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Ales Stezka

Kraken Recall Niklas Kokko

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The Kraken have swapped backup netminders. They announced they’ve summoned rookie Niklas Kokko from AHL Coachella Valley, sending down Ales Stezka in a corresponding move after he made his NHL debut in yesterday’s loss to the Lightning. Seattle also returned defenseman Cale Fleury to Coachella.

It’s the first NHL recall for Kokko, who Seattle selected 58th overall in 2022. Now the organization’s top goaltending prospect, the 20-year-old is having a strong rookie season in the AHL – especially considering his age. The 6’4″ goalie has made 21 appearances for the Firebirds with a 2.44 GAA, .909 SV and a 15-4-1 record. He leads qualified rookie netminders in wins and GAA, although he’s one of two who’s yet to record a shutout.

He made the jump stateside last summer after spending the 2023-24 campaign on loan to Kärpät and Pelicans in Liiga in his native Finland. He finished the year with a .926 SV% in 13 games for the latter club and led them to the league’s final postseason round. Kokko didn’t crack The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler’s recent ranking of Seattle’s top 15 prospects, but it’s hard to ignore the numbers he’s put up over the last couple of seasons.

Stezka, 28, surrendered three goals on 22 shots against the Bolts for a .864 SV% in his debut. The 28-year-old Czechia native had been serving as Joey Daccord’s backup ever since the Kraken waived and reassigned ex-starter Philipp Grubauer to Coachella Valley but only got into a game after Daccord made six consecutive starts on either side of the 4 Nations break. A free agent signing out of the Extraliga’s HC Vítkovice in 2023, he’s posted a .902 SV% and a 2.99 GAA in 25 AHL games this year with a 9-12-8 record. That’s down considerably from last year, where he logged a .914 SV% and a pair of shutouts in 27 games.

Kokko is waiver-exempt, while Stezka isn’t. Seattle won’t want Kokko to sit without playing as Daccord’s backup for long periods. Still, it does make sense to have him come up occasionally for spot duty to delay the exception of Stezka’s temporary waiver exemption.

Maintaining waiver-exempt status is also the chief reason for Fleury’s demotion. He’s been sent between leagues endlessly this season whenever the Kraken need injury insurance on defense, but he hasn’t spent enough time on the roster to warrant clearing waivers again after initially passing through them during the preseason. The 26-year-old has squeaked into Seattle’s lineup seven times this year, recording an assist with a plus-two rating while averaging 12:20 per game with a 48.4 CF% at even strength. He’s tied for the team lead in the minors with a +10 rating and has 6-12–18 in 32 appearances.

Snapshots: Moser, Chychrun, Wennberg, Kraken

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The Lightning will welcome back an important part of their defense corps on Sunday.  Eduardo A. Encina of the Tampa Bay Times relays that J.J. Moser will be back in the lineup against Seattle after missing two-and-a-half months with a lower-body injury.  The 24-year-old was an important part of the return for Tampa Bay in the Mikhail Sergachev trade from the draft and had 10 points in 27 games before the injury while averaging nearly 20 minutes per night of playing time.  Moser was technically activated off IR before the break but the team elected to scratch him for their last game instead to give him more time to recover.

Elsewhere around the NHL:

  • While Capitals defenseman Jakob Chychrun made it known last month that he’s open to signing a contract extension with Washington, he told reporters including Sammi Silber of The Hockey News (Twitter link) that there haven’t been any extension discussions since before the break. The 26-year-old has been a great addition for Washington, already notching 14 goals and 21 assists through 50 games while logging 21 minutes a night.  He’s well on his way to earning a sizable raise on his current $4.6MM price tag but it doesn’t appear a new deal is coming in the near future.
  • San Jose will get a key veteran center back for their upcoming seven-game road trip as Alexander Wennberg told reporters including Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News (Twitter link) that he’ll be ready to return on Sunday. The 30-year-old has 23 points in 52 games for the Sharks this season and suffered an upper-body injury late last month.
  • The Kraken have changed up their backup goalie. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled Ales Stezka from AHL Coachella Valley and reassigned Victor Ostman to ECHL Kansas City, reversing the move made before the 4 Nations break.  Stezka has been Seattle’s backup as of late after Philipp Grubauer was assigned to the Firebirds but has yet to make his NHL debut.  He has a 2.99 GAA with a .902 SV% in 25 games this season.  Ostman, meanwhile, is in his first full professional season after signing with Seattle as a college free agent last spring.  He has played exclusively with the Mavericks, putting up a 2.44 GAA and a .905 SV% in 29 appearances.

