a lot of work on that, and it’s not so much even just like big things. It was just like little things about stick positioning and where you [put your stick] in certain situations.”
Second, he points to his puck possession. “I feel like just my confidence with the puck has been a lot better,” Nelson told Spicer. “I love to play in the offensive zone and make things happen… That’s something that I really felt like I’ve tried to dial up a notch—my confidence with the puck in making smart plays and making the right plays when they’re there.”
When comparing Nelson’s early season work to his more recent games, I tend to think Nelson’s self evaluation is spot on. This is encouraging in itself since it indicates a strong sense for the game.
Nelson’s still playing a relatively sheltered 5-on-5 role, often alongside a veteran like Maxim Lajoie and without tough matchup assignments. He also doesn’t have a regular special teams role, which leaves his ice time around 16 or 17 minutes per night. But this focused assignment has allowed Nelson to hone his defensive game, a necessary step if he’s going to earn an NHL role down the road. As Nelson said, he’s increasingly pairing his physicality at the net front and in the corners with more skilled defensive plays.
On the offensive end, he’s confidently holding the puck and defeating pressure with possession or considered passes. His early season rushed and scattered passes are less frequent now.
Similarly encouraging is Nelson’s dependability and durability. Already facing questions about his size, and coming off a season in which Nelson suffered a scary head injury, it is notable that he is the only rookie (and one of only two players total) to play in every game for the Firebirds this season. That is a great indicator of the staff’s confidence in him and his ability to withstand professional physicality.
If you’ve ever heard Nelson give an interview, it’s hard not to pull for him. He has an infectious personality and clear traits to be a leader and positive locker room presence for this team for years to come. The question was: Would his game hit a ceiling? There’s no evidence of that so far at the AHL level. And we’re not betting against him in the seasons ahead either.
Notes on three Kraken prospects
Julius Miettinen | F | Everett Silvertips (WHL)
Julius Miettinen celebrated his return to the Everett lineup last Sunday night with a goal. Miettinen had missed more than two months of play following a lower-body injury suffered at the World Juniors. Now he’ll take on a key role for the U.S. Division-champion Everett Silvertips as they look to make a run in the WHL playoffs. The burden will be even heavier following the news that teammate (and 2025 draft prospect) Carter Bear is likely out for the remainder of the season.
Nathan Villeneuve | F | Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
Nathan Villeneuve’s scoring rate continued its upward climb in the last two weeks. Villeneuve was averaging exactly one point per game when the calendar flipped over to 2025. Since then, his production sits at a much more impressive 1.4 points per game. For context, his 2025 scoring rate would rank 20th in the OHL if extended to the entire season, just slightly behind fellow Kraken prospect Carson Rehkopf. Overall, his 33 goals put him 17th in the league in goal scoring. His two goals and nine assists in six games since our last update earns him one of our two Sound Of Hockey Prospect(s) of the Week(s).
Ollie Josephson | F | Red Deer Rebels (WHL)
Josephson is not known for his scoring. Instead, his sound defense, speed, and transition skill drive his profile. Even so, Josephson had one of the more impressive prospect performances of the season on Tuesday, Mar. 11, when he had three goals and two assists in a 6-4 Rebels win. Nearly as impressive, he emerged from this relatively close game with a plus-five plus-minus. He’ll look to build on that performance down the home stretch of the season. With 11 points in seven games overall since our last update, he’s your (other) Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week(s).
Kraken prospects data update
Jani Nyman continued to score in the days leading up to his Kraken recall and debut, with three goals in three games.
Rehkopf, Villeneuve, and unsigned Kraken prospect Andrei Loshko all rank within the top-20 in the OHL in goal scoring.
The Kraken reassigned Victor Östman from the ECHL to the AHL with Ales Stezka nursing a day-to-day injury. Östman made his AHL debut last Wednesday, Mar. 5, and earned a win. (He also started and played well on Friday, Mar. 14, after this data was gathered.)
