7 questions facing Kraken as training camp opens | Analysis

17 Sep 2025, 06:00 by Kate Shefte · The Seattle Times

The 2025-26 season, which marks the NHL’s return to the Winter Olympics for the first time since Sochi in 2014, is coming up quickly.

The Kraken have missed the playoffs two straight times and fired two coaches. New Kraken general manager Jason Botterill added a handful of role players this summer and shipped Andre Burakovsky’s large and unproductive contract to the Chicago Blackhawks.

Here are some of the questions facing Botterill and the Kraken as training camp opens.

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Will Berkly Catton make the team?

Catton enters training camp much like fellow first-rounder Shane Wright did last fall — with plenty of buzz and people around him eager to see him succeed. Catton, the eighth overall pick in 2024, had 109 points in just 57 Western Hockey League games last season, then surpassed that pace in the playoffs.

But there are notable differences. Spokane Chiefs captain Catton, 19, would be making the jump from junior hockey to the pros, while Wright got a full season of development one level down in the American Hockey League. While Wright had a spot more or less carved out, the Kraken went out and got a fourth-line center in Freddy Gaudreau this offseason, giving them four NHL centers. Catton needs to outplay someone and perhaps shift positions and play winger.

And if Catton doesn’t make it, he’s due to be returned to Spokane. He’s too young to qualify for the AHL and doesn’t have a case for an exemption like Wright, who was also born in early January, days after the cutoff. If Catton was in this position a year later, things might be different. The new collective bargaining agreement, set to take effect on September 16, 2026, allows for one potential 19-year-old in the AHL.

But here we are, and these are the rules. Catton will be playing against the best in the world, or predominantly teenagers.

What does the Lane Lambert era look like?

No one is oversharing or overpromising, but Lambert will likely try to tighten things up for the Kraken, who gave up an average of 3.2 goals against — ninth-most in the NHL — last season. During past stints with NHL teams Lambert’s areas of focus were the defense and the penalty kill

How does Mason Marchment fit in?

Net-front pest Marchment, 30, arrived in a trade with the salary-cap-strapped Dallas Stars in June. He presumably slots in as a middle-six winger, at least at first, probably alongside Chandler Stephenson or Wright.

Will Philipp Grubauer bounce back?

The Kraken could have bought out the last two years of goaltender Philipp Grubauer’s contract this summer, but didn’t. Was that the right call?

Three seasons into a six-year, $35.4 million deal, Grubauer’s tenure with the Kraken had disappointed, outside of a strong but brief showing during the franchise’s lone playoff run in 2023. Then Joey Daccord signed a five-year extension the day after the 2024-25 season opener, which seemed to signal who the goaltender of the future was. Even before Grubauer’s numbers started to slide, when he was splitting time fairly evenly with Daccord in October, talk of a buyout grew louder.

Grubauer’s season got worse from there. The one-time face of the franchise sported a 5-15-1 record when he was demoted to the American Hockey League for a month, his first stint at that level in almost a decade, in order to get his game back on track.

A buyout would have cost the Kraken $1,683,333 per year for four years, with the salary cap set to rise. With few enticing options on the open market and their top goaltending prospect, Nikke Kokko, just a season into his North American pro career, Botterill expressed confidence that Grubauer would rally. Botterill did sign another Stanley Cup winner whose star has faded, Matt Murray, to have in the wings.

Will Grubauer rebound? Daccord enters the season as the franchise’s top goalie, no question about it this time around. But he needs the occasional night off and a trustworthy backup to fill in, at the very least. Can that be Grubauer?

How many representatives will the Kraken send to the Milano-Cortina Games?

Daccord, who was born in Boston to Canadian and Swiss parents and could theoretically represent any of three countries, was one of 44 players and four goaltenders invited to the U.S. men’s Olympic orientation camp. It was described as an informal event with no formal on-ice activity.

Daccord was the newcomer, joining the three American goalies named to the 4 Nations Face-Off squad. The U.S. was the runner-up in that February tournament, a tuneup for the NHL’s return to the Olympics this winter.

Coming off an MVP season, Connor Hellebuyck is locked in barring injury, while Jake Oettinger and Jeremy Swayman look to round out the U.S. options in net. But if someone falters and Daccord has a monster season, he could represent his home country again. He joined Team USA for the 2025 IIHF World Championships in May and was part of the country’s first gold medal run in 92 years.

The first six members of the American Olympic team — Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Brady Tkachuk, Matthew Tkachuk, Quinn Hughes and Charlie McAvoy — were named this summer, but the final 25-man roster isn’t expected until January.

The Kraken’s Brandon Montour was one of 13 defensemen invited to Team Canada’s orientation camp. That’s a tough roster to crack and one spot has already been claimed by Colorado blueliner Cale Makar.

Grubauer is a confirmed member of Germany’s squad. The Kraken’s lone 4 Nations representative, Finnish winger Kaapo Kakko, could earn a look depending how his first full season with the Kraken goes.

On that note: How will a newly locked-down Kakko play?

Toward the top of Botterill’s offseason to-do list had to be re-signing the December trade pickup and former second-overall pick, who blew his prior goal and point totals with the New York Rangers out of the water. Kakko, 24, signed a three-year, $13.575 million contract with the Kraken on July 22 after setting a new career high of 44 points. His last two contracts were for one and two years, respectively.

While his 10 goals and 20 points after the trade were good by Kraken standards, one would ideally see more production out of a top-six winger. Kakko isn’t surrounded by stars but will have greater opportunity and responsibility than he did in New York. We’ll see what he does with it.

Can this team make strides?

The Kraken faded just a few weeks into Dan Bylsma’s lone season as head coach and never contended again. They got some potential help from the NBA this summer in the form of a reprieve — extra time to draw interest and get this expansion franchise back on track.

On paper, the roster hasn’t seen significant improvements. The Kraken turn to first-year head coach Lambert, who can hopefully draw up a creative solution and get lucky the way Dave Hakstol’s staff did in 2022-23.

If it quickly goes south again, this could serve as a transitional year for the Kraken, with an emphasis on developing prospects and bidding farewell to expansion draft players who helped lay the groundwork for NHL hockey in Seattle.