Kraken’s Mitchell Stephens Clears Waivers, Victor Ostman Recalled

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2/10: Kraken forawrd Mitchell Stephens has cleared waivers, per a team report.

2/9: The Seattle Kraken announced a trio of roster moves on Sunday. Most notably, the team has placed forward Mitchell Stephens on waivers for the purpose of assigning him to the minor leagues. Stephens has appeared in Seattle’s  last 16 games. He contributed two points, six penalty minutes, and a minus-four while averaging just north of nine minutes in ice time. Seattle also reassigned defenseman Cale Fleury and goaltender Ales Stezka to the AHL, and recalled goaltender Victor Ostman from the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks.

Seattle does not play again until February 22nd, likely indicating that the moves of Stephens, Fleury, and Stezka are headed for AHL playing time during the 4-Nations Face-Off break. Ostman has been recalled to keep the team roster-compliant, and could be in store for an impromptu vacation while the team takes the next two weeks off. Ostman is playing in his rookie professional season this year, after spending the last four seasons vying for the starting role at the University of Maine. He’s performed well in his first pro games, already winning out the Mavericks’ starting role with an impressive 18-7-4 record and .905 save percentage in 29 games played. Ostman is playing in front of seasoned pro Jack LaFontaine, who has a 10-4-1 record and .904 Sv% in 16 games.

While Ostman questions what warm destination he’ll spend the next two weeks in, the Kraken will hold their breath to see if Stephens stays with the club while passing through waivers. He’s been a career depth-forward, alternating between the NHL and AHL lineups over the last six seasons. That stretch started in the 2019-20 season when Stephens made his NHL debut with the Tampa Bay Lightning, then had his name etched into the Stanley Cup just a few months later. He recorded six points, 10 penalty minutes, and a minus-nine in 38 games as an NHL rookie – with all four stats still standing as career-highs. Stephens has played in 82 NHL games in parts of four seasons since then, but only managed 13 points. He’s been far more productive in the minors, totaling 92 points in 139 AHL games since the start of the 2020-21 season. Stephens will get a chance to return to his AHL productivity, should he pass through waivers unclaimed.

Kraken Recall Cale Fleury, Ales Stezka

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The Kraken announced Thursday that they’ve recalled defenseman Cale Fleury and netminder Ales Stezka from AHL Coachella Valley. Seattle didn’t have extra skaters on the active roster, so with three open spots, no corresponding moves are required.

They’ll also return to having two open roster spots later today after goaltender Philipp Grubauer assumedly clears waivers. Stezka’s recall is the corresponding move for that one, meaning the 28-year-old is set for his longest stint on an NHL roster yet as he gets the first crack at serving as starter Joey Daccord’s new backup. He has yet to play in an NHL game but was recalled three times earlier this season under emergency conditions.

Until the Kraken makes an external addition or, in the unlikely event they decide to give Grubauer another shot in the NHL, Stezka is their new No. 2. They signed the Czech netminder as a free agent in 2023 out of the Extraliga’s HC Vítkovice, where he’d worked his way back onto NHL teams’ radars in 2022-23 with a sparkling 2.14 GAA and .924 SV% in 39 games that got him named the league’s best goaltender. The Plzen native was a fourth-round draft pick of the Wild in 2015 but never signed with the club.

