The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs. Accordingly, it’s now time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Seattle.
After another coaching change last year, the Kraken were hoping that they’d turn things around this season. While they were technically in the race for a playoff spot in the final few games, they wound up on the outside looking in once again, resulting in the departure of Ron Francis and an organization-wide audit of their processes. While a rebuild or roster retooling might be the more prudent move for the team, it doesn’t appear they’ll be going in that direction. With that in mind, their checklist focuses on moves to help the team now.
Take Care Of Pending Free Agent Forwards
Since Seattle was still within striking distance of a playoff spot, they went from being likely sellers at the trade deadline to improbable buyers. As a result, instead of moving some core rental veterans for future help, they held onto those and added another one for good measure. Now, it’s time to figure out which ones they want to keep.
We’ll start with the newcomer Bobby McMann. The 29-year-old was in the middle of a breakout performance with Toronto before finding a new gear following his acquisition by the Kraken. McMann potted 10 goals in 18 games with his new team, bringing him to 29 on the season. That puts him fourth in tallies among all pending UFAs, putting him in a position to command a long-term deal at possibly four (or more) times his current AAV of $1.35MM. With the team carrying over $28MM in cap room for next season per PuckPedia, it certainly stands to reason that GM Jason Botterill will be trying to keep him around.
Meanwhile, decisions need to be made on two more wingers, Jaden Schwartz and Eeli Tolvanen. Schwartz has been with Seattle for all of its five NHL seasons and sits fifth in franchise scoring despite a long list of injuries, including this season. He has shown flashes of top-six performance but his injury history makes him a little less likely to return, meaning he’ll need to be replaced. Tolvanen’s case is a little less certain. He has 35 goals and 71 points over the last two seasons but saw his role be reduced down the stretch. Still, for a team with minimal firepower, letting a decent scorer walk would be risky. Also up front, though Jared McCann isn’t a pending unrestricted free agent, he becomes extension-eligible in July and is someone the team should be looking to lock up to a long-term deal.
Make A Decision On Wright
When the Kraken selected Shane Wright with the fourth overall selection in 2022, they hoped that he could be their future top center or at least a core second liner. Four years later, that outcome doesn’t seem quite as certain. The team evidently felt the same way as back in January, they reportedly made the youngster available if they were going to land the impactful forward they were seeking.
Unfortunately for Seattle, that move didn’t materialize and Wright’s value has likely dipped since then. After putting up a very respectable 19 goals and 25 assists in 79 games in his first full season in 2024-25, his sophomore numbers took a turn in the wrong direction. Wright managed just 12 goals and 15 helpers in 74 appearances last season and struggled considerably after the Olympic break, notching just one goal and four assists in 18 outings.
On the one hand, it seems as if he’s trending in the wrong direction. On the other, he’s a young center who is signed for one more year on his entry-level deal at a cap charge not far above the minimum salary. He still has five seasons of team control remaining, too. Even if his value isn’t as high as it once was, there would still be plenty of suitors for his services.
On top of that, the Kraken are well-stocked down the middle. Matty Beniers is entrenched as one of their top two middlemen while Berkly Catton, an eighth-overall selection, is a natural center, as is prospect Jake O’Brien, a number pick himself. Meanwhile, veteran Chandler Stephenson is still signed long-term and bottom-sixer Frederick Gaudreau has a couple of years left as well. While there is no elite piece (at least at the moment), they’re not in bad shape depth-wise and could afford to part with Wright.
Botterill will need to decide if he’s better off giving Wright another look in the hopes of him rebounding or at least helping his trade value at the risk of a slow start further lowering his value. But if the team is still open to moving him, Wright is one of their better trade chips.
Add More Firepower
Over the years, the Kraken have tried more of a by-committee approach with their offense. Several of the players from that approach are still around but more often than not, that hasn’t worked out well. In three of their five seasons, they have been in the bottom five of the league in terms of goals scored, including 2025-26 when they were 28th. (They were fourth and 16th the other two seasons.)
This is why they were willing to pay a significant premium in terms of salary to try to land Artemi Panarin from the Rangers in the hopes of making him the centerpiece of their offense. They’re believed to have tried to make some big offers in the past to free agents as well but haven’t had a ton of success on that front and the market this year isn’t likely to bring significant improvements up front.
That’s where the idea of moving Wright makes some sense. With Brandon Montour in the fold, perhaps Vince Dunn could be a trade chip to add a core forward. They could also pull from their prospect pool (though that’s risky for a non-playoff team). But with three subpar offensive seasons from this core group, Botterill needs to find a way to add at least one if not two more threats up front.
Upgrade Defensive Depth
Seattle has one other unrestricted free agent of consequence this summer in veteran Jamie Oleksiak. However, with Dunn, Ryan Lindgren, and Ryker Evans in the fold, they should be able to fill his spot without too much difficulty so they don’t necessarily need to get into a bidding war to try to keep him.
However, they could stand to upgrade on their depth options. If they want to give their prospects a bit more time in the minors with Coachella Valley, their internal replacements for Oleksiak are Josh Mahura and Cale Fleury. Both players have been around the NHL for a few years now but are better seventh options than a full-time sixth.
Fortunately, there will be better options available on the open market. While there aren’t a ton of top-four players set to reach free agency, there are a lot of third-pairing pieces who have had more success than Mahura and Fleury. Ideally, the addition would be a right-shot option to balance out the pairings but an upgrade is an upgrade. They likely only need a short-term player with Ty Nelson, Tyson Jugnauth, Caden Price, and Ville Ottavainen having some success in the minors with the Firebirds and presumably, one of them could break through to full NHL readiness within a year.
But while that prospect depth is promising, a short-term veteran addition to replace Oleksiak and be an improvement on Mahura and Fleury would be worthwhile. More importantly, it’s one that should be realistic to achieve, unlike their forward needs which will be much harder to accomplish.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