Semyon Vyazovoy continues to impress when given the opportunity in goal in the KHL, but he continues to operate as the lower-playing-time half of a tandem.
2024-25 Sound Of Hockey Prospect of the Week tracker
Berkly Catton: 3
Clarke Caswell: 2
Tyson Jugnauth: 2
Nathan Villeneuve: 2
Alexis Bernier: 1
Justin Janicke: 1
Ollie Josephson: 1
Andrei Loshko: 1
Oscar Fisker Mølgaard: 1
Victor Östman: 1
Caden Price: 1
Carson Rehkopf: 1
Jani Nyman: 1
Kim Saarinen: 1
Ryan Winterton: 1
Semyon Vyazovoy: 1
Previewing the week ahead
College hockey regular seasons have ended, though a few Kraken prospects playing in the NCAA ranks are still alive in conference championships.
Berkly Catton and the Spokane Chiefs take on Julius Miettinen and the Everett Silvertips on Sunday in Spokane.
Recent prospect updates
February 28, 2025: Talking Firebirds with Shad Powers
February 21, 2025: Lukas Dragicevic making strides, still striving for consistency
February 14, 2025: Mid-season Seattle Kraken prospect ranking
February 8, 2025: Oscar Fisker Mølgaard quietly ascends the ranks
January 31, 2025: Measuring the performance of the Seattle Kraken prospect pool
January 24, 2025: Tyson Jugnauth is putting on a show in Portland
January 17, 2025: Jani Nyman’s scoring, 2025 NHL Draft coverage
January 10, 2025: Interview with Kraken director of player development Jeff Tambellini
January 3, 2025: Stock Up, Stock Down for Kraken prospects at the World Junior Championship
December 20, 2024: Kraken system after the Kaapo Kakko trade, David Goyette’s progress, and World Juniors
December 13, 2024: Three Kraken prospects make Team Canada WJC roster
December 6, 2024: Seattle Kraken goalie prospects progressing in the professional ranks
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.
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The post Down on the Farm – Ty Nelson’s looking to prove there are no limits on his game appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
As we have declared on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast, loser points are no longer helpful for the Seattle Kraken, who are firmly out of contention. We’re fine with wins, and we’re fine with regulation losses; wins bring good feelings and help build a winning culture for next season, while regulation losses improve Seattle’s chances of winning the draft lottery. Loser points do neither of those things.
Still, the Kraken deserve commendation for their effort on Sunday, going toe-to-toe with the NHL’s best team. It was their fifth straight game since the NHL Trade Deadline in which one could argue they delivered a strong performance.
With the overtime loss, the Kraken ended the season series 0-1-2 against Winnipeg. “They’re the best team in the league with their record, and each one of the games we’ve played them [this season], two in overtime and one with a goal [against] in the last minute, and they beat us with that,” coach Dan Bylsma said. “They’re a benchmark team right now, and… we’re right there with them.”
Here are three takeaways from a hard-fought 3-2 Kraken overtime loss to the Jets.
Takeaway #1: Jani Nyman strikes again
Jani Nyman may have legitimately set himself up for a full-time Kraken roster spot next season with how he has performed in his first NHL stint. He became the second Seattle player ever to score in two of his first three games (Matty Beniers was the first) after another pretty power-play dish by Jordan Eberle, who also assisted on Nyman’s first goal in his NHL debut.
HELLO, NYMAN!
Just like on his first career goal, it’s a PPG set up by Eberle.
Two goals in three career games for Li’l Jani.
1-0 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/6CoFd0VwiV
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 17, 2025
Nyman also picked off a Dylan DeMelo pass at the midway point of the third period and just missed scoring what could have been a critical go-ahead goal.
“We’ve clearly got a good picture of what he can do and what he can be,” Bylsma said. “It’s not just the shot on the power play that we’ve seen a couple times. He had some good time in the offensive zone with the puck, getting over it, making plays. His line had another real good shift there in the second, maybe our best in the second, with chances in the offensive zone. So really good to see from him in another game.”
