- New Kraken defenseman Brandon Montour acknowledged in an interview on TSN 1050 (audio link) that he had talks with the Maple Leafs before eventually signing with Seattle. Toronto made multiple changes on the back end this summer with the additions of Chris Tanev and Oliver Ekman-Larsson while Jani Hakanpaa’s deal still has not been registered. Montour landed a seven-year, $50MM deal with the Kraken, good for the second-highest AAV on the team behind blueliner Vince Dunn.
Kraken Rumors
Coachella Valley Hires Brennan Sonne As Assistant Coach
- With assistant coach Jessica Campbell graduating to the NHL level with the Seattle Kraken — the team’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, was on the search for a new coach. The team ended their search today by announcing the hire of Brennan Sonne as the team’s new assistant coach. Sonne recently earned a remarkable record as head coach of the WHL’s Saskatoon Blades for the last three years. Under his tutelage, the team amassed a record of 136-54-13 while reaching two WHL Eastern Conference Finals appearances.
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Kraken Sign Kim Saarinen To Entry-Level Contract
The Seattle Kraken have signed goaltender Kim Saarinen to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal will carry an NHL annual average value of $975K. Saarinen notably becomes the first goaltender from the 2024 NHL Draft to sign his first NHL contract. He was the eighth goalie off the board when Seattle took him with the 88th overall pick.
Saarinen spent his draft season bouncing around HPK’s system in Finland. He spent the bulk of the year with their U20 club, where he posted 14 wins and a .917 save percentage across 23 appearances. He carried that production into spot starts at the U18 level – with eight wins and a .945 in nine appearances. It also carried into his first two games in the Liiga, Finland’s highest league, where Saarinen saved 50 out of 55 shots en route to one win and a .909 save percentage.
Saarinen is a distinctly responsible goaltender, excelling at never pushing the bounds of his positioning and always staying square to shooters. He uses his size to take up the net and follows pucks to his pads. With that said, Saarinen is still missing the fine tunings of a true top-flight goaltender, notably needing to improve his aggression and agility in such a big frame. He’ll get plenty of chance to hone those talents now on an NHL deal, joining a goalie room that’s already seen strong development out of Niklas Kokko. The pair will serve as Seattle’s top goaltending prospects moving forward, vying for roles over Philipp Grubauer and Joey Daccord.
Coachella Valley Firebirds Hire Derek Laxdal As Head Coach
The Coachella Valley Firebirds of the AHL have announced their second head coach in franchise history by hiring Derek Laxdal. Laxdal will have some big shoes to fill as the new head coach of the Seattle Kraken, Dan Bylsma, coached the team to back-to-back Western Conference Finals championships.
Kraken, Eeli Tolvanen Agree To Two-Year Deal
Minutes after signing top prospect Berkly Catton to his entry-level contract, the Kraken have also come to terms with RFA winger Eeli Tolvanen on a two-year deal, the team’s Alison Lukan relays. It carries a $3.475MM cap hit, reports Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet.
Tolvanen sticks around in Seattle after heading to the Pacific Northwest a year and a half ago, picked up off waivers from the Predators. The winger, who was a late first-round pick of Nashville in 2017, finally broke into a consistent top-nine role with the Kraken. The 25-year-old has been an effective producer while averaging around 15 minutes per contest, putting up 0.53 points per game since his acquisition.
But after setting a career-high with 18 goals split between the Kraken and Preds in 2022-23, Tolvanen took a small step back this past season. He was still good for 41 points (16 goals, 25 assists) in 81 games, but he checked in a tad below expectations given he scored 16 goals in only 48 games after the move to Seattle the year prior.
His possession metrics were a bit of a toss-up, too. Seattle controlled 50.8% of shot attempts and 50.3% of expected goals with Tolvanen on the ice at even strength, both checking in just below team averages. He was among their most physical players, though. His 210 hits were second on the team only to rookie Tye Kartye (229).
Even if he didn’t have the 20-plus goals Seattle was hoping for last year, Tolvanen has fully solidified himself as an everyday contributor with some upward mobility. That earns him a fair-value bridge deal that comes in shorter and cheaper than what Evolving-Hockey had outlined in their projections (four years, $4.345MM AAV).
