Seattle’s early-season surge has put the Kraken in a different kind of spot, and Jason Botterill sounds ready to act like it.
At 19 points through 15 games, the Kraken are sitting third in the Pacific Division a little more than a month into the season. In a division that has been described as the NHL’s weakest, Seattle’s nearest pursuer is the Anaheim Ducks, who trail by two points despite having played one more game.
That kind of start changes the temperature around a team. It also fits with what Kraken sources are saying about the front office’s mindset: the club is still looking to add, and one source described the approach as “big-game hunting.”
Botterill already took a major swing over the summer when he pushed hard for Dallas Stars winger Jason Robertson, reportedly putting forward an eight-year offer with an AAV in the neighborhood of $15 million. The deal never happened, but the pursuit told the story. Seattle is not sitting still.
The Kraken have spent much of their existence in what can only be called the middle ground. Since arriving in 2021, they’ve made the playoffs once, and that run included a first-round win over the then-reigning Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche. But they’ve also been too competitive to draft high enough to land a true franchise-changing talent, and not quite bad enough to give younger players a long runway.
That tension has shaped the roster. Seattle is deep at center, with Matty Beniers, Frederick Gaudreau and Berkly Catton currently handling the top three spots down the middle.
Chandler Stephenson is also a natural center, and 2025 first-round pick Jake O’Brien remains in the system. That depth helped lead to the trade of 2022 first-round pick Shane Wright to the Nashville Predators last weekend, even though Wright was already lining up on the wing.
So if Seattle makes a move, the expectation is that it comes at wing or on defense. And with the team’s center depth, a winger seems like the cleaner fit.
That’s why a name like Nikita Kucherov has come up. DFO’s Matt Larkin listed the Tampa Bay Lightning right winger as a possible target, and on paper he checks a lot of boxes for the Kraken.
He’s 33, he’d instantly become the best player on the roster, and he fits the kind of swing Seattle appears willing to take. The complication is the reported desire to play with another superstar, which could make that kind of deal harder to pull off.
A more realistic fit might be Philadelphia Flyers winger Owen Tippett. The Flyers need centers badly, and the Kraken have them.
Tippett, 27, has been hovering around the 30-goal mark for years, with at least 27 goals in three of the last four seasons. He has five years left on his contract beyond this season at a $6.2-million AAV, and Seattle’s center depth could help unlock more offense if he landed there.
If the Kraken decide to go after help on the blue line instead, Detroit Red Wings defenseman Simon Edvinsson would make sense. The 23-year-old is still in the middle of a holdout, and it remains unclear whether Red Wings interim GM Shawn Horcoff has changed his stance on moving the 2021 first-round pick. If Detroit ever opened the door, Seattle would likely have to expect the Red Wings to ask about O’Brien, given their own need for help down the middle.
Another defense option is Carolina Hurricanes defender Alexander Nikishin. The 25-year-old Russian signed a one-year deal worth $3 million AAV after asking out in Carolina, and he’ll be an RFA next summer. A breakup could still happen, but the Hurricanes’ status as a dominant Stanley Cup contender again this season means GM Eric Tulsky doesn’t have to force anything.
Seattle has lived in that awkward in-between zone for too long. Now the Kraken have a chance to use this strong start and a soft Pacific Division to push harder.
Botterill wants a major addition. The next step is making the move count.
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