The Kraken are heading into a season that will be judged in a crowded Seattle sports market, and the clock starts fast. They play four games over the first six nights, and that opening stretch matters more than usual for a team still trying to carve out a firmer place in the city’s pecking order.
Seattle has no shortage of louder magnets for attention. The Mariners are fading out, even if not mathematically finished, and there’s “zero confidence in the fan base regarding the club’s overall ability.”
The Seahawks, meanwhile, arrive as defending Super Bowl champions, which means the spotlight isn’t going anywhere until the league tells the city whether they can do it again. And at Washington, the football team is already carrying top-20 buzz and playoff expectations, so the chatter there is built in.
That leaves the Kraken needing a statement early, with their NHL season set to begin on October 1st. The league’s first game is actually September 29th, but for Seattle’s purposes, the focus is on when the local team gets rolling and whether it can grab attention before other storylines take over.
This is year six, so the novelty isn’t what it was at the start. The arena experience still pops, and the building atmosphere is still one of the franchise’s selling points. But if the losses pile up, that fresh-energy bump will disappear quickly, along with the easy “hey, you want to catch a Kraken game” vibe.
There’s also the reality that many casual fans don’t fully lock into hockey until after the holidays. The hardcore crowd has other options too, including the local Silvertips or T-Birds, especially for fans who want the more physical edge of the game.
That puts the pressure on the organization itself. The team’s managers have created an awkward spot over the last three seasons, and while patience remains part of the message, it can only stretch so far.
Maybe it won’t happen, and maybe it isn’t even the plan, but this Seattle NHL team has to outperform expectations for a few different reasons.
If, by January 15th, Washington men’s basketball is getting more media attention than Kraken hockey, that would signal serious problems from the owner’s box.
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 🡒]
Jamie Oleksiak's Final Kraken Season Looks Different Now
Jamie Oleksiak gave the Kraken a steady season on the blue line in 2025-26, handling a regular role on the bottom pairing while still finding ways to chip in at the other end. He appeared in 78 games, logged 15 points, and finished with a plus-9 rating, a solid return for a defenseman who spent most nights taking on a sheltered workload and averaging 16:56 of ice time.
What makes that year stand out now is how it ended. Oleksiak reached unrestricted free agency after the season, and Seattle has already seen him move on to Vancouver on a two-year deal, closing the book on a stretch that looked pretty different while he was still wearing a Kraken sweater. For a team that has leaned on its defense to set the tone, his departure leaves another spot to sort out on the back end. [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 🡒]