Stezka had a good showing in Coachella Valley last year, posting a .914 SV% and 2.48 GAA with an 18-6-2 record in 27 games while backing up Seattle third-stringer Chris Driedger. He re-upped with the Kraken on a two-way deal in June to avoid hitting restricted free agency. He was promoted to No. 3 on the depth chart after Driedger left as a UFA to return to his old stomping grounds in the Panthers organization.

While Stezka has handled more of the workload in Coachella Valley this season than his backup, 2022 second-round pick Niklas Kokko, the latter has better numbers. Stezka’s .902 SV% and 3.00 GAA are acceptable but unimpressive, especially compared to last year’s numbers, and the Firebirds have struggled to an 8-12-4 record with him in net over 24 games. In 18 appearances, Kokko has a 2.46 GAA and .910 SV% with a 13-3-1 record.

Nonetheless, the Kraken will give the older, more professionally experienced option first dibs on a roster spot. Before moving to North America, Stezka posted a 2.45 GAA, .913 SV%, six shutouts, and a 49-42-0 record in 92 Czech Extraliga games.

Meanwhile, Fleury comes up to serve as an extra defenseman – a role the 26-year-old knows well. He was a healthy scratch for all but 12 NHL games in the 2022-23 campaign despite sticking on the roster for the entire season, and he’s since cleared waivers multiple times and been shuttled between Seattle and Coachella Valley frequently. Today marks his first recall since being sent to the Firebirds on Jan. 7. He skated in a pair of games for the Kraken early in the year but has otherwise spent all his time in 2024-25 in the minors, where he has 16 points (6 G, 10 A) and a team-high +14 rating in 28 games.

Kraken Recall Gustav Olofsson, Ales Stezka

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The Kraken resume their schedule tomorrow in a rivalry matchup against the Canucks. As such, they’ve added to their roster today, announcing they’ve recalled defenseman Gustav Olofsson and goaltender Ales Stezka from AHL Coachella Valley, the latter on an emergency basis. Their active roster is now full.

Olofsson, 30, is coming off his first recall of the season. The minor-league mainstay was rostered for Seattle’s pre-break back-to-back last weekend but didn’t play, sitting in the press box on both occasions. He was returned to Coachella Valley on Monday to delay the expiration of his waiver clock and decrease his paycheck, but is back on the roster as a seventh defenseman with William Borgen out of the picture after being traded to the Rangers.

The 6’3″ left-shooting Swede is in the back half of a two-year, two-way extension he signed with Seattle in 2023. Now in his third season in the Kraken organization, he’s yet to see NHL ice this season and has made only four combined major league appearances since heading to the Pacific Northwest. A 2013 Minnesota second-round pick, he hasn’t been a full-time NHLer since his days with the Wild in the late 2010s.

Olofsson has been an alternate captain with Coachella Valley in all three seasons of their existence. This season, he ranks third among team defenders in scoring with 11 points (2 G, 9 A) in 27 games, nearly surpassing last season’s total. He has 29 points in 98 games as a Firebird since arriving there in 2022.

Stezka’s summons indicates that either one of Joey Daccord or Philipp Grubauer will be unavailable for tomorrow’s game. The 27-year-old is Seattle’s bonafide No. 3 option after they lost Chris Driedger to the Panthers in free agency, and while he dressed for a pair of games as the Kraken’s backup last month, he’s yet to make his NHL debut. An undrafted free agent signing out of Czechia in 2023, Stezka has a 2.94 GAA, .906 SV%, and a 6-9-6 record in 18 showings with Coachella Valley this season.

Pacific Notes: Fowler, Stone, Walman, Stezka, Boeser, Joshua

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman unveiled that the Anaheim Ducks were working on a trade with their longest-tenured player, defenseman Cam Fowler, just before the 2024-25 preseason. Despite the rumor, and a few team’s obvious need for a top-four defenseman, Fowler still finds himself a member of the Ducks’ organization.

