The Seattle Kraken have hit a minor snag with one of their most intriguing young forwards.
Jake O’Brien will not practice Tuesday and is day-to-day with a lower-body injury, the team announced. Seattle did not say how the injury happened or when O’Brien was hurt.
O’Brien was in the lineup for the Kraken’s first preseason game Saturday, and he made it count. He scored a goal and added an assist in a 4-2 win over the Vancouver Canucks, finishing plus-2 with 14:47 of ice time. He was then held out of Seattle’s second preseason game Sunday, a 4-2 win over the Calgary Flames.
The 2025 NHL Draft’s No. 8 overall pick is getting ready for his first pro season after piling up huge numbers in junior. O’Brien topped 90 points in each of his final two OHL seasons, including a 2024-25 line of 32 goals and 66 assists for 98 points.
The Toronto native had 93 points in the regular season last year and then added 23 more in the playoffs, ranking seventh among all postseason skaters. Brantford reached the Eastern Conference Final before dropping a 3-1 lead to the Barrie Colts.
He also joined Seattle’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, during the Calder Cup Playoffs. O’Brien played four games there without a point as the Firebirds advanced to the Pacific Division Final before being eliminated by the Colorado Eagles.
Over 180 regular-season OHL games, O’Brien produced 73 goals and 182 assists for 255 points, plus 39 points in 32 playoff games. He won the Emms Family Award as the league’s rookie of the year in 2023-24 and also took gold with Canada at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup.
Seattle still has two preseason games left, visiting the Flames and Canucks on Thursday and Saturday. The Kraken open the regular season Oct. 1 against Calgary.
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Kraken Fans Can Handle A Rebuild If Seattle Finally Picks A Direction
The Kraken have reached the part of a rebuild where the hard part is no longer just losing games, but explaining what comes next. Lane Lambert had reason to sound upbeat after Seattles 4-2 win over Calgary, and the progress of the younger players has at least given the club something tangible to point to. Around the Pacific Division, other teams have already picked their lane and lived with the consequences, whether that means a longer reset or a faster push back toward contention.
What Seattle fans seem willing to accept is the uncertainty, as long as it comes with a plan. Local voices have been urging the organization to give the rebuild a clearer shape and more direction from the front office, instead of hovering in the middle and asking supporters to read between the lines. The Kraken do not need a miracle as much as a decision, because the audience here can handle the losing if it feels purposeful. [Read more 🡒]