{"id":505495,"date":"2026-03-16T02:04:19","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T02:04:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/505495\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T02:04:19","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T02:04:19","slug":"former-leaf-mcmann-makes-big-first-impression-in-debut-for-seattle-kraken","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/505495\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Leaf McMann makes big first impression in debut for Seattle Kraken"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Seattle Kraken’s Bobby McMann, right, and Shane Wright celebrate McMann’s goal as Vancouver Canucks’ Aatu Raty (54) looks on during their game in Vancouver on Saturday.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Bobby McMann knew things would feel a little different on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Playing his first game in a Seattle Kraken jersey, the former Toronto Maple Leafs forward wanted to make an impact with his new team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt almost resembles, in a way, your first game,\u201d he said. \u201cYou\u2019ve got an entirely new group, new organization, new fans. You want to make a great first impression.\u201d<\/p>\n

McMann made a great impression on the score sheet, tallying two goals and an assist as the Kraken (30-26-9) thumped the Vancouver Canucks 5-2. <\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes things go your way a little bit more than other nights and, luckily, that was tonight for me,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat was a fun one. It\u2019s always nice to get the win, and then when you contribute, it makes it that much better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Seattle acquired the 29-year-old from Toronto ahead of the NHL\u2019s trade deadline on March 6 in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2026 draft and a conditional second-round selection in 2027. <\/p>\n

It was a sizable change for McMann, who went undrafted before signing with the Maple Leafs as a free agent in April 2022.<\/p>\n

He played 199 regular-season games for Toronto, amassing 52 goals and 36 assists, and added another three assists over 13 playoff appearances in last season.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Bobby McMann of the Seattle Kraken scores a goal on Nikita Tolopilo of the Vancouver Canucks during the third period of their NHL game at Rogers Arena on Saturday in Vancouver.Derek Cain\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Saturday marked McMann\u2019s first game since March 2. The Leafs opted to sit him ahead of the deadline and, after the trade, the native of Wainwright, Alta., waited a full week for his work visa before finally slotting into the Kraken\u2019s lineup on Saturday. <\/p>\n

The new addition was quick to make an impact. <\/p>\n

McMann\u2019s first of the night \u2013 and 20th of the season \u2013 came 19:10 into the first period when he beat Vancouver netminder Nikita Tolopilo with a sharp-angle shot on a power play. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought [Shane Wright] tipped it maybe because I didn\u2019t know if that one was going in with the shot that I had,\u201d he said. \u201cSo it was more of a pass to him, but I think it just fooled the goalie because I think he just missed it kind of thing, and trickled in.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added another tally early in the third, becoming the first player to score multiple goals in his debut for the Kraken.<\/p>\n

McMann adds speed to Seattle\u2019s top line, which also includes centre Matty Beniers and captain Jordan Eberle, said head coach Lane Lambert. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou saw it right away, first shift when he\u2019s tracking the puck and he\u2019s got a ton of speed and it\u2019s a welcome addition for us from that standpoint,\u201d he said. \u201cObviously the goals he scored, he had a real good chance to make it three as well. I think it went off the knob of the goalie there. But he played well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not only the 6-foot-2 forward\u2019s speed that helps, said Beniers, but his physicality, too.<\/p>\n

And Saturday was just the beginning, he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs time goes on, you play more and more with a guy, you start to realize their tendencies, where they go on the ice, what they like to do with the puck,\u201d Beniers said. \u201cSo, you keep learning but pretty good start.\u201d<\/p>\n

Skid snapped<\/p>\n

The result snapped Seattle\u2019s four-game losing skid.<\/p>\n

The stretch of losses was tough to take for a team that\u2019s hoping to contend this post-season, said winger Jared McCann. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to get out of, I feel like, especially when you have times where you\u2019re playing great and you\u2019re still losing,\u201d he said. \u201cI think that\u2019s the most frustrating part. But it\u2019s a long season, you\u2019re going to have ups and downs. You just got to try to stay level headed. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think when we were losing, the pressure was building, and we had a good talk before the game tonight, just kind of play a little more free and create with the puck, and it was able to show tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Seattle Kraken’s Bobby McMann, right, and Shane Wright celebrate McMann’s goal as Vancouver…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":505496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5130],"tags":[1018,1001,1019,967,991,1020,19,990,1008,1009,1004,992,989,1014,1016,1013,1007,1000,1030,993,994,1006,5,4188,1002,1003,997,1021,998,1025,1026,4,1028,1023,1027,786,1024,995,1011,1012,333,1010,1022,2686,234,5318,86,1015,1017,1005,999,996,1029],"class_list":["post-505495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-seattle-kraken","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-hockey","tag-kraken","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-nhl","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-seattle","tag-seattle-kraken","tag-seattlekraken","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=505495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/505495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/505496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=505495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=505495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=505495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}