2025 NHL Summer Cooler – Seattle Kraken
the Seattle Kraken. Neil, of the 32 teams that we will have covered, this one kind of excites me the least because there’s not a lot here that I could say is positive in terms of the club getting into the playoffs or even pushing for a bubble spot. They were 27th overall in the NHL last season. Lane Lambert replaces Dan Bosma behind the bench who was hired a year ago. He only lasts one season. Why him? That’s not a question for me. I have no idea. And I’m not putting him down by saying that. That’s all goes back to Ron Francis and the Seattle organization. Why they would pick Lane Lambert. He had a decent run in New York with the Islanders. He didn’t do a bad job there, but I don’t know. They did it quickly, Vic. They did it at the right before they did it before the playoffs ended, I believe. And so, I don’t know why. It’s just a situation with them where you have to wonder if this is a club that’s being haunted by two things. First of all, the Vegas Golden Knights and how they came into the league making the Stanley Cup final in their very first season. But then the Kraken had a great run deep into the second round in their second season of the NHL. They have missed the playoffs the last two years and it feels to me like the franchise is fighting this both of these cases. Yeah, I got to say like I I like a couple of things that they did in the off season besides the the new GM that they put in place in Bal replaces Ron Francis replaced himself with Jason Bal. And again, if you ask me why Brell, I would say I have no idea why Ron Francis would step away from being the GM, which is a thing that he’s been pretty good at. But I like the Mason Marchment pickup from Dallas. I think that gives him some more firepower up front. I do like also the Ryan Lingren acquisition as a free agent on the back end. I like Lingren a lot when he was in New York. I do think, Vic, that they’ve got a pretty good defense core. When you talk about Vince Dunn, who’s really good offensively, Adam Larson, Brandon Montour, and now Ryan Lingren, I I think their defense is okay. And I know they didn’t do a lot, but they did enough things. And we’ll see what Lane Lambert can get out of this group. They’re not the worst in the league by far, but they didn’t do a lot of exciting things in the off season. They also acquired Frederick Gro in a trade with the Minnesota Wild and they signed goalender Matt Murray for one year, $1 million from the Toronto Maple Leafs. In terms of their RFA UFA resigns, we start with the UFAS first. They held on to center John Hayden and defenseman Josh Mahura and their RFAS of significance. Tai Kier, a leftwing and Capo Kako who I think found a home in Seattle after getting out of the pressure cooker in New York. He re-ups for three years at 4.5 million EV. There are notable drops. Andre Barakovski traded to Chicago in the Joe Valeno deal. And then Valeno winds up getting released, winds up signing with the Montreal Canadians. And Mikey Esimot signed as a UFA by the Boston Bruins. I think also, Neil, what’s significant is there hasn’t been, you know, there’s not a lot of fanfare with the offseason moves here. And more importantly, some of these players have to start performing from within the organization that have been there. They’ve got a little bit of tenure. And I think it’s going to be imperative on them to have an upswing this season if this team is going to compete. I don’t think they’re a wild card team. But if they’re going to give it a push, they need guys like Jared McCann to start stepping up a little bit here because two years ago, McCann came off a 40goal season. I think surprised a lot of people and dropped to 29 following year and only 22 last season. and Matty Beneers, Golden Trophy winner in 2023, has only had 35 goals and 80 points over the course of the last two seasons. That’s an average of 40 points per season. Even I could figure that out. And that’s not going to get it done for a team that’s middle of the pack in scoring. their power play with Jessica Campbell actually in charge of it in her first season as the first female behind an NHL bench actually dropped from 16th in 23 24 to 23rd last season. So those are all components that need to improve in the 2526 season. Absolutely. And you’ve got to hope if you’re Seattle and their fans that you can get some career years out of some of these guys. Kappo Cackle, Mattie Beneers, Jaden Schwarz, Mason Marchman prove himself. Shane Wright suddenly show why at one time he was slated to go first overall in the draft and then he slipped and he’s still never been able to be a regular player, a game in and game out player. As I said before, I think their defense is okay. I don’t mind their goalending with Joey Dord and Philip Grubower. And then they’ve, as you mentioned, they signed Matt Murray, twotime Stanley Cup winner in Pittsburgh, although that seems like decades ago. He’s their number three, as he was in