Nyman’s lethal shot got Seattle off on the right foot with a 1-0 lead at 9:58 of the first period, and Mikey Eyssimont followed that up by looking off Tye Kartye on a 2-on-1 and slipping a hard shot through Eric Comrie’s five-hole at 15:23.
Despite the goals, I would still guess Nyman’s call-up won’t last too much longer. This was always meant to be a short stint to reward him for an outstanding AHL season and see if he’s getting close to ready for the next level. I think he earned himself a couple extra games with his performances, and as Seattle heads out on a road trip, it may make sense to return Nyman to Coachella Valley now, where he can continue helping the Firebirds on their march toward the Calder Cup Playoffs.
Takeaway #2: Another tough night for Ryker Evans
When the Seattle Kraken faced the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday, they also had a two-goal lead in the second period. The gap was narrowed with a power-play goal by Patrik Laine, but then Alex Newhook and Juraj Slafkovsky each scored three minutes apart to give Montreal the lead. On both of those goals, Ryker Evans could have done things differently to help prevent the Canadiens from scoring.
Evans was then a healthy scratch against the Utah Hockey Club, and Bylsma said after morning skate on Sunday that he “didn’t think [the Montreal game] was the strongest game from Ryker,” which explained why he didn’t play on Friday.
The 23-year-old defenseman was back in the lineup Sunday and had the primary assist on Eyssimont’s goal. But he also appeared to be the one who lost his check on Cole Perfetti when he found a rebound and banged it into an open net behind Joey Daccord with just 17 seconds left in the first period, a critical goal to allow heading into the first intermission.
Evans also shot into a block, then didn’t retreat fast enough to mark the very dangerous Kyle Connor, as the Jets star scorer saw an opportunity and flew the zone. Connor raced in on a breakaway and tied the game at 11:42 of the second.
When asked post-game about Evans’ performance, Bylsma said, “I want to reserve comment on that one,” before giving several comments about it. “Like for every player, there’s some plays in the game that you do well, and some plays you want back.”
Evans is a young, still-developing player in his first full NHL season. It is normal to go through growing pains, as well as have challenging stretches of games that can rattle the confidence. He’ll find that confidence again soon.
Takeaway #3: Brandon Tanev brings shenanigans in return
Brandon Tanev made his return to Climate Pledge Arena just nine days after being traded to the Jets at the NHL Trade Deadline. Always a hard-nosed player, Tanev seemed extra intent on making his presence known physically in this one and even got himself into some extracurricular activities with some of his former teammates.
Six minutes into the game, Tanev took a big run at Shane Wright and sent him flying headfirst into the boards. Tye Kartye went right after Tanev, and lots of pushing, shoving, and punching ensued, though nobody ever dropped the gloves.
Whoa!Brandon Tanev with a questionable hit on Shane Wright, and Tye Kartye goes RIGHT AFTER Tanev.
I guess Turbo is no longer a #SeaKraken! pic.twitter.com/8l5Frienv4
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 17, 2025
Oddly, after quickly making himself the villain for several members of the home crowd, Tanev was then honored by the Kraken and welcomed back with a video tribute that got a nice ovation.
Bylsma said he was unsurprised by Tanev making a heavy hit on Wright. “I think that’s what Brandon provided the last four years is that energy and speed, physicality, and tenacity. And so I think we all expected it, because that’s what he brings each and every night to his game, that’s what makes him an effective player.”
The Kraken coach added that he liked the way his players were immediately “sticking their jerseys together” to stand up to Tanev but also gave some advice to Wright for the next time Tanev is on the ice with the opposing team: “Heads up, Wrighter… He probably should have heard me yelling.”
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 [email protected].
