Jamie Oleksiak’s final season in Seattle didn’t end with much debate: the Kraken’s veteran defenseman gave them some useful moments, but the overall body of work landed well short of steady.
Oleksiak appeared in 78 games for the Kraken and finished with 15 points, scoring five goals and adding 10 assists. Two of those goals were game-winners. He also sat out four games as a healthy scratch, a sign that his role was not as locked in as it had been in previous years.
His first point of the season came on Oct. 14 against the Montreal Canadiens, when he scored four minutes into the third period to tie the game. Jared McCann then put Seattle in front shortly after, but Montreal answered again and eventually won in overtime.
That was a pretty good snapshot of Oleksiak’s season: some timely offense, then long stretches without much production. That part isn’t the center of his game anyway. His job was to defend, and by that measure he finished with a plus-9 rating, which was at least respectable.
Even so, the numbers tell a clear story about his usage. Oleksiak worked on the right side and spent most of his time on the bottom pair, usually alongside either Ryan Lindgren or Ryker Evans.
He remained a third-pairing fixture, but his average ice time dropped to 16:56, the lowest mark of his Kraken tenure. He still ate enough minutes to help keep the top two pairings fresh, but he wasn’t carrying the kind of load he once did.
For Oleksiak, the 2025-26 campaign was his toughest season in five years with Seattle. His 15 points matched his total from 2023-24, his lowest output with the club, and while his plus-minus finally moved back into positive territory for the first time since 2022-23, it came in a season where he was on the ice less than ever.
His time with the Kraken has now closed out for good. After the season, Oleksiak reached unrestricted free agency and signed a two-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks on July 1 worth a $5 million average annual value. He’ll be a free agent again after 2027-28, when he’ll be 35.
Seattle selected Oleksiak in the expansion draft, and he spent his first five seasons with the franchise, carving out a place in Kraken history. But in the end, the verdict on his 2025-26 season is straightforward: a D grade. He chipped in when he could, yet the defensive impact wasn’t strong enough, and Lane Lambert’s decision to make him a healthy scratch said plenty.
Now Oleksiak heads to Vancouver, where the Canucks and Kraken will see plenty of each other as division rivals. The teams are set to meet four times in 2026-27, and their first preseason matchup comes on Sept. 19.
In Other News...
Kraken Goaltending Plan Just Got More Interesting In Coachella Valley
The Krakens AHL affiliate in Coachella Valley quietly added another layer to its goaltending picture, bringing in Connor Murphy for the 2026-27 season. Murphy is 28 and has spent the past three years in the Calgary Flames organization, working across both the AHL and ECHL, which gives the Firebirds a familiar kind of organizational depth piece rather than a headline-grabbing splash.
For Seattle, the move matters because Coachella Valley is often part of the pipeline that keeps the larger goaltending plan moving smoothly. The Firebirds did not disclose contract terms, and the expectation is that Murphy will be used primarily in a depth role, but even that kind of signing can shape how flexible the club is when injuries, call-ups or workload management come into play. [Read more 🡒]
Seattles NHL Dream Nearly Started Long Before The Kraken
Long before the Kraken ever took the ice, Seattle had already spent years trying to join the NHL conversation. Archival reports from the Seattle Times and Seattle Post-Intelligencer show that the city was making a serious push in the mid-1970s, with local investors and city officials working to bring either an expansion club or a relocated franchise to town. There was enough optimism to produce meetings with league officials and real momentum around the idea.
The effort was shaped by attorney Vince Abbey, who helped drive the campaign, but the road was never simple. Lease restrictions at the Coliseum and pressure from the World Hockey Association complicated the pitch, and shifting personnel only added to the uncertainty. Seattles hockey dream was alive then, but it was never able to clear the final hurdles that might have put an NHL team here decades earlier. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Face An Early Test Seattle Might Not Ignore
Seattle hockey still has to fight for oxygen in a town crowded by the Seahawks, Mariners and the University of Washington football machine, and that makes the Krakens start feel more important than a normal opening month. The local landscape also includes other hockey options, which means the team has to give fans a reason to latch on early and keep them invested once the novelty wears off.
For a franchise still trying to settle its place in the market, the early schedule offers a chance to build some real momentum before attention gets pulled elsewhere. The bigger concern is that this is not just about wins and losses on the ice, but about whether the Kraken can exceed expectations enough to stay relevant in a city that has plenty of other teams asking for the same attention. [Read more 🡒]