Toronto. Lane Lambert’s going to have to come in, change whatever was wrong in the atmosphere with the Kraken last year and start to put in his way of seeing the game and his systems and get these guys to play a lot better than they did last year. You like the goal setting? I don’t mind it. I don’t hate it. It’s not terrible. It’s It’s Grubower Decord. It’s not great. Okay, you win. It’s not good. Here’s here’s my upshot here is I don’t play fantasy, but I did look at a couple of things just in terms of how goalenders were valued and Philip Grubower two years ago was projected to be in 40% of the pools and last year dropped to 5% and I don’t think he would be in anybody’s selection mindset this year as a goalender. I think he’s underperformed there. I think the court is okay. I think Murray’s a crapshoot and I think that this is a marginal group between the pipes to say the most. You know what, partner? I can’t argue with you on that. I said I like them and then you made me refocus again and yeah, that’s a place that they’re not very good and they got to be better. I’m also a little bit more hopeful on Shane Wright because he was the fourth pick in 2022. did a 44 points last year and was a plus four. He plays on the line with Mason Marchman and Ellie Tovenan. I think he can improve those numbers, maybe get up to 60 points this year. And this is another guy that if he could push his way upward, it is certainly going to help make this team a lot more competitive than at least on paper I’m seeing them right now. Yeah, last year was his first full season with the Kraken and as you said he got 19 goals, 44 points plus he was a plus four, which is hard to do on a team that’s losing. Before that, he’d only had five goals in his career in the two seasons that he’d played in the organization. So, he finally broke in last year, but he’s going to have to continue to show why he was a number four overall pick in the 22 draft. Just to go off on a little bit of a tangent here, one of the stats that really amazed me with this team last year was Adam Larson, defenseman, still managed to finish with a plus 22. Wow. On a team had finished this season 24th on team defense. Yeah, that is amazing. And as I said earlier, I their defense is okay. They’re not going to lose because of bad defense. They’re going to they’re probably you’ve hit the nail on the head. Their goalending isn’t very good and they’re going to have to put some pucks in the net at the other end to make up for it. You’re saying that I’m hitting the nail on the head. This is a good jumping off point for me on Seattle.
In this Summer Coolers edition of NHL Wraparound, Neil Smith and Vic Morren dive deep into the least inspiring of the 32 NHL teams heading into the 2025–26 season: the Seattle Kraken.
After a quick taste of playoff success in their second year, the Kraken have slid into irrelevance—27th overall last season, a questionable coaching hire in Lane Lambert, and little improvement made during the offseason.
They’ve got some exciting prospects like Shane Wright and former Calder winner Matty Beniers, but the goaltending is shaky, the power play regressed, and the club is still searching for its identity in a league that has passed them by.
🧊 IN THIS EPISODE:
[00:00] Kraken preview: What’s not exciting about this roster
[00:38] Lane Lambert replaces Dan Bylsma—why?
[01:30] Vegas comparison and pressure from early success
[02:15] Offseason moves: Marchment, Lindgren, Gaudreau, Capo Kakko
[03:00] Notable re-signings: Caco, Cartier, Mahura
[03:45] Quiet exits: Burakovsky, Pezzetta, Eno fallout
[04:30] Matty Beniers: Calder winner or sophomore slump?
[05:30] Power play problems: Jessica Campbell’s unit slides to 23rd
[06:00] Key players who must improve: McCann, Beniers, Wright
[07:00] Goaltending woes: Grubauer, Daccord, and Matt Murray
[08:30] Shane Wright outlook: 60-point potential?
[09:00] Adam Larsson’s shocking +22: One bright spot on defense
[09:30] Why Seattle’s ceiling might be the middle of the pack (at best)
🔑 KEY TAKEAWAYS:
Lane Lambert’s hiring feels uninspired, and it’s unclear what he brings that will move the needle after Bylsma’s brief run.
Ron Francis stepped aside as GM—another odd move that raises more questions than answers.
Seattle’s goaltending is a liability. Grubauer is in serious decline, Daccord is serviceable, and Matt Murray is a gamble.
Scoring is shallow. No Kraken forward hit 30 goals last year. Jared McCann, Matty Beniers, and Shane Wright must elevate.
Shane Wright remains a wild card. If he breaks out this year, it could provide much-needed momentum.
🎯 FINAL WORD:
For a team entering its fifth season, Seattle feels directionless. The Kraken are clinging to past flashes of success while failing to deliver the growth fans expected. Without big years from their young stars and a serious turnaround in net, expect another year adrift—closer to the lottery than the playoffs.
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