2024–25 Seattle Kraken Season

The 2024–25 Seattle Kraken season was the fourth season for the National Hockey League (NHL) franchise. They played their home games at Climate Pledge Arena.

This was the first season of Dan Bylsma being the Kraken's head coach, as he replaced Dave Hakstol at the position on May 28, 2024.

On March 29, 2025, the Kraken were eliminated from playoff contention for the second consecutive season after the St. Louis Blues defeated the Colorado Avalanche.

On April 21, 2025, the Kraken would fire Bylsma after just one season.

Background

2023–24 season

During the Kraken's previous season, the team only 217 scored goals, ranking 29th in the league in that statistic. Their lack of goal-scoring as well as their lack of wins ultimately led to their elimination from playoff contention on April 3, 2024. The team ended their season with a 34–35–13 record and 81 points.

After the end of the season (April–June)

On April 25, the Kraken signed a deal with Tegna, owners of Seattle NBC affiliate KING-TV and independent KONG, to air their games throughout their territory, with streaming handled by Prime Video. This was a departure from Root Sports, who had handled the Kraken's television coverage for the past three seasons. Four days later, the team's head coach, Dave Hakstol was fired, along with Kraken assistant coach Paul McFarland. This made Hakstol the 10th NHL head coach to get fired following the 2023–24 season.

Nearly a month later on May 28, the Kraken organization made the decision to replace Hakstol with the Kraken's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate Coachella Valley Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma.

One month later, the first round of the 2024 NHL entry draft held at the Sphere in Paradise, Nevada, commenced. The Kraken used their eighth-overall pick to select center Berkly Catton, selected from the Washington-based Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Catton had been placed eighth in the final NHL North American skater rankings for the draft, mainly due to his career-best 54 goals and 62 assists for 116 points during the 2023–24 season. The next day, rounds 2–7 of the draft took place. The Kraken spent their second-round 40th overall pick on Julius Miettinen of the WHL's Everett Silvertips. Also in the second round, the Kraken selected Nathan Villeneuve 63rd overall. Villeneuve played with the Ontario Hockey League (OHL)'s Sudbury Wolves, captained by fellow Kraken prospect David Goyette. With their third-round 73rd overall pick, the Kraken selected their first defenseman of the draft Alexis Bernier, of the Baie-Comeau Drakkar of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). Bernier's father, David, was drafted into the NHL twice, and played as a forward. The Kraken used another third-round selection to select their first goaltender of the draft, Kim Saarinen, 88th overall. Saarinen's 6'4" stature as well as his ability to track the puck are some of the reasons he was selected. The Kraken used their 105th overall fourth-round selection to select Ollie Josephson, who at some point was a member of Team Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, along with Berkly Catton. Before the fifth round, the Kraken traded their 169th overall (sixth round) and 201st overall (seventh round) picks to the Florida Panthers, in exchange for their 141st overall fifth-round pick. The Kraken ultimately used this pick to select Clarke Caswell, a childhood friend of Berkly Catton. The Kraken used their last pick, 202nd overall in the seventh round, to select Jakub Fibigr.

Off-season

On the morning of July 1, 2024, 40 minutes after the start of free agency, the Kraken signed Florida Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour to a seven-year, $50 million contract. A few hours later, the team signed Vegas Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson to a seven-year, $43.75 million contract. In the afternoon, the Kraken signed five new players— Ben Meyers, Mitchell Stephens, Brandon Biro, Nikolas Brouillard, and Maxime Lajoie.

The next day, the team traded defenseman Brian Dumoulin to the Anaheim Ducks for a fourth-round pick in the 2026 NHL entry draft. The previous season, Dumoulin had managed 16 points through 80 games, averaging 17:01 of ice time per game.

On the morning of July 3, the Kraken made history by hiring Jessica Campbell as an assistant coach. This made her the first woman to be in a coaching position in the NHL. Campbell had spent the previous two seasons with the Firebirds, helping them reach the Calder Cup Finals twice. Bob Woods also joined the Kraken's coaching staff, ultimately teaming him and Campbell with assistant coach Dave Lowry. Later in the day, the team signed Panthers defenseman Josh Mahura to a one-year, $775,000 contract. Kraken general manager Ron Francis himself stated that "Josh is a veteran defenseman who adds depth and experience to our blue line."

Two days later, the Kraken signed their 2024 first-round draft pick Berkly Catton to a three-year, entry-level contract. In the afternoon, the team re-signed restricted free agent Eeli Tolvanen to a two-year, $6.95 million contract.

On July 14, the Kraken signed their only goaltender selection of the 2024 draft, Kim Saarinen, to a three-year, entry-level contract.

More than a month later on August 20, the Kraken re-signed yet another, restricted free agent, center Matty Beniers, to a seven-year, $49.98 million contract. Beniers was the franchise's first ever draft pick, and he won the Calder Memorial Trophy as NHL rookie of the year with the team after the end of the 2022–23 season.

On September 10, the Kraken re-signed defenseman Adam Larsson to a four-year, $21 million contract. The previous season, he had 18 points though 81 games.

Six days later, the team announced the Kraken Hockey Network (KHN), a television network which includes over-the-air television stations in Seattle (KING-TV and KONG), Spokane ( KREM and KSKN), and Yakima ( KAPP and KVEW), Washington; Eugene (KEVU and KLSR-TV) and Portland (KGW), Oregon; and Anchorage (KAUU) and Juneau (KYEX-LD), Alaska.

Preseason

On September 18, the Kraken began their annual training camp. On September 22, the Kraken hosted the Calgary Flames first game of their preseason. Kraken draft pick Nathan Villeneuve scored his first-ever and only preseason goal, the only Kraken goal of what would be a 6–1 loss. On September 24, the Kraken took on the host Vancouver Canucks, where the Kraken's Ben Meyers scored off a pass from Jaden Schwartz, the only Kraken goal in a 3–1 loss.

Standings

Divisional standings

Conference standings

Schedule and results

Preseason

The Seattle Kraken's preseason schedule was released on June 26, 2024.

Regular season

The Seattle Kraken's regular season schedule was announced on July 2, 2024. The schedule includes a break from February 10–21, 2025, as the NHL will hold their 4 Nations Face-Off.

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.

Transactions

The Kraken have been involved in the following transactions during the 2024–25 season.

''Italics'' indicate contract is entry-level.

Trades

Free agents acquired

Free agents lost

Claimed via waivers

Lost via waivers

Lost via retirement

Other signings

Other players lost

Draft picks

Below are the Seattle Krakens' selections at the 2024 NHL entry draft, which was held on June 28 to 29, 2024, at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Notes

References

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