With Tolvanen signed, top center Matthew Beniers is the only notable RFA that general manager Ron Francis still needs to sign this summer. They’ll have around $8.15MM in cap space to do so after today’s signing, which could be a tight squeeze. After giving out big money in free agency to Brandon Montour and Chandler Stephenson, that suggests a bridge deal for Beniers could be likely too. Notably, Beniers isn’t eligible for salary arbitration.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Kraken Sign Berkly Catton To Entry-Level Deal
The Kraken have signed center Berkly Catton to his three-year, entry-level contract, a team announcement states. Catton was the eighth overall selection in the draft one week ago. His deal carries the maximum ELC cap hit of $975K.
He’s the second player from the class to sign his rookie deal, joining Blues defenseman Adam Jiříček, who they took 16th overall. While it’s unlikely Catton will crack the NHL roster in the fall, signing him to his ELC now at least affords him the option. Catton also earns a $97.5K signing bonus with today’s news, per PuckPedia. The deal is also broken down into $877.5K of base salary annually and up to $1MM in Schedule ’A’ performance bonuses on a yearly basis.
Catton is already used to Washington State, suiting up for the Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League for parts of the last three seasons. The 5’11”, 174-lb pivot led all WHL draft-eligibles in scoring last season, finishing fourth in the league with 116 points (54 goals, 62 assists) in 68 games. He’s one of the 2024 class’ fastest players and is an extremely well-rounded offensive talent, although there are some natural concerns about his lack of physicality and strength against larger opponents.
Since his 20th birthday doesn’t fall until January 2026, Catton won’t be eligible for a full-time AHL assignment in 2024-25 or 2025-26 – he needs to be returned to his junior team. If he plays fewer than 10 NHL games in each of those seasons, his contract could slide to as late as 2026-27 before kicking in. His signing bonuses are paid out regardless, though, slightly lowering the cap hit of his deal.
Kraken Sign Josh Mahura
The Seattle Kraken have signed defenseman Josh Mahura to a one-year, league-minimum contract, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Mahura moves to Seattle after not receiving a qualifying offer from the Florida Panthers. He was left without much to base negotiations on, with lower-body injuries in December and March, in addition to healthy scratches, limiting Mahura’s year to just 30 games and nine assists. He was much more productive last year, his first year in Florida, recording a career-high 16 points in 82 games. It stands as his only full year in the NHL up to this point. In total, he’s managed 45 points across 191 games – enough to hold Mahura in the limbo of a seventh-defender for both the Florida Panthers and Anaheim Ducks since 2018.
Mahura will now look to bounce back from ailment and absence with a prove-it deal in Seattle. He’ll stand to benefit from Seattle’s departure from Brian Dumoulin, though Mahura will still need to compete with players like Ryker Evans and Jamie Oleksiak for ice time. This deal will also reunite Mahura with Brandon Montour, who he occasionally played alongside with the Panthers. Montour signed a much heftier seven-year, $50MM deal with the Kraken on July 1st.
Despite meager scoring through his first stint in the NHL, Seattle’s pass-first style could be a nice match for Mahura, as he looks to regain the strong scoring he boasted in juniors.
Kraken Promote Jessica Campbell To Assistant Coach, Hire Bob Woods
July 3: Seattle has officially promoted Campbell, per Clark. She’ll indeed be the first woman behind an NHL bench when next season begins. They’ve also hired former Wild assistant Bob Woods in the same role, per a team release. Woods, who had been behind the Minnesota bench since 2017, was fired along with head coach Dean Evason last November.
May 28: The Kraken still have one spot to fill after promoting Dan Bylsma from AHL Coachella Valley to be their next head coach. When they let go of Dave Hakstol last month, the team also announced that assistant coach Paul McFarland would not be returning. During his introductory press conference today, Bylsma said the organization is considering promoting Jessica Campbell, who serves on his AHL staff, for the role (via ESPN’s Ryan S. Clark).
If hired for the role, Campbell would be the first woman to serve as a full-time assistant coach in the NHL. As a player, she won the silver medal with Canada at the 2015 World Championship, along with a four-year career at Cornell University and a three-year stint professional with the Calgary Inferno of the defunct Canadian Women’s Hockey League. After retiring in 2020, the 31-year-old spent a handful of seasons coaching in Europe before being named to Bylsma’s staff in Coachella Valley ahead of the 2022-23 season.
