The 2021–22 Seattle Kraken season was the inaugural season for the

National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

(NHL) franchise. They played their home games at

Climate Pledge Arena Climate Pledge Arena is a multi-purpose indoor arena in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is located north of Downtown Seattle in the entertainment complex known as Seattle Center, the site of the 1962 World's Fair, for which it was or ...

. The Kraken played their first game on October 12, 2021, against the

Vegas Golden Knights The Vegas Golden Knights are a professional ice hockey team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference. Founded in 2017 as an expan ...

, which ended in a 4–3 loss, and played their first home game on October 23, 2021, against the

Vancouver Canucks The Vancouver Canucks are a professional ice hockey team based in Vancouver. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference, and play their home games at Rogers Arena. Bruce B ...

, a 4–2 loss. On October 14, 2021, the Kraken earned their first win in franchise history after defeating the

Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...

4–3. The franchise recorded its first ever

shutout In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

on February 2, 2022, defeating the

New York Islanders The New York Islanders (colloquially known as the Isles) are a professional ice hockey team based in Elmont, New York. The Islanders compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference ( ...

3–0. The team retired the jersey number 32 on October 23, 2021, immediately before they played their first ever regular season home game, in recognition of the franchise being the 32nd to join the NHL and in honor of the 32,000 fans who placed deposits for tickets on the first possible day. On March 30, 2022, the Kraken were eliminated from playoff contention after a 3–0 loss to the

Standings

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was announced on July 9, 2021. With

not scheduled to open until mid-October, the Kraken instead played their home preseason games at three different WHL arenas in Washington. On September 26, 2021, the Kraken beat the

5–3, giving them their first preseason win in franchise history.

Regular season

The regular season schedule was released on July 22, 2021, with only about a handful of games scheduled in February because NHL players are planning to participate in the

2022 Winter Olympics The 2022 Winter Olympics (2022年冬季奥林匹克运动会), officially called the XXIV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Beijing 2022 (2022), was an international winter multi-sport event held from 4 to 20 February 2022 in Beij ...

Player statistics

Skaters

Goaltenders

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Kraken. Stats reflect time with the Kraken only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Kraken only.

Player awards

After their final home game on April 29, the Kraken announced the inaugural winners of their player awards for the season.

Jared McCann Jared McCann (born May 31, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward currently playing for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). McCann was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the first round (24th overall) of the 2 ...

won the

Pete Muldoon Linton Muldoon Treacy (June 4, 1887 – March 13, 1929), better known as Pete Muldoon, was a Canadian ice hockey coach. He was the coach of the Seattle Metropolitans from 1915 to 1924 and led the team to a Stanley Cup championship in 1917. Mu ...

Award for the Kraken's

most valuable player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a particu ...

, as voted on by Seattle-area media.

Philipp Grubauer Philipp Grubauer (born 25 November 1991) is a German professional ice hockey goaltender for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the fourth round, 112th overall, of the 2010 NHL Ent ...

won the Three Stars of the Year Award for having accrued the most stars of any player using a point system for stars at home games.

Yanni Gourde Yanni Gourde (born December 15, 1991) is a Canadian professional ice hockey forward and alternate captain for the Seattle Kraken of the National Hockey League (NHL). An undrafted player, Gourde signed with the Tampa Bay Lightning as a free agent ...

won the

Guyle Fielder Guyle Abner Fielder (born November 21, 1930) is a retired American-born Canadian professional ice hockey center. He is most known for his time in the minor Western Hockey League, where he played from 1952 to 1973. Fielder also played 9 regular se ...

Award as the teammate who best exemplified "perseverence, hustle and dedication" as voted upon by his teammates and coaches. Gourde also won the Fan Favorite Award, determined by a fan vote.

Transactions

The Kraken have been involved in the following transactions during the 2021–22 season.

Trades

Players acquired

Players lost

Signings

Draft picks

Expansion draft

Seattle filled its roster by selecting players in the

2021 NHL Expansion Draft The 2021 NHL Expansion Draft was an expansion draft that was conducted by the National Hockey League on July 21, 2021, to fill the roster of the league's expansion team for the 2021–22 NHL season, 2021–22 season, the Seattle Kraken. Backgrou ...

. The 2021 draft used the same rules as the

2017 NHL Expansion Draft Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number), the natural number following 16 and preceding 18 * one of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017 Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (American magazine), an American magazine * ''Seventeen'' (Japanese m ...

did for the

. The Kraken had to select or sign one player from each existing team except for Vegas. Teams opted to protect some of their players against being drafted.

Entry draft

Before the draft lottery, the Kraken were given the same odds as the team with the third worst point total from 2020–21 season, which meant that they would not draft any lower than fifth overall and would draft third in each subsequent round. On June 2, 2021, the Kraken received a second overall pick in the

2021 NHL Entry Draft The 2021 NHL Entry Draft was the 59th NHL Entry Draft. The draft was held on July 23–24, 2021, delayed by one month from its normally scheduled time of June due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the later-than-normal finish of the 2020–21 NHL se ...

during the draft lottery. Below are the Seattle Kraken's selections at the

, which was held on July 23 and 24, 2021, virtually via

video conference call Videotelephony, also known as videoconferencing and video teleconferencing, is the two-way or multipoint reception and transmission of audio and video signals by people in different locations for real time communication.McGraw-Hill Concise Ency ...

from the NHL Network studios in

Secaucus, New Jersey Secaucus ( ) is a town in Hudson County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States census, the town's population was 16,264,COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 Seattle Kraken season Seattle Kraken seasons

Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...

Seattle Kraken The Seattle Kraken are a professional ice hockey team based in Seattle. The Kraken compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division in the Western Conference and began play during the league's 2021–22 season. ...