Get in line. The Kraken are one of a number of NHL teams looking for a legitimate number-1 center. Oddly enough, the Canucks, depending on the future of Elias Pettersson, might be another.
While “Petey” could easily stick around and turns things around up the road in Vancouver, Seattle doesn’t have that luxury. They have a logjam at the second and third center position.
“We’ll continually look for star players, we’ll continually look to develop them within our system,” Kraken General Manager Jason Botterill said late last month. “We have another high draft pick this year. We’ll look at trade possibilities, we have draft capital from that standpoint, but in the meantime, until that star player arrives, we’ll continue to try and improve our team from an incremental standpoint.”
First of all, in the area where one is most likely to strike gold, in the 1st or 2nd round of the NHL Draft, the Kraken do indeed have capital moving forward. They have the 8th-overall pick and two 2nd-rounders this summer, two 1st-rounders in both 2026 and 2027, and a second 2nd-rounder in 2027.
All are assets that could be moved, along with multiple 4th-rounders the next two summers that could be tacked on.
Free agency is another route, but there’s a very short list of elite centers available this summer and almost all of them are well into their 30’s.
For overall flexibility, the Kraken might also want to free up a little dough via buy-out. Winger Andre Burakovsky’s name would top that list with two years remaining at $5.5-million per season. 33-year-old goalie Philipp Grubauer, with a $5.9-million annual cap hit for two more years is another name that comes to mind.
Barring a major trade, the path Botterill mentioned is the one Seattle is most likely to take. That would be continuing to develop internally and stacking depth up the middle.
“We have a lot of skaters that can move well,” Botterill added. “We’ve gotta find a system that just allows them to show that talent a little bit more.”
Thus, one of the reasons for the coaching change in April that saw Dan Bylsma out the door after one season.
Right now, Matty Beniers is a second or third line center on a good team; a bit of a potential throwback in a way, capable of playing a traditional 3rd line, two-way match-up role with a bit of offensive upside. Chandler Stephenson is a legit two, or should be, and Shane Wright should gain that status as well with further development.
Is that enough? Overwhelm them with depth?
From our recent conversations with scouts, last year’s Kraken 1st-rounder Berkly Catton, although a proficient scorer at the major junior level, tops out as an NHL 2nd-liner. So yes, yet another to share the load.
All in, barring a landmark trade, the Kraken will be slow-going it up the middle.
