The Coachella Valley Firebirds have locked in a familiar face for the next two seasons, re-signing forward Mitchell Stephens to a two-year contract on Wednesday.
Stephens has built his pro career across several organizations, starting out in the Tampa Bay Lightning system with the Syracuse Crunch, Tampa Bay’s AHL affiliate. He spent five seasons with the Crunch and made his NHL debut on Dec.
9, 2019. That same year, he also appeared in seven postseason games for the Lightning during their run to a Cup championship.
Before the 2021-22 season, Stephens was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings. He skated in 27 games for Detroit and picked up six assists. After that, he moved on to the Montreal Canadiens as a free agent ahead of the 2022-23 season and spent two seasons with the Laval Rocket, Montreal’s AHL affiliate, where he served as an alternate captain.
Stephens joined the Kraken as a free agent on July 1, 2024. He played 24 games at the NHL level this season, but most of his year came with Coachella Valley, where he logged 35 games and totaled 13 points.
A season ago, he was a full-time Firebird, appearing in 69 games and finishing with 12 goals and 15 assists. He added four points in 12 postseason games.
At 29, Stephens gives Coachella Valley the kind of steady veteran presence teams value. He may not be known for piling up offense, but he brings leadership, can handle minutes, and offers reliability in his own zone.
In Other News...
Kraken Just Made Berkly Cattons Future A Lot More Complicated
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For Catton, the assignment comes with both opportunity and pressure. He still has two years left on his entry-level deal, which gives Seattle time to develop him the right way, but it also means the Kraken are already treating him like more than a prospect who can be eased in on the wing. A full-time center role asks for more responsibility in every zone, and it puts Catton squarely in the conversation as the team tries to sort out its long-term middle six and decide how quickly he can handle that kind of load. [Read more 🡒]
Kraken Staff May Have Found What Seattle Still Lacks Most
Before Pascal Vincent even settled into his new role on the Kraken bench, he was already digging into what separates the teams still playing in June from the ones packing up early. His study of recent Stanley Cup winners pointed him toward the same familiar pillars: winning the battle around the netfront, getting timely saves, staying sharp on special teams and bringing enough physical edge to make opponents feel it over a long series.
That emphasis on pressure and contact also lines up with what Craig Berube has long preached, and it is no accident that Seattle is leaning on coaches who have seen firsthand how playoff teams create an identity. For a Kraken group that has often looked like it needs a little more bite in the postseason, the staffs message suggests the answer may be less about style and more about the hard, repeatable details that championship teams keep finding. [Read more 🡒]