2025–26 Edmonton Oilers’ Pacific rivals preview: Seattle Kraken

With two first-round picks in each of the next two drafts, and a number of veterans on expiring deals, the Seattle Kraken bring a new GM into the fold. Jason Botterill is now tasked with giving direction to the team that is still searching for its true identity. New coach Lane Lambert will be looking to establish himself after bridging the New York Islanders between Barry Trotz and Patrick Roy in his first stint as a head coach. The Kraken do have some young talent, but is it enough to build around?

Let’s take a look at their roster to see what might lie ahead.

Forwards

Schwartz–Beniers–Kakko
McCann–Stephenson–Eberle
Marchment–Wright–Tolvanen
Kartye–Gaudreau–Nyman

The Kraken have spent their highest draft picks down the middle, as Matthew Beniers and Shane Wright will be defining factors one way or another. Neither has asserted themselves as true high end stars, but both have more to give in the seasons ahead. They shoulder a lot of responsibility. Beniers is already one of their top centres, while Wright is ready to earn that usage. In a mostly sheltered role last season, Wright had some strong moments, and was at times one of the team’s more effective scorers. That offence should complement Beniers’ two way play as well.

The duo will not be alone, as some of the team’s best prospects might play centre. Granted he is likely more of a winger, but Berkly Catton should be an interesting preseason watch. This year’s top selection Jake O’Brien seems to have a lot of promise as well, but should not be in the NHL just yet. Catton, a speedy playmaker, and O’Brien, an in-zone playmaker, should help diversify the overall skillset next to Wright and Beniers.

A lot, then, is riding on some of the bigger players in this lineup. Kaapo Kakko played his best hockey after joining the Kraken last season, and might continue to blossom. Jani Nyman is an interesting name to watch, a high volume shooter, power forward, who fought his way into an NHL audition last season.

In the meantime, the other cohort of forwards are veterans. Jaden Schwartz, Jordan Eberle, Mason Marchment, and Eeli Tolvanen are all pending free agents after this season. Frederick Gaudreau might bring some sturdiness to the centre group. Jared McCann has been in trade rumours recently, and might command a steep return with two years left on his deal.

Unfortunately, the Chandler Stephenson contract looks to be among the worst in the NHL. The Kraken are not contenders, still have some cap space, and are likely to be trading away players again this season. This means that the Kraken can manage it, but nearly $7M until 2031 is a long time. For now Stephenson is a contributor, but the hope should be that both Beniers and Wright are ahead of him on the depth chart.

There is some help on the way in the future, as a number of prospects might push for spots should veterans be traded. Jagger Firkus, Carson Rehkopf, and Eduard Sale are among those worth mentioning in the longterm, but Ryan Winterton or Lleton Roed might get a shot this season.

Defence

Dunn–Larsson
Lindgren–Montour
Oleksiak–Evans

Though lacking a true star, there is a lot to like about this blueline. The two right shots are Adam Larsson and Brandon Montour, stylistic opposites. Larsson is extremely valuable as a defensive specialist, while Montour has shown his offence can be high level if he is properly supported.

On the left the team is deeper, and many would consider Vince Dunn as their best defenceman. Ryan Lindgren and Jamie Oleksiak have had strong moments over the years, but neither are guaranteed to be ready for the volume required of them for the Kraken to contend. Lindgren, at least, provides some hope of being a perfect fit alongside Montour if he’s able to recreate his top form.

Ryker Evans is the wild card, as some inconsistent results cloud his progression. Granted his support or role is not necessarily ideal, potentially being forced to his weak side. With Dunn and Montour there is not necessarily a whole lot of room for offensive defencemen either. He will, presumably, have one of Oleksiak or Lindgren to work with.

This same problem might present itself for many of the team’s top prospects on the blueline. Right shots Ty Nelson and Lukas Dragicevic, as well as left shot Tyson Jugnauth, all have more offensive skillsets. Nelson is the furthest along, and plays the heaviest game of the three. Dragicevic has some size, and he and Jugnauth will turn professional this season. As AHL rookies they could aspire to what Nelson achieved under the same circumstances last season.

The blueline of the present and that of the future both need upgrading. Defencemen take a bit longer to develop, which means drafting a difference maker to build this core around might take Wright and Beniers to their mid 20s. Certainly some greater investment here would be appreciated, but the Kraken might have to be aggressive in procuring some help, especially with a defensive minded player.

Goalies

Daccord
Grubauer
Murray

Joey Daccord has proven a late bloomer, becoming a legitimate starting goalie. This was much needed as Philip Grubauer has not been able to live up to the role with the Kraken. Without much premier offensive talent, the Kraken will need their goaltending to be a strength for the team to get anywhere. Unfortunately this has been hard to come by for the Kraken.

While the Kraken have some interesting goalie prospects, like Niklas Kokko and Kim Saarinen, neither are close to becoming NHL regulars. Instead, veteran Matt Murray could be able to push Grubauer for the backup spot, though his injury history limits his staying power. In all likelihood the Kraken will play out the final two seasons of Grubauer’s contract, relying instead on improved defensive play to help their goalies.

Path to success

After selling off assets at the deadline last year, the Kraken might feign a desire to push for the playoffs this coming season. Still, it is far more likely that there will be a longer term vision in order. As such, the best way to measure success at the NHL level will be the development of their younger players. If Beniers, Wright, and Kakko can look like legitimate top-six forwards the perception of this team will be much improved.

In order to be competitive the Kraken will have to do a lot better at each net front, both offensively and defensively. It might be too tall a task to expect Mason Marchment and Ryan Lindgren to be real answers for these issues. The Kraken will need to be airtight in their execution to have a chance at the playoffs, so new coach Lane Lambert will have to hit the ground running. Their transition game must be really strong on both sides of the puck.

Chances are the Kraken will have to choose which pending free agents to keep or trade at the deadline. One might think that as captain Eberle is the most likely to stay, while Schwartz and Oleksiak are veterans who might not fit the timeline.

Instead, the brighter fantasy for Kraken fans will come from key developments in their prospect system. Catton and O’Brien will headline this area, though others will be part of the equation. So long as their investments at centre pay off down the line, it is becoming imperative that the Kraken improve the future of their blueline. Whether this comes through trade or draft it will be crucial to building a potential contender.