Bobby McMann wasted no time making himself useful in Seattle last season, and he’s opened this year looking like the same player with the same finishing touch.
The Kraken winger scored once on six shots in Sunday’s 6-1 win over the Flames, added four hits and finished plus-2. It was his second goal in as many games, and through three contests he’s already piled up 12 shots, seven hits, four blocked shots and a plus-2 rating.
That kind of start is turning plenty of heads because McMann hasn’t just been productive in a vacuum - he’s doing it in a role that gives him real chances to keep it going. He’s been skating on the second line and getting power-play time, which means the puck is finding him in spots where his shot can matter.
Seattle clearly saw enough to make the bet in the first place. At last season’s trade deadline, the Kraken brought him in from Toronto for a 2026 fourth-round pick and a conditional 2027 second-round pick. McMann then answered with 10 goals in 18 games to finish the season, and on June 21 he signed a six-year, $34.5 million contract extension.
Now he’s picked up right where he left off.
The raw pace is eye-catching: two goals in three games puts him on track for 47 over an 84-game season. Stretch that out even further and the number gets silly fast, though nobody is seriously penciling in a full-season explosion just yet.
What matters is that the scoring run in Seattle no longer looks like a short-lived burst. McMann has always had the shot, and he’s always had a feel for slipping into dangerous ice. What hadn’t fully shown up, at least consistently, was the kind of goal output that makes defenses treat him like a true threat.
That part may be changing.
His career high remains 21 goals, set in 74 games during the 2024-25 season. He’s never been a 30-goal scorer in the NHL.
But he doesn’t have to become one for this move to pay off for Seattle. With meaningful minutes, talented linemates and power-play looks, the Kraken seem to have placed him in an environment where his best traits can show up more often.
There’s also the simple matter of confidence. When a player with McMann’s shot starts feeling it, the results can come in a hurry.
It’s still way too early to toss him into the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy race, especially with Nathan MacKinnon, Macklin Celebrini and Connor McDavid in the mix. But it’s not hard to at least entertain the idea, because McMann has already shown that what happened late last season wasn’t a fluke.
The bigger test is whether he can stay healthy and keep this level of production rolling.
For now, though, Seattle has every reason to like what it’s seeing. Three games isn’t enough to declare anything definitive, but McMann looks comfortable, dangerous and right at home.
Something is clicking in Seattle, and Bobby McMann is in the middle of it.
In Other News...
Kraken Fans Will Be Arguing About This Vegas Loss All Night
Victor Olofsson did plenty of damage against Seattle on a night when the Kraken never quite found their footing, scoring twice in Vegas 6-2 win. The Kraken had chances early on the power play, but they spent too much of the game chasing a mix of penalties and bad puck luck that kept swinging momentum back toward the Golden Knights.
The frustration boiled over as the game got choppier, and Seattles bench had plenty to sort through afterward. Ben Meyers was assessed a major penalty and game misconduct, while the physical edge escalated even further in a contest that already felt like it was slipping away from the Kraken long before the final horn. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Exposed At Home By A Problem Fans Already Feared
The Krakens night at Climate Pledge Arena unraveled early and never really settled into anything resembling home-ice control, as Vegas rolled to a 6-2 win behind huge performances from Tomas Hertl and Jack Eichel. Seattle got goals from Shane Wright and Jared McCann, but the Golden Knights were cleaner, faster and far more dangerous in the moments that decided the game, with Victor Olofsson adding two goals before leaving the ice after a hard collision.
For Seattle, the more worrying part was how quickly the game got away in front of a crowd that had already been bracing for defensive trouble. Joey Daccord was chased in the third period after giving up five goals on 21 shots, with Philipp Grubauer taking over late, and the Kraken never found a way to steady things long enough to make the finish interesting. Meanwhile, the sequence that knocked Olofsson out of the game added another layer of agitation to a matchup that had already tilted sharply in Vegas favor. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Suddenly Face A Blue Line Concern After Physical Loss
A physical night in Vegas ended with the Kraken dealing with an early scare on the blue line, as Ryan Lindgren exited after taking a hard hit and never returned. Seattle has leaned on its defense to stay organized in tight games, so any injury on the back end immediately raises questions about how the group will hold up if a regular is forced out for any length of time.
Lindgrens departure came in a game already marked by a couple of injury situations elsewhere around the league, underscoring how quickly a heavy matchup can change a teams outlook. For Seattle, the immediate concern is less about the final score than whether Lindgren will be available moving forward, and the team now has to wait for more clarity before knowing how much this one affects its rotation on defense. [Read more 🡒]