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The post Three Takeaways – Jani Nyman scores again, but Jets overcome Kraken in OT appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
The Seattle Kraken finished their three-game homestand with two wins and an overtime loss to the best team in the league. The first game of the week, against the Montreal Canadiens, was one of the most memorable of the season. Fans witnessed the Kraken rally from a two-goal deficit, Jani Nyman’s first NHL goal, and an unforgettable overtime winner that will be seared into their memories.
It was probably the loudest I’ve heard Climate Pledge Arena in some time. It was a nice reminder of why I still love going to the games, even if playoff hockey isn’t in the cards this season.
The Jani Nyman experience
We’ve been talking about Jani Nyman all season as one of the Kraken’s most exciting prospects. He’s a ‘big man’ with a wicked shot that could be exactly what the Kraken need. After a relatively slow start to the season in Coachella Valley, Jani has scored goals consistently for the Firebirds. When he got called up early last week, there was a lot of anticipation over whether he could showcase his skill in the NHL.
Often, players take significant time adjusting to the NHL’s speed and size — we’ve seen it before with Ryan Winterton, Logan Morrison, and even Shane Wright. But Nyman wasted no time, scoring a beauty of a power-play goal from a gorgeous feed by Jordan Eberle in his first NHL game. He followed that up with another power-play goal on Sunday against the Winnipeg Jets. As mentioned on the Kraken Hockey Network, “Li’l Jani” became the second Kraken player to score a goal in two of his first three games, with Matty Beniers being the other.
Pessimists might point out that both of his goals came on the power play, but it’s more than just the goals that should excite Kraken fans. Nyman looks like he belongs in the NHL, consistently putting himself in good spots to shoot and battling for pucks without hesitation. It’s early, but you have to like what you’ve seen from him in his first three NHL games. And let’s not forget — he’s still just 20 years old.
Checking in on the Swedish Hockey League
The Swedish Hockey League kicked off its postseason over the weekend, with two Kraken prospects still competing. Unsigned sixth-round draft pick from 2023, Zeb Forsfjäll, and Skellefteå AIK are taking on Färjestad BK in a No. 4 versus No. 5 seed matchup. Meanwhile, Oscar Fisker-Mølgaard and HV71 are once again battling in the relegation round against Modo. Unfortunately, HV71 is already down 0-2 in their best-of-5 series and will need to win three in a row if they are going to avoid being relegated.
Mølgaard had a solid regular season in a league where scoring is hard to come by, tallying 19 points in 38 games with a plus/minus of plus-six on a struggling team. At just 20 years old, he’s considered a strong two-way center and is expected to join the Coachella Valley Firebirds for a limited stint this season once his HV71 campaign concludes. The SHL has provided Mølgaard with an excellent development path, playing in a level of hockey that, outside the AHL, is the most similar to the NHL. He’s projected to play in Coachella Valley next season and is likely a season or two away from being NHL-ready.
Other musings
- The Kraken have lost all three games against the league-leading Winnipeg Jets by a margin of one goal. Two of those games were overtime losses, while the other ended with Winnipeg scoring the game-winner with just 27 seconds remaining.
- Across all three games against the Winnipeg Jets, the Kraken only trailed for 12 percent of the total time — the lowest percentage they’ve trailed against any Western Conference opponent this season.
- To put that 12 percent trailing figure into context, the Kraken have trailed in 42 percent of their total game time this season. The only team with a higher trailing percentage is the San Jose Sharks.
- After Brandon Montour’s brilliant game-winning goal against the Canadiens on Thursday, I spent the entire drive home talking about it being a set play. For the next 24 hours or so there was a lot of discussion about it on several platforms. I really loved how Troy Smith discussed it on the Sheet the next day. Alison also got some additional context here.
- Eeli Tolvanen has stepped up as one of the new penalty killers in the absence of Yanni Gourde and Brandon Tanev. While he was used sparingly on the penalty kill over the past few seasons, it’s not a role he’s been asked to play much throughout his career.
