Enter 5th NHL season under new coach Lambert, seek 2nd playoff appearance
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NHL.com is providing in-depth roster, prospect and fantasy analysis for each of its 32 teams from Aug. 1-Sept. 1. Today, the Seattle Kraken.
The Seattle Kraken enter their fifth NHL season counting on new coach Lane Lambert and improved depth to qualify for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time.
Seattle, which has missed the playoffs the past two seasons, is looking at the expected influx of young forwards like Berkly Catton and Jani Nyman, combined with offseason additions including Mason Marchment, to supplement a deep group of centers. It’s easy to see similarities between how the Kraken played when they previously qualified in 2022-23 and hope to play under Lambert.
“You look back on when this organization has had success, it’s had a work ethic, a puck possession game, and it’s played an attacking style,” said Jason Botterill, who was promoted from assistant general manager to GM on April 22. “I know it’s what (Lambert) is going to try to implement. Everyone views Lane as a very strong defensive coach, which is great, but why are you trying to play a strong defensive game? You’re trying to play a strong defensive game so you get the puck and can go have fun in the offensive zone.”
The key for the Kraken will be doing it consistently — “relentlessly” is how it was described by opponents three seasons ago — after going 35-41-6 last season and finishing seventh in the Pacific Division, 20 points behind the St. Louis Blues for the second wild card into the playoffs from the Western Conference.
Lambert was hired to replace Dan Bylsma on May 29 after he was an associate with the Toronto Maple Leafs last season and takes over a team decidedly less top-heavy.
“There’s other teams in the League, certainly in the Western Conference, that have better first lines than our first line and where we’re at right now,” Botterill said. “But we think we can have a team with four strong lines and three strong defense pairings, and hopefully that depth will allow us to win hockey games and have success over 82 games.”
That depth is anchored up front by returning centers Matty Beniers, Shane Wright and Chandler Stephenson, and Frederick Gaudreau, a center acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild on June 26 for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
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Catton, the No. 8 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, is also a center. That depth reflects a belief in building up the middle of former GM Ron Francis, who moved into a newly created president of hockey operations role. The 19-year-old had 225 points (92 goals, 133 assists) in 125 games the past two seasons for Spokane in the Western Hockey League. He should get every chance to show he’s ready to start this season in Seattle, even if it means breaking into the NHL on the wing.
“We have good young players in this organization, and that’s exciting,” Lambert said at his introductory press conference June 9. “When we sat down and talked and looked at the personnel, that was one of the things that excited me, and that’s where the development side of it is in terms of there’s an emphasis there to develop on the fly a little bit.”
Nyman, a 21-year-old forward, scored 28 goals in 58 games for Coachella Valley of the American Hockey League last season, his first full season in North America, and had six points (three goals, three assists) in his first 12 NHL games after being recalled March 12. Nyman (6-foot-4, 217 pounds) and Marchment (6-5, 212) are being counted on to help the Kraken generate more offense in tight.
“That is my game,” said Marchment after the 30-year-old was acquired in a trade with the Dallas Stars on June 19 for a fourth-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft and a third-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. “I like to get in on the forecheck, get inside, get pucks back, strip guys on the backcheck. That’s stuff I take pride in and like to do well.”
Defenseman Ryan Lindgren signed a four-year, $18 million contract ($4.5 million average annual value) and with Gaudreau can help improve a team that ranked 21st on the penalty kill and 24th in goals-against.
The hope is depth allows the Kraken to play fast in transition and holding onto pucks longer and winning more back in the offensive zone from one line to the next. It’s a demanding way to play and won’t be easy to maintain amid a condensed schedule, but if they can execute, it won’t be easy for teams without similar depth to keep up.
“We certainly feel we have a good mix of veteran players and young players in our system that we should be in a spot where we’re battling for a playoff spot,” Botterill said.
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