“So many people deserve it. But he works so, so hard, and has always worked so hard,” Jennifer said.
Melanson’s entry-level contract, which he signed in 2022, expired this summer. The Kraken extended qualifying offers to him and three other restricted free agents, and the other three settled on new contracts relatively quickly.
Negotiations between the team and Melanson’s agency, Raze Sports, stretched into August. Figuring out his next number had to be tricky business. He offers this team something it sorely needs, but in ways that are harder to quantify. If you were watching, you saw it. But hits aren’t valued like points.
Now that it’s settled, “we’ll be able to sleep,” Jennifer joked.
Melanson stayed busy as the talks dragged on. He retained his AHL playoff eligibility and went back to check on the farm team in Coachella Valley as Seattle’s season wound down. He had five points in 11 games as the Firebirds dropped in the Pacific Division Finals.
In the physical style of play that he loves, his shoulders take the most abuse and need the most summer care. Still, the avid golfer entered, and won, his division at the 2026 Men’s Golf Club Championship at Amherst Golf Club on Aug. 2.
Year 3 of JAHM camp also kept him busy. It sold out again, and eventually Melanson expects to expand to meet demand. Nova Scotia produced some of the game’s brightest stars in Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon, both of whom hail from the larger Cole Harbour. Amherst produced both Melanson and goaltender Carly “CJ” Jackson, who plays for the Seattle Torrent. They’re longtime friends who somehow landed clear across the continent, in the same arena in the same city.
It was tough for them to find ice time near their hometown. Demand is high in this small community in a small province. Jennifer said the area’s only ice is removed when the local teams finish up in the spring, and it comes back out in September. JAHM camp asked … could this happen two weeks earlier? The answer was yes.