The Seattle Kraken were expected to be contending this season when they signed Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson last offseason. However, the Kraken are nowhere near the playoff picture; instead, they are looking at where they might land in the draft lottery.
It’ll be an interesting offseason for the Kraken, as they feel they are close to contending, but the results haven’t shown on the ice. The draft will be acceptable, but if the Kraken plan to compete soon, they might need to expand their outlook and target some trades that can elevate them for the 2025-26 season and beyond.
Are the Kraken dipping their toes in a rebuild?
It is challenging to see the Kraken entering a rebuild with their group of young players and last offseason’s massive signings. Maybe rebuild isn’t the right word for what Seattle will do. They already have Shane Wright, Matty Beniers, Ryker Evans, and Tye Kartye on the roster. Their prospect pool comprises Berkly Catton, Eduard Sale, Jagger Firkus, Ty Nelson, and Lukas Dragicevic, among others. You could likely argue that the Kraken were already in a rebuild, but the front office insisted they’d aim to compete this season.
The Kraken have the fifth-worst record in the league. However, they are in a great position to acquire another top prospect and have some trade candidates who could fetch young assets and draft picks. Seattle already traded Oliver Bjorkstrand, Yanni Gourde, and Brandon Tanev at the trade deadline. Gourde and Tanev were pending free agents, but Bjorkstrand had some term left on his deal. It makes you wonder if Jared McCann, Andre Burakovsky, Jamie Oleksiak, and Jaden Schwartz could also be expendable assets this summer.
The Kraken acquired two first-round picks and a second-rounder in the Gourde and Bjorkstrand deal. It shows Seattle might continue acquiring young talent, and draft picks should be the goal. Maybe the Kraken can land another first-round pick this year with a draft-day deal and use it to move up. However, they’ll likely need to settle for future picks. Regardless, Seattle can’t continue down their current path of sitting in the middle. It’s time to either embrace the suck and rebuild for another couple of years or become buyers in the offseason and add to their core of veterans like Montour, Stephenson, and Eberle.
Bowen Byram could be available
Bowen Byram is a pending restricted free agent who hasn’t entirely found his fit with the Buffalo Sabres. It’s unknown what direction the Sabres are heading after trading Dylan Cozens at the trade deadline, so acquiring assets for Byram might also interest them. The Kraken currently have four defensemen from their current roster under contract for next season, with Ryker Evans awaiting a new deal under his RFA status.
Byram could bridge the gap between the aging Kraken defense core and the prospects in their system. Seattle only has one defenseman on its roster under 28, and Byram would be an upgrade over bringing back Josh Mahura or Cale Fleury into the fold. Byram would be a second complementary piece to Brandon Montour’s offensive talents, as he and Vince Dunn would make the Kraken defense more mobile from the left side. You can never have too many puck-moving defensemen in a sport that is getting increasingly offensive yearly.
Byram has 35 points in 74 games this season, which already smashed his previous career-high by 11 points. It’d be interesting to see Byram grow with the rest of this young core and evaluate how high his ceiling could go with the right fit.
Noah Dobson would be a bigger splash
It was hard to pick between RFAs Noah Dobson and Evan Bouchard for the third trade target. Both defensemen would be valuable to the Kraken, but would fetch a greater return, which might not be as appealing as grabbing Byram for less. Ultimately, Dobson seems like a more realistic option, as it’d be a hard sell for the Edmonton Oilers to trade Bouchard to a Pacific Division rival.
Dobson is also the better defenseman of the two. Bouchard gets points on the powerplay with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl, but what is his ceiling on a different team? It’s hard to pinpoint, but it’s lower than in Edmonton. We also already know Bouchard’s deficiencies at the defensive end, which could be a red flag for potential buyers.
Dobson is a right-shot defenseman that most front offices can only wish they land. It’ll be difficult to pry him out of Lou Lamoriello’s hands, but it’s a big dream option for GM Ron Francis.
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