The NHL’s annual mad dash from the Stanley Cup Final to the July 4th holiday has ended. While there is still business being transacted, things have cooled off following a chaotic two-week fever dream that included the NHL Draft, free agency, Development Camps, the first buyout window, qualifying restricted free agents, and—just to keep things interesting—a slew of trades.
With things settling down, this feels like a good time to empty the Kraken Notebook and bring you up to speed on what has transpired for Seattle over the past fortnight.
Philipp Grubauer is staying
This is relatively old news, and although we talked about it on last week’s Sound Of Hockey Podcast, I haven’t written about it yet. So, here’s the update: Philipp Grubauer is staying with the Seattle Kraken.
Jason Botterill just confirmed that Philipp Grubauer will be back next season. #SeaKraken
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) June 28, 2025
After a gruelingly long Day 1 of the NHL Draft, Kraken general manager Jason Botterill was asked point blank by Glenn Dreyfuss if Grubauer would be back next season following much speculation both locally and nationally that he would be bought out of the last two years of his contract.
Here’s what Botterill said:
“Yeah, Philipp will be part of our group here, for sure, and we’ll continue to work on different things on— obviously, we brought in Colin [Zulienello] to be our goalie coach moving forward here. We are going to have different things to work on from that standpoint. We’ll continue to look at different ways we can improve the team in front of [the goalies]. I think it’s one of the things that Lane [Lambert] has talked a lot about as a head coach is making sure that we play strong in front of them, and we’ll continue to look at different ways to improve our goaltending position with both Joey and Philipp.
“It’s a situation that— people sometimes think that if you buy a player out, it just automatically goes away. There’s still a cap hit and stuff from that standpoint. And we believe Philipp can bounce back from that situation, and we think there’s an opportunity still for success here.”
A month ago, I was certain Seattle would find a way to move on from Grubauer and his $5.9 million cap hit over the next two seasons. Coming off the worst season of his career, in which he went 8-17-1 with a 3.49 goals-against average and .875 save percentage and even landed in AHL Coachella Valley for a stretch, it seemed to me there was no way Seattle could bring him back.
But once the team fired goalie coach Steve Briere and replaced him with Firebirds goalie coach Colin Zulienello, signs were suddenly pointing toward the relationship with Grubauer continuing. After all, when Grubauer returned from his stint in CV at the end of last season, he spoke glowingly of his time working with Zulienello, while also taking a few pot shots (at least I thought they were pot shots) at Briere and former head coach Dan Bylsma for their communication and the way they were deploying Grubauer in net. Promoting a goalie coach that Grubauer clearly likes indicated that he could end up sticking around. Lo and behold, Grubauer remains with the team.
Financially speaking, if the team had bought Grubauer out, then he would have still counted for $1.98 million in 2025-26 and $3.08 million in 2026-27. Then, the team would have had two additional penalty years of $1.68 million per season in 2027-28 and 2028-29. So what Botterill said about that side of the decision is true.
But the optics are still difficult when you consider just how tough of a season Grubauer had. The Kraken want to portray to the fanbase that they are looking to become a perennial playoff contender, yet they’re running it back with a goalie who couldn’t even be relied upon in the second of back-to-backs last season while making $5.9 million.
I don’t believe the front office is blind to said optics, though. Where I think the decision to keep Grubauer (and instead replace the goalie coach) was really made was when the market for free-agent goalies started to develop. Plain and simple, there were no worthwhile goalies on the market. The best option was Jake Allen, who ended up re-signing in New Jersey anyway, so he wasn’t even really available. Beyond that, guys like David Rittich, Dan Vladar, and Alex Lyon were the only ones getting signed as backups, and none of those strike me as massive upgrades over Grubauer.
In fairness to Grubauer, he did look a lot better when he got back from the AHL at the end of last season, and he was excellent at the IIHF World Championship for Team Germany, going 2-1-0 with a 2.02 GAA and .930 save percentage. Maybe that carries over into next season?
