The Seattle Kraken are the National Hockey League’s latest expansion team.
They don’t have much of a history since joining the league for the 2021-22 season. Since then, they’ve made the playoffs once, defeating the reigning Stanley Cup champions, the Colorado Avalanche, in the 2023 post-season. Aside from that, they’ve just been mediocre.
With that being said, of the Kraken’s 19 trades since joining the league, two of them have been with the Calgary Flames. Their first captain also happened to be a Flames captain at one point in his career.
In this edition of Throwback Tuesday, we’ll look at the shared history of the Flames and Kraken.
The first trade
Before even playing an NHL game, the Kraken were busy. On Jul. 22, 2021, they traded Tyler Pitlick to the Flames in exchange for a 2022 fourth-round pick.
This was the Kraken’s first-ever trade, and they used that pick to draft right-shot centre Tucker Robertson from the Peterborough Petes. In 34 American Hockey League games this season, Robertson has four goals and nine points.
The Pitlick part of this trade tree is far more interesting though. Pitlick only played 25 games with the Flames that season, picking up two assists before being dealt in the deal to the Montréal Canadiens in Feb. 2022 to land Tyler Toffoli.
Also involved in that trade was Emil Heineman, a conditional 2022 first-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick. The Canadiens used that pick to select Filip Mešár, who plays with their American Hockey League team.
Tyler Toffoli had a solid career with the Flames, scoring a career-high of 34 goals and 73 points in 82 games with the team in 2022-23. However, he was traded before the beginning of the 2023-24 season to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for Yegor Sharangovich and a 2023 third round pick (which originally belonged to them), used to select Aydar Suniev.
The Flames made a depth trade, and it has sprung into a beautiful small trade tree. Perhaps in the future, it’ll get even bigger.
The Calle Järnkrok trade
Nine days ago was the third anniversary of the Calle Järnkrok trade. The Flames were at the top of the Pacific Division in the 2021-22 season, while the Kraken were towards the bottom. Before the 2022 trade deadline, the Kraken traded Järnkrok to the Flames in exchange for a 2022 second, 2023 third, and 2024 fourth.
Järnkrok played 17 regular season games with the Flames, picking up four assists. In 12 post-season games, the forward scored one goal and four points. After the season, Jankrkok signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs for the 2022-23 season, scoring a career-high 20 goals and 39 points.
The 2022 second-rounder that was moved was the Florida Panthers’ 61st overall pick and the Kraken used it to select David Goyette. So far in his professional career, he’s played 47 games with four goals and 14 points, all of which have come in his 44 games with the American Hockey League’s Coachella Valley Firebirds this season.
Remember the 2023 third-rounder that was used to select Aydar Suniev? Well, it changed hands numerous times. Originally traded to the Kraken for Järnkrok, the Kraken moved it to the Columbus Blue Jackets with a 2023 fourth-round pick for Oliver Bjorkstrand. The Blue Jackets then traded it to the New Jersey Devils for Damon Severson, before the Devils used it in the Toffoli trade.
The Flames had a load of 2024 draft picks, most of whom have had an impressive 2024-25 season. However, their 2024 seventh-round pick was sent to the Kraken, who used it to select Jakub Fibigr. In 58 games with the Brampton Steelheads in 2024-25, the left-shot defenceman has three goals and 33 points. He’s a teammate of Luke Misa, who was selected by the Flames in the same draft.
The Kraken selected Mark Giordano in the expansion draft
Before those two trades, the Seattle Kraken needed to build a roster. They did that thanks to the 2021 expansion draft, picking one player from 30 teams (not including the Vegas Golden Knights).
The Kraken selected Mark Giordano from the Flames. Giordano served as the Flames’ captain from the 2013-14 season until the moment he was selected. Through his 15 seasons as a Flame, the left-shot defenceman scored 143 goals and 509 points in 949 games. His best season was in 2018-19, scoring 17 goals and 74 points and winning the James Norris Trophy.
At the time of his selection in the 2021 expansion draft, Giordano was 38 years old, though. It’s sad to see a franchise player go, but protecting Ramus Andersson, Noah Hanifin, and Chris Tanev took priority. And it worked out for the Flames as they finished in the top spot in the Pacific Division in 2021-22 and got nice returns for both Hanifin and Tanev when they were eventually dealt.
Giordano was named as the Kraken’s first captain in franchise history, but he only played 55 games with the team in 2021-22. The left-shot defenceman scored six goals and 23 points and was traded at the 2022 trade deadline to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a 2022 second-round pick, a 2023 second-round pick, and a 2024 third-round pick, a solid return for a player nearing the age of 40.
The left-shot defenceman spent parts of three seasons with the Leafs, scoring nine goals and 45 points in 144 games. Although he hasn’t played in 2024-25, the 41-year-old hasn’t hung up the skates just yet.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for FlamesNation, Oilersnation, and Blue Jays Nation. They can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.
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