Kraken Reassign Jani Nyman

The Kraken announced they’ve reassigned left winger Jani Nyman to AHL Coachella Valley. With no immediate need for a roster spot, it looks to be a performance-based demotion for the 21-year-old. Matt Murray and Jaden Schwartz are due for IR returns at some point soon, though, so they won’t need to open a roster spot for one of them when it happens.

Nyman, 21, has had a relatively quick ascension since being selected in the second round of the 2022 draft. While the 6’4″, 220-lb winger may look like a power forward on paper, he’s not all that physical. It’s his goal-scoring ability that led to his pickup, recording over a point per game in Finland’s second pro division in his draft year.

After two successful campaigns in Finland’s top flight post-draft, Nyman arrived in North America for the 2024-25 campaign. He led Coachella Valley with 28 goals in 58 games, earning a late-season call-up to Seattle. He didn’t look out of place at all with the Kraken, putting up three goals and six points in 12 games down the stretch.

That led to Nyman capturing an opening night job with Seattle in the fall as he entered year two of his three-year entry-level deal. However, ice time has been harder to come by compared to last year’s recall, averaging 10:42 per game with a spattering of different linemates, although he’s seen most of his time with Shane Wright down the middle. The production hasn’t been there as a result, limited to four goals and six points through 24 games.

Nyman had also been a healthy scratch for the last three games, not a great use of development time for a player who still profiles as a potential long-term top-nine piece. Instead of 10 minutes per game in the NHL, he’ll now be ticketed for closer to 20 in the minors.