I do also want to call out that Grubauer remains an extremely easy guy to root for, continuing to make Seattle his summer home and even appearing at Kraken Development Camp last week to help prospect Visa Vedenpää and the other invitee goalies that were there. It would be really nice to see him bounce back and finally put together the type of season that made us think the Kraken had hit the jackpot when they signed him in 2021.
Here’s hoping he sticks it to me and all the other media people that incorrectly predicted the Kraken would buy him out.
Development Camp thoughts
Speaking of Vedenpää, he was awesome in the Stucky Cup scrimmage on Thursday, backstopping Team Blue to a 4-3 comeback win over Team White. Vedenpää, the only drafted goalie in attendance, played the whole game and made a bunch of big-time stops, while the three camp invitees rotated through Team White’s net.
Vedenpää, 20, had a tough season in Finland, missing most of the year with an undisclosed health issue.
“With Visa, we’re so proud of this kid,” Kraken former (more on that in a bit) director of player development Jeff Tambellini said. “He dealt with some tough health issues throughout the year, missed the whole back half. He was supposed to be one of the goaltenders for Team Finland at World Juniors, so for him to make the comeback, get in a game, play that well in front of all our fans, for us, that’s a 10 out of 10 day.”
Unsurprisingly, Berkly Catton also jumped off the page at Dev Camp, looking lightyears ahead of some of the other players in attendance. It’s important to remember that he’s facing other very young players in that setting, but for a 19-year-old looking to make the jump from the WHL to the NHL in a few months, you want to see progression, and you want him to stand out from the pack. He definitely accomplished that. He’s faster and stronger than last summer, he’s mature well beyond his years, and the way he floats across the ice gives a real “NHL-ready” vibe.
Berkly Catton is looking so smooth. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/T47j8kVXh4
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) July 1, 2025
A few other players that stood out:
Blake Fiddler – The 6-foot-5, 220-pound defenseman that the Kraken traded up to get in the second round looks like a real player. He’s remarkably smooth for his size and seems to handle the puck well. He also told us in his interview on the Sound Of Hockey Podcast that he’s “still growing.”
Jake O’Brien – O’Brien got a little too cute with the puck a couple times in the Stucky Cup, but he also showed flashes of the elite skill that made him worthy of the No. 8 overall pick in the draft. He’s very shifty and has fantastic playmaking vision. It will be fun to see how he progresses in the OHL this next season. Botterill walked out on the ice at halftime of the scrimmage and had O’Brien sign his entry-level contract in front of the many attending fans.
Jake O’Brien signs his entry-level contract with Jason Botterill before the start of the second half. #SeaKraken pic.twitter.com/DzCSNxg4Ag
— Sound Of Hockey (@sound_hockey) July 3, 2025
Caden Price – The 19-year-old defenseman who got traded from Kelowna to Lethbridge in the WHL this past season was flying under the radar as a prospect for a while. But he ended up playing a big role for Team Canada at the World Junior Championship, and he placed first in fitness testing this past week and looked great on the ice. Keep an eye on him over the next season or two…
Ben MacDonald – As a 21-year-old college player, MacDonald was on the older end of the Dev Camp spectrum. Still, he was notable with his play in the Stucky Cup and even his practice performances. He looked strong and fast and set up a highlight-reel goal in the scrimmage by spinning off a check in the corner and finding an open teammate in the slot.
Reese Hamilton – Hamilton is not a Kraken prospect but was invited to camp after going undrafted last week. He had an impressive 16-year-old season for the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL with eight goals and 23 assists in 42 games but then went pretty quiet in his 17 season with just 14 total points (4-10=14) in 59 games split across the Hitmen and Regina Pats. But Hamilton caught my eye a bunch of times at Dev Camp and got called out by both Tyson Jugnauth and Tambellini as a player they both thought should have been drafted. Hamilton will go back into the draft next year, but he’s a player to monitor.
“To get a Reese Hamilton into camp, a player that at the start of the year was being talked about in the first or second round, and we get a free look at him here,” Tambellini said. “From our standpoint, that’s fantastic. So we’re looking at them all differently. Again, different timelines, but always great when you get a player that you don’t expect to get to camp.”
