Seattle Kraken
The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. The team was founded after the NHL approved a proposal by Seattle Hockey Partners to grant an expansion franchise to the city of Seattle and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. They play their home games at Climate Pledge Arena.
The Kraken struggled during their inaugural season and finished last in the Pacific Division with 60 points. During the 2022–23 season, the team achieved a record of 46–28–8 and 100 points, securing fourth place in the Pacific Division and the first playoff wild card spot in the Western Conference. During the playoffs, the Kraken faced off against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round. They upset the Avalanche in seven games, becoming the first expansion team to win their first playoff series over the defending Stanley Cup champion. However, they lost to the Dallas Stars in the second round, ending their second season. During the 2023–24 season, the team struggled offensively, scoring only 217 goals and achieving only 81 points. This caused the Kraken to fire head coach Dave Hakstol and hire Dan Bylsma. However, during the 2024–25 season, they did worse, achieving only 76 points. Following the season, the Kraken once again fired their head coach, parting ways with Bylsma and hiring Lane Lambert. The team also replaced general manager Ron Francis with Jason Botterill, making Francis the Kraken's president of hockey operations.
History
Prior to establishment
Professional ice hockey in Seattle dates to the formation of the Pacific Coast Hockey Association's Seattle Metropolitans in 1915. Even though the 1917 Metropolitans were the first United States-based team to win the Stanley Cup, the team's arena was sold in 1924, and the team folded shortly thereafter. The Seattle Totems played in the Western Hockey League from 1944 until the league's dissolution in 1975.Beginning in 2012, as the NHL's interest in Seattle as a market rose, the city was considered a potential site for expansion or the relocation of a team, pending a viable arena. Multiple reports suggested that the owner of the Chicago Wolves, businessman Don Levin, had expressed interest in building a new arena in nearby Bellevue that could host an NHL team.
When the San Jose Sharks' former chief executive officer, Greg Jamison, was unable to meet a deadline to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes on January 31, 2013, speculation began that the team would be relocated to Seattle. On June 16, 2013, it was confirmed that the Phoenix Coyotes would move to Seattle if an arena deal between the team and the city of Glendale, Arizona, where the team played, was not reached. A plan was made where if the team could not stay in Glendale, investors Ray Bartoszek and Anthony Lanza would purchase the franchise for million and begin operations in Seattle the following season. However, no purchase needed to be made, as on July 3, 2013, the Glendale City Council narrowly voted 4–3 to keep the Coyotes in Glendale. A 2013 study by statistician Nate Silver concluded that Seattle had the largest number of avid ice hockey fans of any U.S. media market that did not have an NHL team.
Establishment (2017–2021)
On December 4, 2017, the Seattle City Council voted 7–1 to approve a memorandum of understanding between the City of Seattle and Oak View Group, a sports company co-founded by Tim Leiweke, for renovations of KeyArena. On December 7, the NHL Board of Governors agreed to consider an expansion application from Seattle with an expansion fee set at million. The Seattle ownership group was represented by David Bonderman and Jerry Bruckheimer.Exactly a year after the memorandum of understanding, the NHL Board of Governors voted unanimously to approve the addition of a Seattle expansion team to the league. In mid-2019, the organization hired Ron Francis as their general manager to initiate operations for the team. Francis later stated that three things he wanted to prioritize in the Kraken's roster were speed, character, and competitiveness. In July 2020, the franchise announced their team name—the Seattle Kraken—as well as their team colors, branding, and home jersey.
On April 30, 2021, the franchise paid the final installment of the million expansion fee, officially making the Seattle Kraken the 32nd team of the NHL. The Kraken signed their first player, Luke Henman, on May 12. More than a month later, the organization hired Dave Hakstol as their inaugural head coach. On July 19, a three-day period began during which the Kraken could talk to unrestricted free agents before any other team could. The Kraken used this period to sign Adam Larsson, Jamie Oleksiak, and Chris Driedger. An expansion draft was held three days later at Gas Works Park in front of more than 4,000 spectators and fans. The draft was held in a similar manner to a previous expansion draft held in 2017 for the Vegas Golden Knights, who were themselves exempt from the 2021 expansion draft. Larsson, Oleksiak, and Driedger counted as the pick from their former teams. Two days later, the first round of the 2021 NHL entry draft took place. The Kraken used their second-overall pick to select Matty Beniers, a center from the University of Michigan. The previous season, Beniers had scored 24 points throughout 24 games, and his 10 goals ranked first among goals for first-time draft-eligible NCAA players.
