2024–25 Seattle Kraken season

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

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

Background


On April 29, 2024, following the end of the 2023–24 season, Seattle Kraken head coach Dave Hakstol was fired. The previous season, the Kraken were mediocre, scoring only 217 goals, getting eliminated from playoff contention on April 3, and finishing their season with a 34–35–13 record and 81 points. The Kraken organization made the decision to replace him with Coachella Valley Firebirds head coach Dan Bylsma on May 28.

On June 28, the day of the first round of the 2024 NHL entry draft, the Kraken selected Berkly Catton of the Western Hockey League (WHL)'s Spokane Chiefs with their eighth overall pick.

On June 30, the Kraken would prepare for the upcoming free agency by re-signing players John Hayden, Luke Henman, Ales Stezka, and Max McCormick.

Off-season
July 1, the first day of the new season—and free agency—was impactful for the Kraken. They made news in the morning when they signed Florida Panthers defenseman Brandon Montour to a 7-year contract, the maximum allowable during free agency. Later, they would sign Vegas Golden Knights center Chandler Stephenson to a 7-year contract. In the afternoon, the Kraken would sign five other players from various teams. The Kraken would lose six players, who had spent much of their time during the 2023–24 season with the Kraken's American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Coachella Valley Firebirds—Devin Shore, Connor Carrick, Kole Lind, Cameron Hughes, Jimmy Schuldt, and Chris Driedger. In the evening, the Kraken would release the roster for their annual development camp from July 2–5.

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. The schedule includes a break from February 10-21, as the NHL will hold their 4 Nations Face-Off.

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

Key:

Contract is entry-level. Contract initially takes effect in the 2025–26 season.

Draft picks
The 2024 NHL entry draft was held on June 28 and 29, 2024, at the Sphere in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The Kraken's first round selection, the eighth overall pick, was center Berkly Catton, selected from the Washington-based Spokane Chiefs of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Catton was 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 in the 2023–24 season.

The Kraken spent their second-round 40th overall pick on Julius Miettinen of the WHL's Everett Silvertips. Prior to the draft, Miettinen had a feeling that the Kraken had interest in drafting him. 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 slection 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 would trade 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 would use this pick to select Clarke Caswell, a childhood friend of Berkly Catton. The Kraken would use their last pick, 202nd overall in the seventh round, to select Jakub Fibigr.

Notes