- Since two of their top penalty killers (Gourde and Tanev) last played on March 4, the Kraken’s penalty kill has operated at a 92.3 percent success rate, tied for second-best in the league.
- No one should be too concerned about Shane Wright’s current deployment as the “fourth-line center.” It’s a strategic move to provide Jani Nyman with experienced players around him. Jared McCann was moved to center for Nyman and Burakovsky, which pushed Wright to the fourth line. This setup could also be an opportunity for Wright to work on his two-way game. He’s still getting power-play time and was on the ice for overtime.
- Jani Nyman had just two goals in his first 10 games with Coachella Valley. However, in his last 10 games with the Firebirds before being called up, he scored eight goals.
- The Kraken rank second in the league in the percentage of team goals scored by defensemen, with 20.8 percent of their goals coming from the blue line. Whether that’s a good or bad thing is still up for debate.
- As mentioned above, HV71 is facing Modo in the relegation series. Former Kraken and Seattle Thunderbird Alexander True is part of that Modo team.
Chart of the week
If there’s one thing I’ve loved about this season’s team, it’s their refusal to quit. I’ve probably mentioned this a couple of times this year, but last Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens, the Kraken once again rallied from a two-goal deficit. They lead the league in wins after being down by two goals.
Goal of the week
There were lots of fun goals to choose from this week, but let’s give it up for Jani’s first NHL goal. For this one, we get the full clip, including Nyman’s parents’ reaction.
Player performances
Jordan Eberle (SEA) – The Kraken captain has recorded one goal and six assists over his last four games, including a three-assist performance against the Montreal Canadiens last Wednesday.
Eeli Tolvanen (SEA) – Tolvanen scored three goals over the last three games and leads the Kraken in goals this season with 21, which also marks a career high for a single season.
Brandon Montour (SEA) – Montour has tallied three goals and three assists over his last three games. He also set a Seattle Kraken single-season record for goals by a defenseman, with 16 goals on the season, matching his career high. He was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week.
The week ahead
The Kraken have three road games over the next eight days, starting with a back-to-back against the Blackhawks and Wild on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a Saturday matchup at the Edmonton Oilers.
The Blackhawks have struggled all season, holding the second-worst record in the league. However, the Kraken have already lost to the Blackhawks once this season, so it’s unwise to assume they’ll be an easy opponent.
Meanwhile, the Minnesota Wild have been struggling lately, going 3-6-1 over their last 10 games and averaging just 1.6 goals per game during that stretch. The Kraken will be on the second night of a back-to-back, though, and they are currently 0-10-0 in such situations this season.
And Edmonton…let’s just worry about Edmonton later.
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The Seattle Kraken got off to a slow start on Tuesday and spotted the Chicago Blackhawks a two-goal lead. But as we’ve seen many times this season, they woke up, tilted the ice in the second period. This time, their poor opponent had no answer once things got rolling downhill, and Seattle glided through to an easy 6-2 win.
Lots of players had impressive performances statistically, with three points for Adam Larsson and two each for Shane Wright, Andre Burakovsky, and Matty Beniers, plus goals from Jared McCann and Jordan Eberle.
Here are Three Takeaways from a convincing 6-2 Kraken win over the Blackhawks.
Takeaway #1: Big night for the Big Cat
Though not known for his offensive prowess, Adam Larsson occasionally contributes a couple of points here and there. On this night, he came through in a big way with a critical goal at a key juncture in the game and later added two primary assists—one on Matty Beniers’ goal that made it 4-2 at 12:53 of the second period and the other on Shane Wright’s second goal of the night to make it 6-2 at 6:55 of the third.
It was the second three-point game of the season for the Big Cat, following a three-assist night in a 5-2 win at the New York Islanders on Dec. 5.