First seasons (since 2021)
The Kraken started their inaugural free agency on July 28, 2021, signing forwards Alexander Wennberg and Jaden Schwartz, and goaltender Philipp Grubauer. On October 11, the Kraken named Mark Giordano as the team's inaugural captain. The team also named four alternate captains: Adam Larsson, Jordan Eberle, Yanni Gourde, and Jaden Schwartz. The Kraken played their first regular season game the next day, a 4–3 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights, in which Ryan Donato scored the first goal in team history. The franchise's first win came in their next game two days later, when they defeated the Nashville Predators 4–3. The Kraken played their first home game at Climate Pledge Arena on October 23, a 4–2 loss to the division rival Vancouver Canucks. Prior to the game, the team retired jersey number 32, in recognition of the franchise being the 32nd to join the NHL and in honor of the 32,000 fans who placed deposits for tickets on the first possible day. The team picked up their first home win on October 26, against the Montreal Canadiens. On February 2, 2022, Grubauer recorded the franchise's first shutout, making 19 saves in a 3–0 victory against the New York Islanders. On March 20, the Kraken's captaincy became vacant after Giordano was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The team was eliminated from playoff contention on March 30 following a 3–0 loss to the Golden Knights. The Kraken finished their inaugural season in last place of the Pacific Division with a record of 27–49–6. Only the Arizona Coyotes finished with fewer points in the Western Conference that season.File: Matty Beniers 2023-11-13.jpeg|thumb|alt=Hockey player smiling with his neck turned while wearing a blue Seattle Kraken hockey jersey|Matty Beniers, the first-ever draft pick of the Kraken, won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year at the end of the 2022–23 season.
The Kraken improved significantly in their second season. During the offseason, the team signed goaltender Martin Jones to a one-year contract. In January 2023, Jones backstopped the Kraken through seven games of an eight-game win streak. While doing so, the franchise became the first team to win all seven games of a seven-game road trip. Eventually, the Kraken clinched their first playoff berth, qualifying for the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs. The team's record of 46–28–8 and 100 points placed the team fourth in the Pacific Division, thus achieving the first wild card playoff spot in the Western Conference. On April 30, the Kraken defeated the Colorado Avalanche in the opening best-of-seven playoff series, becoming the first expansion team in NHL history to win their first playoff series against the defending Stanley Cup champion. The team's playoff run came to an end after the second round where they lost to the Dallas Stars in seven games. On June 26, at the NHL awards ceremony, Matty Beniers was named the winner of the Calder Memorial Trophy for being the NHL rookie of the year.
The Kraken struggled offensively in their third season, ranking 29th in the league in goals, with only 217. In December and January, following an eight-game losing streak, goaltender Joey Daccord started in eight out of nine games of a franchise record nine-game win streak. In the midst of the streak, Daccord started in goal for the Kraken during the 2024 Winter Classic, where he achieved the first-ever shutout in Winter Classic history with a 3–0 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. The team was eliminated from playoff contention on April 3, following a 5–2 loss to the Los Angeles Kings. The Kraken finished their season with a 34–35–13 record, enough for sixth place in their division. On April 29, following the end of the season, head coach Dave Hakstol was fired, being replaced by Dan Bylsma on May 28.
In July 2024, the team hired Jessica Campbell as the NHL's first female assistant coach. In October, the Kraken named Jordan Eberle the second captain in franchise history. During their fourth season the Kraken missed the playoffs for a second consecutive season with a 35–41–6 record, finishing seventh in their division. On April 21, following the end of the season, head coach Dan Bylsma was fired after one season with the team. A day later the team announced that general manager Ron Francis was being promoted to president of hockey operations and that the team had hired Jason Botterill to take over as general manager; Botterill had previously been the general manager of the Buffalo Sabres. The team hired Lane Lambert as their third head coach on May 29.