Kraken Land Big Rat...err Fish

SEATTLE, Wash. – With the start of another EHE season upon us, the Seattle Kraken General Manager, Brandyn Errickson, sat down to talk about last season, the offseason and the upcoming season. “First off, I’d like to thank you for having me today. I know we didn’t talk much last season but hopefully this gets us off on the right foot this year. Looking back at last season, we were a bit surprised with the team’s play. We went on an early season run where we rattled off 13 straight wins and sat atop the standings for a day or two. We were playing some really good hockey where we held 8 opponents to 1 goal and 12 to 2 or less goals. We know there were some teams that were more interested in getting a lottery draft pick than winning the Cup, and honestly, we thought we’d be in that boat as well, but that start changed our perspective on the whole season.” Said the GM.

Around that time the Kraken would make their first trade of the season where they shipped off their 3rd round pick and $1.5M to Philadelphia for goaltender, Mike Smith.

“The opportunity came up to acquire what we thought was an upgrade at one of the most important positions and he came with lots of experience without it costing us too much so we went for it. Sometimes those things don’t work out and to no fault of Mike’s, it just didn’t work out how we would have hoped.” The GM explained.

Smith would end the year with an uninspiring 8-13-4 record. Both his 3.40 goals against average and his .889 save % definitely weren’t what Seattle was expecting. However, the team would finish 4th in the Pacific division with 88 points (1 less than their inaugural season) which would be good enough to make the playoffs for the first time in franchise history where they would matchup against the Pacific division winning Calgary Flames.

To which GM Errickson said, “Just to make the playoffs is special and this being the first time in franchise history was that much more special. Unfortunately, we didn’t have our best showing and Calgary showed they were the better team. I think the experience will be big for some of our younger players and should fuel the team for this upcoming season. Nobody likes to be swept in a playoff series.”

After being ousted from the playoffs in quick fashion, the Seattle management got focused on the 2023 entry draft where they had 4 picks. The first of those picks was used to take Moose Jaw Warriors center, Brayden Yager. The Kraken’s 2nd pick was used on a big Swedish center, Anton Wahlberg, while their 3rd pick was used to select defenseman, Maxim Strbak. Their 4th and final pick was used to take another center in 23 year old, Nils Aman.

The GM told us he liked their draft, but honestly what else would he say? The Aman pick was obviously used to help out Seattle’s AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley as he can step right in and play on the top line as well as the top power play unit. The other picks will obviously take a bit longer to make any sort of impact at the AHL or NHL level.

After the entry draft, the Kraken set their sights on the craziest part of any EHE season, free agency. The first part of free agency saw Seattle come to terms on new contracts with Danton Heinen and Emil Bermstrom while they let Nick Ritchie and Luke Philp test the open market. But those moves failed in comparison to what happen on the first official day of unrestricted free agency where the Seattle Kraken landed the big fish…or as some call him…the big ‘rat’, Brad Marchand.

“It was as shocking to us here in the organization as it probably was to everyone else. Going into free agency we always identify a few players that we think would really make a big impact on our team. Most of the time we shy away from offering a maximum contract to those players, but this time we really felt like it was an advantageous move for us and boy was it. I’ve seen a lot of Marchand while I’ve been in the EHE and we all know what he brings to each and every game. We had a few quick conversations before presenting the contract to him and his representation and we knew that a handful of other teams would be in on him as well. To our surprise, he didn’t take long to call us back and let us know that he would be taking his talents to the Emerald City and we couldn’t have been happier. He immediately becomes the most decorated player we’ve ever had on the team and will proudly wear the captain ‘C’ for us.” Exclaimed the GM.

But that wasn’t all, the Kraken then went out and got one of the top goalies available in Marc-Andre Fleury.

“We knew we needed to upgrade at the goaltender position. We tried it through trade last year and it didn’t quite work out. This allows us to keep more assets and still get what we feel is a top end goalie. We expect him to really solidify that position in addition to helping out Gustavsson who we really think could be ready to take over that spot maybe as soon as next year. Flower was excited to join us and take us to the next level.” Said Errickson.

With their biggest spending offseason in their short existence, the expectations should now be higher than ever before. Were they really a sure-fire playoff team last season or was it the hot start mixed with other team’s desire for a prized prospect? Does adding one of, if not the, most decorated player in EHE history cement them in the playoff picture? Will this attempt at finding their number 1 goalie work out? There are a lot of questions for this team that can only be answered one way and that’s on the ice! Until next time Kraken fans…