Larsson’s goal was the turning point in this game. Seattle had just fallen behind 2-0 at 17:13 of the first when Tyler Bertuzzi tipped Alex Vlasic’s wrist shot past Joey Daccord. But Larsson struck right back just 31 seconds later, showing good offensive instincts by recognizing a soft spot in the right circle and sneaking down from the blue line just as Jaden Schwartz successfully forechecked and jarred the puck loose to Beniers at the goal line.
Beniers laid a perfect pass in Larsson’s wheelhouse, and the defenseman ripped it home.
THE BIG CAT ANSWERS!
31 seconds after Tyler Bertuzzi made it 2-0 Blackhawks, Matty Beniers sets up Adam Larsson.
2-1, #SeaKraken back in the game. pic.twitter.com/NeE7286xUS
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 19, 2025
The goal seemed to settle things down for the Kraken, who didn’t look particularly sharp for much of the first period. They went on to score four goals in the second period and cruised to an easy victory.
Takeaway #2: Wright as rain
Shane Wright also had a big night for Seattle, scoring goals No. 16 and 17 on the season. Remember, he’s been in a bit of a weird spot since Jani Nyman got recalled, playing the majority of his shifts on what Dan Bylsma refuses to call the team’s fourth line (but… it is).
Even so, Wright got plenty of ice time in this one with 16:54 TOI and still managed to score one of his tallies while out with that line of Mikey Eyssimont, Wright, and John Hayden. Eyssimont made some fantastic plays to create that goal—first throwing a reverse hit, then cutting to the slot and getting two point-blank looks at Spencer Knight before Wright tapped in Eyssimont’s second rebound.
WRIGHT AS RAIN!
Heckuva sequence by Mikey Eyssimont to create an easy tap-in for Shane Wright.
Five unanswered goals for the #SeaKraken since they fell behind 2-0.
5-2. pic.twitter.com/WKkhQQxhoK
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 19, 2025
Wright’s second goal came off a pretty give-and-go with Larsson, and that one happened with Jared McCann and Andre Burakovsky as his temporary linemates.
WRIGHT AS RAIN x 2!
Nice little give-and-go play with Adam Larsson, and Shane Wright gets his second of the night. Three points for the Big Cat tonight.
6-2 #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/k1CfTTJyLM
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) March 19, 2025
It put him into a three-way tie for the team’s goal-scoring lead, behind Eeli Tolvanen (21) and Jaden Schwartz (19) but level with McCann and Beniers, who both also potted their 17th goals in this game.
I still don’t think it’s ideal to have Wright playing most of his shifts in that spot with Eyssimont and Tye Kartye or Hayden, but I know it’s temporary. Coaches are hesitant to change lineups that are working, and although I don’t think Bylsma expected to be rolling with Wright on that line for as long as he has, the team has looked very good since Jani Nyman arrived.
So, until the Kraken have a stumble, I expect Wright to continue playing a similar role. Hey, he’s making the most of it.
Takeaway #3: Taking care of business
Seeing the Kraken play the way they have since the NHL Trade Deadline is both encouraging and disappointing at the same time. It’s disappointing because there were so many games like this earlier in the year when it felt like Seattle just had to “take care of business” against lesser teams in what felt like must-win games, yet they’d come out and lay an egg (think about that dreadful stretch around Thanksgiving when they went 1-3 in two home-and-home series against the Anaheim Ducks and San Jose Sharks).
That said, it remains way more fun to watch the team win games and start to believe in itself—a mindset that can serve as a foundation for a more successful season in 2025-26. This version of the Kraken that we’ve been seeing lately is now 4-1-1 in six games since the deadline, has won its league-leading ninth game after trailing by two or more goals, and—although it was facing a horrendous defensive team—looked dominant in the second and third periods on Tuesday.
Yes, it would have been nice to see the team reach this level earlier in the season, but it is still enjoyable to see it, even 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 [email protected].
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The post Three Takeaways – Adam Larsson and Shane Wright lead Kraken to dominant win over Blackhawks appeared first on Sound Of Hockey.
