On the heels of a career-worst season, there was speculation that the Seattle Kraken could buy out Philipp Grubauer’s contract and move on from the veteran goaltender.

2025 NHL Draft Recap: Every pick the Kraken made

But on Friday, Seattle Kraken general manager Jason Botterill said the 33-year-old Grubauer will remain with the franchise.

“Philipp will be part of our group here and stuff for sure, and we’ll continue to work on different things,” Botterill told reporters after the first round of the NHL Draft.

That came in response to a question about whether the Kraken intended to buy out the final two years of Grubauer’s contract, which is worth $5.9 million in average annual value. According to PuckPedia, if the Kraken opted for a buyout, they would owe roughly $6.73 million – two-thirds of his remaining base salary. That money would be spread out over four years.

The NHL’s first buyout window closes on Monday, but Botterill’s comments suggest that’s not on the table.

“People sometimes think that if you buy a player out, it just automatically goes away,” Botterill said. “There’s still a cap hit and stuff from that standpoint. And we believe that Philipp can bounce back from that situation, and we think there’s an opportunity still for success here.”

Grubauer excelled during the Kraken’s 2023 playoff run, but lost his starting job to Joey Daccord the following winter.

Grubauer then struggled mightily this past season, posting a career-worst .875 save percentage that was second-worst in the league among qualified goalies. The 13-year NHL veteran went 8-17-1 in the net and was demoted in late January to American Hockey League affiliate Coachella Valley, where he spent a month before returning to the Kraken.

Botterill expressed confidence that Grubauer can turn things around under new goaltending coach Colin Zulianello, who was promoted earlier this month from Coachella Valley.

“We brought in Colin to be our goalie coach,” Botterill said. “Moving forward here, we are going to have different things to work on from that standpoint. We’ll continue to look at different ways that we can improve the team in front of (the goalies). That’s one of the things that Lane (Lambert) has talked a lot about as a head coach is making sure that we play stronger in front of (them).

“And we’ll continue to look at different ways to improve our goaltending position, both with Joey and Philipp.”

Kraken to buy out recently acquired center

The Kraken placed 25-year-old center Joe Veleno on unconditional waivers on Sunday for the purpose to buy out the final year of his contract. He was due to make $2.275 million.

Veleno was acquired by Seattle last week as part of the salary-cap-clearing trade that sent veteran forward Andre Burakovsky to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Veleno was drafted by the Detroit Red Wings with the No. 30 overall pick in 2018. He played 288 games with the Red Wings over parts of five seasons before he was traded to the Blackhawks in March.

Veleno had eight goals and nine assists over 74 games this past season, split between Detroit and Chicago. He has 38 goals and 43 assists in 306 career games, including a career-best 12-goal, 15-assist campaign with the Red Wings in 2023-24.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

More on the Seattle Kraken

• Seattle Kraken pick Jake O’Brien at No. 8 overall in NHL Draft
• Seattle Kraken swing another trade, acquire veteran center from Wild
• NHL insider calls Kraken trade of disappointing Burakovsky ‘incredible’
• Seattle Kraken trade veteran forward Burakovsky to Blackhawks
• Salk: Why Seattle Kraken trade for Marchment is step in right direction