It wouldn’t be her first time serving on the staff of a top-level men’s professional league team, though. She served as the skating coach for the Swedish Hockey League’s Malmö Redhawks in 2020-21 and an assistant for the Nürnberg Ice Tigers in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga in 2021-22. When tabbed to the inaugural Coachella Valley coaching staff two years ago, she also became the first woman to be a full-time assistant at the AHL level.
If replacing McFarland’s role directly, Campbell would assume control of the Kraken’s power play, which clicked at just 18.4% – 28th in the league – during his three-year tenure. The power play has also been her purview in the AHL, finishing roughly league average (~20%) in both seasons.
Both Bylsma and Campbell’s seasons are still ongoing in Coachella Valley. The Firebirds are back in the Western Conference Finals of the Calder Cup Playoffs for the second year in a row.
Ducks Acquire Brian Dumoulin From Kraken
The Ducks have acquired defenseman Brian Dumoulin from the Kraken in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick, per a team announcement.
This move cuts short Dumoulin’s time in Seattle, after inking a two-year, $6.3MM contract with the club last summer. It was Dumoulin’s first time entering the market as an unrestricted free agent, bringing an end to Dumoulin’s 10-year career with the Pittsburgh Penguins. He established himself as a stout defensive-defenseman with the Penguins, working his way into top-line minutes during the team’s run to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. The run locked him in as Kris Letang’s defensive partner, a role he held on to through the 2022-23 season.
Dumoulin has never been known for his scoring, with 25 points in 2022-23 marking his career-high. He didn’t bring that scoring to the West coast, posting a much quainter 16 points in 80 games. But he did bring his patented defense, earning his keep among a crowded Kraken blue-line thanks to his ability to shut down play in the neutral zone.
Dumoulin’s move away from Seattle will open space for top prospect Ryker Evans to pursue a full-time role with the NHL club. Evans, a second-round pick in 2021, played in the first 36 games of his NHL career this year, netting one goal, nine points, 20 penalty minutes, and a -5. He found much more production in back-and-forth trips to the minors, scoring 15 points in 25 games with the Coachella Valley Firebirds and adding 10 points in 18 Calder Cup postseason games. Evans headlines a list of strong defense prospects in Seattle, including Ville Ottavainen, Lukas Dragicevic, and Caden Price.
Meanwhile, Dumoulin will move to the rebranded Anaheim Ducks, where he’ll bring veteran presence and Stanley Cup precedent to a very young group. There seems to be no telling how Anaheim will organize their blue-line headed into the new year – with top prospects Pavel Mintyukov, Olen Zellweger, Tristan Luneau, and Jackson LaCombe each vying for routine ice time. That’ll be hard to dish out for a team that also needs to find minutes for veterans Cam Fowler, Radko Gudas, Urho Vaakanainen, and now Dumoulin.
Kraken Sign Ben Meyers To One-Way Deal
The Kraken have signed left winger/center Ben Meyers to a one-year, one-way, league minimum deal, the club announced last night. He became a UFA early, thanks to his Group VI status, and moves on to his third NHL club in the past few months.
Meyers, 25, will be a familiar face for Minnesotans and avid national team followers. The 5’11”, defensively-sound pivot was a star for the University of Minnesota not all that long ago and represented the United States at the 2022 Olympics, where he had four points in four games. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been a smooth NHL ride for Meyers, who signed with the Avalanche as an undrafted free agent after wrapping up his collegiate career two years ago.
He couldn’t make a consistent NHL impact in Colorado, spending about half his time in the Avs organization in the minors. Even when in the NHL, he had a minimal impact, limited to six goals and no assists in 53 games across parts of three seasons in solely fourth-line minutes. A trade deadline deal sent him to the Ducks for a fifth-round pick a few months back, where nothing really changed. While he wasn’t demoted to their minor-league affiliate, he didn’t do much to elevate himself in the Anaheim lineup, recording two assists and a -2 rating in 14 games.
Meyers had good numbers with the AHL’s Colorado Eagles over the past two years, though, and now looks to parlay that into an NHL roster spot in Seattle. A one-way deal, while still completely buriable in the minors, suggests he has the inside track on one of the forward spots up for grabs out of training camp in the fall. He’ll be competing to replace depth forwards like Pierre-Édouard Bellemare and Kailer Yamamoto, who are unlikely to return to the Kraken after reaching UFA status yesterday.
If Meyers plays at least 13 games for Seattle next year, they’ll control his signing rights next summer as an RFA with arbitration rights. If not, he maintains his Group VI status and will be a UFA upon expiry.