The Kraken Remain Stuck In The Mushy Middle

The Seattle Kraken entered this offseason as a team to watch, given their cap situation, holes in the lineup, and recent history of offseason transactions. But it’s been awfully quiet in the Pacific Northwest, and it appears the Kraken may be poised for another season of mediocrity. The team entered the offseason with several key items to address, and while they haven’t been completely void of activity, they haven’t really improved a lineup that finished 34-37-11 and ranked 28th in the NHL in scoring this past season and 23rd in goals against.

In PHR’s Offseason Checklist series, we outlined several major concerns the Kraken had heading into the summer, including signing their pending free agents, upgrading their top six scorers, ironing out the Shane Wright situation, and filling out their defensive depth. So far, Seattle has re-signed Bobby McMann and traded for and extended forward Mackie Samoskevich. While those are both solid moves, the Kraken have also watched forward Jaden Schwartz and defenseman Jamie Oleksiak leave Seattle for new opportunities, and it’s hard to call any of this summer’s work an upgrade.

But some ardent defenders might point to this offseason as a step in the right direction long-term, as the team looks to build around a young core and hopes for internal improvement from developing prospects. In that case, it would make sense for the Kraken to avoid older players in an effort to create opportunities for young talent in the organization and perhaps foster healthy competition. But if that is the goal, there are two issues with what transpired this summer. One is the lack of a resolution on the issue with Wright, and the other is Seattle’s lack of movement on younger players who fit in with their young core and could be on the same timeline. Seattle has the assets and cap space to acquire young talent, but seems to be in a position where they may ship out one of their better young players, and it’s hard to say what they get in return.

Another major problem with hoping young players will step up and seize opportunities is that Seattle’s roster is on the older side of the aging curve, with many of their top players approaching 30 or past it. Now, that’s not to say the Kraken don’t possess several young players who could be pieces of a solid core, but are any of them budding stars or superstars?

The reality right now is that they don’t have those pieces. Sure, Matty Beniers is a very talented player who can play in the top six, but he may never be a top-10 scorer, which is fine given his overall work. Berkly Catton is another player who looks like a gamer, but the eighth overall pick in 2024 is a long way from being a star after posting 17 points as a rookie in 66 games last season. But if you stretch the timeline to two or three years out, the Kraken have a wave of talent that should be ready for the NHL. The likes of Jake O’Brien, Jani Nyman, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, Julius Miettinen, and Ty Nelson could all be major NHL contributors before 2030. Until then, though, the Kraken could be relegated to being a fringe playoff team that drafts in the middle of the first round, which is about the worst spot to be in the NHL standings.

It’s not for lack of trying on the Kraken’s part, as they were reportedly close to landing Dallas Stars forward Jason Robertson before the deal fell apart. That kind of acquisition would go a long way toward turning Seattle into a playoff team next season, but is that a good goal to have? It probably is, given the cascading effect long-term losing can have on young players and a team’s internal culture. The Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers have dealt with this before, as a team environment can fall into a morale-hazard situation if the team can’t win for several seasons. When teams get comfortable losing, it can be hard to weed out the negativity that comes with it and the traps of that mindset. Buffalo took a decade and a half to shake that negativity, although the city of Buffalo and its fans remain notorious for this negative line of thinking, and for good reason given the sports history in that city.

The other issue with remaining uncompetitive long-term is the perception it creates when it comes to attracting free agents, coaching staff, and management. If a team can’t create a winning environment, it makes it much harder to attract external candidates, which has already appeared to be a bit of a problem for Seattle.

For this season, it appears the writing is on the wall, and it’s hard to see a path for the Kraken to make the playoffs as currently constructed. But if their objective is long-term growth, then holding onto their assets in a summer when the trade market felt hyperinflated feels like the right move now. There might be a step back this upcoming season, but if young players develop and the Kraken can move on from some of their pending UFAs, they might be able to make their big moves next summer, in what they hope will be a more buyer-friendly market.