Seattle Kraken’s 3 Stars of December

Although the Seattle Kraken began the 2025-26 season on a hot streak, that all changed in December. They went on two losing streaks and ended the month with a final record of 5-7-1. They picked up a total of 11 points out of a possible 26 points. 

The Kraken also traded forward Mason Marchment to the Columbus Blue Jackets right before the holiday trade freeze. In exchange, the Kraken received a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft and a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Although they didn’t receive any current players, they picked up some decent draft capital that they can use as leverage for future trades or to pick up some great future players. 

Although the Kraken had a poor December compared to other months, they did have several players who pulled their weight more than others. Let’s look at who the three stars of December are. 

Third Star: Jacob Melanson

The young rookie, Jacob Melanson, was only called up to the Kraken earlier in December, but he has already made an impact with the team. He made his NHL debut last season in March against the Nashville Predators. On Dec. 14, he made his season debut. He only had 12 shifts and played a total of 7:47.

He has played eight games so far this season, and in his last game of the month on Dec. 29, he recorded his first assist. Seconds ticked down in the first period, and Joey Daccord passed the puck around the boards. Melanson picked it up in the neutral zone and skated it into the Vancouver Canucks’ zone with speed. He got up to the net and passed it to Ryan Winterton across from him. Winterton gave the Kraken the lead with his goal.

The Kraken have had several forwards out with injury. Now that Jared McCann is back and Jaden Schwartz is getting closer to a return, the players who have been called up might have to get sent back down to the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the Kraken’s American Hockey League (AHL) team. Although the Kraken just sent Jani Nyman down to the AHL, who has been with the team since the beginning of the season, they decided to keep Melanson up with them. That seems to prove he is doing something right in his first eight games this season. 

Second Star: Chandler Stephenson 

The second star of December goes to Chandler Stephenson. He is just under the leading scorer with 12 points of his own for the month. Considering he has 24 points for the entire season so far, he recorded half of his points in December. 

He recorded his career-best point streak, recording nine points in eight games. Not only did he record the best point streak of his career, but he also recorded the fourth-longest point streak in Kraken history. Stephenson etched his name into franchise history in the month of December, and that is something to be celebrated. 

Stephenson recorded two multi-point games in December, one on Dec. 20 and one on Dec. 28. Unfortunately, after he recorded his multi-point games, his point streak ended. Regardless, he had a killer month in December. Let’s see if he can keep it up in January. 

First Star: Eeli Tolvanen

For the second month in a row, the first star of the month for the Kraken is forward Eeli Tolvanen. In the Kraken’s three stars for November, Jaden Schwartz just went on injured reserve (IR), and I stated that Tolvanen will need to step up in his absence. Well, he definitely did just that.