The Seattle Kraken and the Calgary Flames had a similar 2023-24 season.
After making it to Game 7 of the second round back in the 2023 post-season, the Kraken failed to replicate their success, finishing with a 34-35-13 record, eighth-worst in the league. In fact, their 81 points matched what the Flames had, but the teams had totally different off-seasons.
The Kraken had the eighth-overall pick in the 2024, and were active on the first day of free agency. Let’s take a look at what the newest National Hockey League team has done this off-season.

Drafted players

With the eighth-overall pick in the 2024 draft, the Kraken selected Berkly Catton from the Spokane Chiefs in the Western Hockey League. Last season, he scored 54 goals and 116 points, one of only four draft-eligible players with 50 or more goals and 115 points.
The Kraken also had two second-round picks, picking up fellow WHL centre Julius Miettinen with the 40th-overall pick, as well as Nathan Villeneuve with the 63rd-overall pick. Last season, Miettinen scored 31 goals and 67 points in his first WHL season, while Villeneuve scored 23 goals and 50 points in 56 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sudbury Wolves.
With their third-round pick, they selected Alex Bernier from Baie-Comeau Drakkar in the Quebéc Maritimes Junior Hockey League, before selecting Kim Saarinen, a netminder who played for HPK in Finland with their other third-round pick. In the fourth, fifth, and seventh rounds, they selected Ollie Josephson, Clarke Caswell, and Jakub Fibigr, all from the Canadian Hockey League.

Free agents signings

From the end of their season until the day before the opening of free agency, the Kraken re-signed quite a few players, as well as signed a few entry-level contracts. Re-signing were Luke Henman, Nikolas Brouillard, John Hayden, and Aleš Stezka to one-year deals worth the league minimum deals. Moreover, Victor Östman, Carson Rehkopf, Caden Price, and Oscar Fisker Mølgaard signed their ELCs.
The Kraken’s two biggest transactions of the off-season came on July 1, as they signed Chandler Stephenson and Brandon Montour. The former won the Stanley Cup in 2023 with the Vegas Golden Knights, while Montour was coming off a Stanley Cup win with the Florida Panthers just days prior.
Moreover, they signed Mitchell Stephens, Josh Mahura, Max Lajoie, Ben Meyers, and Brandon Biro to league minimum deals, with Stephens being the only player to get a two-year deal. First-round selection Berkly Catton signed his entry-level contract, as did their third-round selection, Kim Saarinen.
The Kraken also re-signed key players. Eeli Tolvanen signed a two-year extension worth $6.95 million, or a cap hit of $3.475 annually. Their biggest re-signing was agreeing to terms with 2023 Calder Memorial Trophy winner, Matty Berniers, who agreed to a seven-year deal worth $50 million, with a cap hit of $7.143 million.

Trades

There wasn’t much in the way of trades after the Kraken moved Alexander Wennberg to the New York Rangers at the 2024 trade deadline. At the draft, they moved up to pick in the fifth-round, giving up a sixth-round pick and a seventh-round pick.
On the second day of free agency, the Kraken were able to dump Brian Dumoulin and his cap hit of $3.15 million, acquiring a 2026 fourth-round pick from the Anaheim Ducks.

Departures

The Kraken’s most notable departure from the 2023-24 Kraken is Tomáš Tatar, who signed with his former team, the New Jersey Devils. Moreover, Connor Carrick signed with the Edmonton Oilers, Chris Driedger signed with the Florida Panthers, Cameron Hughes signed with the Dallas Stars, as did Kole Lind. Andrew Poturalski and Jimmy Schuldt signed with the San Jose Sharks, while Devin Shore signed with the Minnesota Wild.
Their current unrestricted free agents are: Pierre-Edouard Bellemare, Ville Petman, Mitch Reinke, Justin Schultz, Marián Studenic, and Kailer Yamamoto, who they didn’t tender prior to the deadline.
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