Tambellini moving on
Speaking of Tambellini, news broke Monday morning that he has been hired by the Tampa Bay Lightning as an assistant general manager. Selfishly, we’re devastated by this news, because Tambellini did an awesome job in his role for the Kraken, and working with him was an absolute delight. That said, many congrats to “Tambo,” and we wish him the very best in his new role.
RFA updates
Last week, the Kraken extended qualifying offers to all three of their restricted free agents, Kaapo Kakko, Ryker Evans, and Tye Kartye. They then signed Kartye to a two-year deal with a $1.25 million cap hit. That’s a fine number and a nice payday for the depth forward who was signed as an undrafted free agent and worked his way up through the ranks to become a full-time NHLer with the Kraken.
Kakko filed for arbitration on Saturday. That doesn’t necessarily mean there will be an abitration hearing. Indeed, parties more frequently agree to a new deal before the hearing, which will be scheduled to happen between July 20 and August 4. It does guarantee that, one way or another, a deal will get done with Kakko. It also eliminates the possibility of him signing an offer sheet with another team. If this does end in a hearing, the neutral arbitrator will award a one-year contract, after which Kakko will be an unrestricted free agent.
Arbitration hearings are contentious and can really tarnish a team’s relationship with a player. Plus, the Kraken surely want to lock Kakko up for longer than one year, so it behooves Seattle to get something done before this gets to a hearing. But from the player’s perspective, he’s also as little as one year away from a massive payday on the open market as an unrestricted free agent.
I believe Kakko likes playing in Seattle, but does he like it enough to sign a longer-term deal in the next couple weeks and forgo his upcoming opportunity to become a UFA?
Are the Kraken done reshaping their roster?
Aside from the trades that brought in Mason Marchment and Freddy Gaudreau and removed Andre Burakovsky (the Kraken did end up buying out Joe Veleno, the return in the Burakovsky trade) and the signing of shutdown defenseman Ryan Lindgren, the Kraken still haven’t made a move that I think puts them back in playoff contention. I believe that—if they do truly want to compete for the postseason next year—they need to add a winger that can reliably score 30-plus goals.
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet has speculated that the Kraken were considering a trade with the St. Louis Blues for Jordan Kyrou but didn’t pull the trigger. That, to me, fits the bill as exactly the kind of acquisition the Kraken need and also tells me they aren’t opposed to continuing to seek offensive upgrades.
In my reaction to the Lindgren signing, I wrote that the numbers don’t align right now, with five left-shot defensemen in the fold. So is this the roster that Seattle will roll with in 2025-26? Or is there yet a “splashy” acquisition on the horizon, perhaps with a defenseman exiting and a top-six forward entering?
Here’s what Botterill said when I asked him about that at the draft:
“I think there’s 31 other teams that want to make a splasher addition to their roster, and I think you see in other markets, everyone’s trying from that standpoint, for sure. We’ll continue to work on developing our own players internally. We’re excited about some of our young players, excited about a player like Chandler Stephenson being comfortable in this market in his second year. But hey, we continue to have draft capital, continue to have cap space to work on that, and we’ll see how it goes.”
Here’s my updated depth chart projection after adding in Lindgren and removing Veleno. I do not think Jani Nyman and Berkly Catton will play together on the fourth line; it’s just where I think they “stack up” at the moment.
There is room to add a forward and remove a defenseman here…
Forwards
Jaden Schwartz // Matty Beniers // Kaapo Kakko
Jared McCann // Chandler Stephenson // Mason Marchment
Eeli Tolvanen // Shane Wright // Jordan Eberle
Jani Nyman // Freddy Gaudreau // Berkly Catton
Tye Kartye
Defense
Vince Dunn // Adam Larsson
Ryker Evans // Brandon Montour
Ryan Lindgren // Jamie Oleksiak
Josh Mahura
Ville Ottavainen
Goalies
Joey Daccord
Philipp Grubauer
Matt Murray
