The Seattle Kraken are still hunting for the same thing they’ve wanted since the offseason: a scoring winger who can jump straight into the top line.
According to Darren Dreger on TSN, GM Jason Botterill hasn’t backed off that search. The target is clear, even if the price is steep.
“At that point, I was told that, look, ‘We’d like to add a top-line scoring winger.’ Well, that’s a lot to ask.
And that’s a pretty big piece to try and land. But that search continues.
They’re not afraid of making a splash if the right player is made available. And Gino, when you look at centre ice in Seattle, you see these big, good, young names.
So those are the pieces that Jason Botterill, I believe, I’m told by NHL sources, is willing to consider as part of that trade bait.”
The same report says Seattle is open to moving one of its young centers, but only if the return fits the need. Shane Wright’s name has been circulating for months, and Dreger added that it has not gone away. “Shane Wright ’s name has been out there for several months and is still out there, there’s no doubt about that, his camp has been trying to find a move dating back to last January.
Seattle is willing to move a centreman but they need a top-line winger in return, so the hunt for Jason Botterill and the Kraken continues.”
In Toronto, the challenge is less about finding the right piece and more about fitting anything in at all.
Chris Johnston said the Maple Leafs are already dealing with next season’s cap squeeze, and it leaves them with just about $647,000 in projected space. That means Toronto would need almost equal money going out to bring in anyone with term left on a deal.
The squeeze reaches beyond trades, too. Johnston said the Leafs can’t even bring up a player on a two-way contract who has term, using Ben Danford as an example, because the cap hit would be too high at this point in the season.
Even so, the team’s stance on Danford hasn’t changed. The Leafs have made it clear, and Chayka has been very clear, that they want to keep Danford in the AHL.
Johnston said the situation hasn’t caused problems yet, but it is something Toronto will have to keep working around as the season moves forward.
In Other News...
Kraken Blue Line Just Powered A Wild Win Over Toronto
The Kraken and Maple Leafs traded blows in a 5-4 game that never settled down, with Seattle getting an unusual boost from its defensemen all night. Josh Mahura and Ryker Evans both scored from the blue line, part of a game that featured multiple lead changes, a tested penalty kill and notable work from rookie Gavin McKenna as well as goalies Philipp Grubauer and Sergei Bobrovsky.
Seattle finally found the edge late, and the timing only added to the drama of a win that felt like it could swing either way until the final minute. For a team that needed production from every part of the lineup to survive Torontos pressure, the blueline came through in a big way and turned an up-and-down night into a memorable result. [Read more 🡒]
Predators Blue Line Plans May Be Bigger Than Fans Expected
Roster shuffling around the league has started to pull Seattle into the conversation again, with Shane Wrights name surfacing as clubs weigh their own needs and the Kraken continue sorting out where their next upgrade could come from. The broader market has already been stirred by Minnesotas reported willingness to include Danila Yurov in trade packages while chasing a top center after landing Quinn Hughes, a reminder that one move can quickly reshape the asks and the available pieces.
For Seattle, the interest in Wright sits alongside other trade chatter, including Nashville defenseman Nicolas Hague being mentioned as part of the league-wide adjustments teams are exploring. Nothing has been finalized, but the fact that Wright is being discussed at all signals how active these conversations have become, with the Kraken still tied to a market that could eventually force a decision on one of their young centers. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Face A Depth Test In A Matchup Neither Team Wanted
This is shaping up as the kind of late-season measuring stick both benches would rather avoid, with Seattle and Toronto each trying to get through a matchup that has been narrowed by injuries on both sides. The Kraken have already spent enough time adjusting without Jared McCann, Jacob Melanson and Ryan Lindgren, while the Maple Leafs are sorting through their own absences and the ripple effect that comes with them. When two teams are thin in the same week, the game often comes down less to star power than to which depth pieces can hold up under a heavier workload.
For Seattle, that makes the margins feel even tighter in a game that already carries a familiar layer of caution from recent meetings and special teams numbers. The goaltending setup adds another layer, with Philipp Grubauer expected to take the net for the Kraken against Sergei Bobrovsky for Toronto. It is the kind of matchup where a couple of defensive lapses or one timely save can tilt the whole night, and for a Seattle group trying to manage its roster health, the pressure on the supporting cast feels just as important as the headline names. [Read more 🡒]