The Seattle Kraken didn’t give Josh Mahura much runway in 2025-26, but when he was in the lineup, he made his moments count.
Mahura appeared in 23 games and finished with three points - one goal and two assists. He opened the season in Seattle’s lineup and got on the board for the first time on Oct. 14, setting up Jamie Oleksiak’s goal. Two games later, he delivered the biggest highlight of his Kraken tenure so far: the overtime winner against the Toronto Maple Leafs, his first and only goal in Seattle colors.
That goal stood out even more because of what came before it. Mahura signed with the Kraken as a free agent on July 3, 2024, and in 64 games with the club last season, all nine of his points were assists. Scoring a game-winner was a real step forward offensively, even in a limited role.
The bigger issue was availability, or really the lack of it. Mahura wasn’t hurt and he wasn’t sent down.
He was a healthy scratch more often than not. With the Kraken carrying three goaltenders and seven defensemen, the team had extra bodies on hand, but the coaching staff rarely shuffled the lineup, and Mahura wound up watching from the press box.
When he did get into games, Seattle usually used him with Oleksiak on the second or third pairing. Mahura closed the season at plus-8, a strong number that reflected how well he handled his defensive assignments in the minutes he got. Oleksiak is now with the Vancouver Canucks after signing a two-year, $10 million deal as a free agent on July 1.
Now Mahura heads into the final season of his two-year contract before becoming an unrestricted free agent next summer at 28. The Kraken didn’t add any defensemen this offseason, which could open the door for him to finally get a real stretch of games in Seattle. He’s entering his ninth NHL season, but he has played a full 82-game schedule only once, with the Florida Panthers in 2022-23.
There are a few ways the Kraken could use him. He could skate alongside a veteran like Ryan Lindgren or Brandon Montour, or he could be paired with Ryker Evans, who is entering his third season as a full-time NHLer, to help stabilize the third pairing.
For 2025-26, Mahura gets a C. The grade reflects opportunity more than performance.
He didn’t get enough ice time to fully show what he can do, but when he was out there, he defended well and chipped in his first Kraken goal. With Oleksiak gone, Seattle no longer has the same issue of carrying an extra defenseman, and that could finally give Mahura the chance to play a bigger role in 2026-27.