In regards to Lambert: “For me, the words I think about are his intensity, his attention to detail,” Eberle said. “He brings an emphasis on structure that we desperately need.”
Added Botterill, “You know, I didn’t know Lane that well before the interview process, but you sit down with him — there’s an intensity there. There’s a drive there.”
That’s great to hear because that didn’t really come across to me in interviews with Lambert (I admittedly did not follow his tenure in New York).
Some additional important quotes about team performance expectations
>The thing that’s probably underappreciated outside Seattle is how angry the Kraken were at what happened last season. After coming within one win of the Western Conference finals in 2023, back-to-back lackluster seasons have been difficult to digest. That might surprise outsiders, but the expectation level internally is way above what’s transpired. Head coach Dan Bylsma was fired after just one year.
> “That second year, getting into the playoffs, giving the fans a glimpse of playoff hockey and how amazing it is, I think that’s how you build a fan base — winning,” Eberle said. “It’s about getting back to that. Last year, I felt we really underperformed of what we were capable of. I look at our team, I think we have one of the better D corps in the Western Conference, a lot of good depth up front and a good goaltender. In my mind, I don’t see us not competing for a playoff spot this year. We definitely need to be in the mix. The fans deserve that.’’
> Added Botterill: “I think our organization in the next year or two has to take that step to be, I’m not going to say a team that vies for the Stanley Cup, but a team that certainly competes for a playoff spot and is going to be in that mix in a constant way.”
The thing I think about is that the Kraken had an identity. They were the ultimate depth team with four second lines, an aggressive forecheck, scoring by committee. That’s what everyone talked about in the second season. I guess the coaching change shook that up but it’s not like Seattle has never had an identity, they just had two bad seasons.
Maybe people don’t like this identity. The biggest knock on the Kraken is that they don’t have a superstar. The problem is that there are only a very small number of these types of players in the NHL and teams have to basically luck into them through the draft (Colorado, Edmonton) or already be perennially successful so that the best players decide to go there (Dallas, Vegas). Expecting Seattle to have a homegrown superstar when they’ve only had four years to develop players is absurd.
I personally don’t mind the historic Kraken identity and it seems like management is trying to go back to that. I love the emphasis on structure, fundamentals, and roleplayers. The fantasy of trading away every asset in the cupboard for Marner or Kaprizov makes me roll my eyes because this team is not a Marner or Kaprizov away from a Stanley Cup. It’s not even a Marner or Kaprizov away from a conference final. It’s a four-year-old club with a top five in the league prospect pipeline, a club in transition from its aging expansion draft veterans to a new core developing into their roles slowly and steadily.
I find that satisfying. I don’t need the immediate gratification of splashy high-risk trades. From the start this team was founded on building and developing its own talent and culture through the draft, and that takes time. It’s a slow and steady race. The Vegas aberration really screwed with people’s mental maps on how this process works.
I really don’t know what to expect from them this year. not a ton of changes, but they may have added enough to get us to a consistent game.
![[LeBrun, The Athletic] Can Kraken establish clear identity under new coach, GM? Catching up with Jason Botterill](https://www.rawchili.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/qBkDBUuzOtnbaCg6yEvlQLbW1samrExtacbbPaewcqY.jpeg)
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In regards to Lambert: “For me, the words I think about are his intensity, his attention to detail,” Eberle said. “He brings an emphasis on structure that we desperately need.”
Added Botterill, “You know, I didn’t know Lane that well before the interview process, but you sit down with him — there’s an intensity there. There’s a drive there.”
That’s great to hear because that didn’t really come across to me in interviews with Lambert (I admittedly did not follow his tenure in New York).
Some additional important quotes about team performance expectations
>The thing that’s probably underappreciated outside Seattle is how angry the Kraken were at what happened last season. After coming within one win of the Western Conference finals in 2023, back-to-back lackluster seasons have been difficult to digest. That might surprise outsiders, but the expectation level internally is way above what’s transpired. Head coach Dan Bylsma was fired after just one year.
> “That second year, getting into the playoffs, giving the fans a glimpse of playoff hockey and how amazing it is, I think that’s how you build a fan base — winning,” Eberle said. “It’s about getting back to that. Last year, I felt we really underperformed of what we were capable of. I look at our team, I think we have one of the better D corps in the Western Conference, a lot of good depth up front and a good goaltender. In my mind, I don’t see us not competing for a playoff spot this year. We definitely need to be in the mix. The fans deserve that.’’
> Added Botterill: “I think our organization in the next year or two has to take that step to be, I’m not going to say a team that vies for the Stanley Cup, but a team that certainly competes for a playoff spot and is going to be in that mix in a constant way.”
The thing I think about is that the Kraken had an identity. They were the ultimate depth team with four second lines, an aggressive forecheck, scoring by committee. That’s what everyone talked about in the second season. I guess the coaching change shook that up but it’s not like Seattle has never had an identity, they just had two bad seasons.
Maybe people don’t like this identity. The biggest knock on the Kraken is that they don’t have a superstar. The problem is that there are only a very small number of these types of players in the NHL and teams have to basically luck into them through the draft (Colorado, Edmonton) or already be perennially successful so that the best players decide to go there (Dallas, Vegas). Expecting Seattle to have a homegrown superstar when they’ve only had four years to develop players is absurd.
I personally don’t mind the historic Kraken identity and it seems like management is trying to go back to that. I love the emphasis on structure, fundamentals, and roleplayers. The fantasy of trading away every asset in the cupboard for Marner or Kaprizov makes me roll my eyes because this team is not a Marner or Kaprizov away from a Stanley Cup. It’s not even a Marner or Kaprizov away from a conference final. It’s a four-year-old club with a top five in the league prospect pipeline, a club in transition from its aging expansion draft veterans to a new core developing into their roles slowly and steadily.
I find that satisfying. I don’t need the immediate gratification of splashy high-risk trades. From the start this team was founded on building and developing its own talent and culture through the draft, and that takes time. It’s a slow and steady race. The Vegas aberration really screwed with people’s mental maps on how this process works.
I really don’t know what to expect from them this year. not a ton of changes, but they may have added enough to get us to a consistent game.