According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, that’s not for a lack of trying. In last week’s rendition of ’The Latest’, Pagnotta said, “He wants to go to a contender, just like John Gibson, the goaltender there as well. They’re kind of over this little rebuild situation that they’re in. But because of that extra year, that value is propped up a little bit. He’s not an expiring deal. This isn’t a rental situation. So those conversations will continue as the season progresses.”

He went on to note that Fowler may be interested in waiving his four-team no-trade clause to help facilitate a deal and Anaheim would retain some salary on their end. Few contending teams could absorb Fowler’s $6.5MM cap hit for this season and next but the Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings, and Utah Hockey Club all strike as clear choices that could use a veteran presence in their top-four.

Other Pacific notes:

  • The Vegas Golden Knights were dealt a blow a few days ago after captain Mark Stone went down with a lower-body injury. Thankfully there won’t be any long-term concern for Stone as Elliotte Friedman reported the injury isn’t considered serious. Stone hasn’t participated in a full season since the 2020-21 campaign. Still, the Golden Knights will want to get him as close as possible this year with Stone scoring six goals and 21 points already in only 13 games.
  • According to beat reporter Max Miller, San Jose Sharks defenseman Jake Walman will miss his fourth straight game due to an upper-body injury. The Sharks have weathered the storm without Walman with two wins in their last three games but the injury is a major buzzkill for a defenseman who recorded seven points in four games before the injury.
  • Philipp Grubauer still isn’t ready for the Seattle Kraken meaning the team had to get a second goaltender on the roster. For the second time in less than a week, the team announced they had recalled netminder Ales Stezka from their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, on an emergency basis. Stezka has a 2-5-0 record with the Firebirds this season with a .894 SV% but has yet to debut with the Kraken.
  • It became apparent rather quickly that Vancouver Canucks’ forward Brock Boeser would miss some time after being on the receiving end of a hit from Los Angeles Kings forward Tanner Jeannot which warranted a three-game suspension. Offering an update this afternoon, Vancouver’s play-by-play announcer, Brendan Batchelor, shared that Boeser is only expected to miss the next few days. This means that Boeser will likely miss Vancouver’s game tomorrow night against the Calgary Flames but could return for Thursday’s action against the New York Islanders.
  • Unfortunately, the Canucks won’t be able to replace Boeser with Dakota Joshua as Batchelor also shared he isn’t expected to return tomorrow. There’s no indication that Joshua suffered a setback in his recovery from testicular cancer. Still, the team is likely doing its due diligence to be sure that Joshua is fully healthy and ready for game speed.

Kraken Recall Ales Stezka On Emergency Basis

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Saturday: As expected, Seattle has returned Stezka to Coachella Valley.  He dressed as the backup last night but with the Kraken now off until Tuesday, there’s no need for them to be carrying three goaltenders.

Friday: Late last night, the Kraken announced (Twitter link) that they recalled goaltender Ales Stezka on an emergency basis from AHL Coachella Valley.  The roster move was officially registered earlier today.  They had three open roster spots so no corresponding move was necessary although it did push them into using LTIR for the time being.

The 27-year-old is in his second season with Seattle after signing with them as a free agent last year.  He was originally drafted by Minnesota back in 2015 but didn’t sign with them.

Stezka had a solid rookie year in the minors last season, posting a 2.48 GAA with a .914 SV% in 27 regular season games with the Firebirds.  He didn’t see any playoff action with them though as Chris Driedger played every minute in their run to the Calder Cup Final.  However, things haven’t gone as well for Stezka this year.  Through his first six appearances, he has put up a 3.61 GAA with a .881 SV%, only winning one of those outings.

This should be a short-lived recall for Stezka.  Goaltender Philipp Grubauer missed practice yesterday but took the morning skate today; he’s listed as day-to-day.  While it’s possible that Stezka will dress as the backup tonight, it’s likely that he’ll be sent back down after that, allowing them to exit LTIR and go back to banking cap space.

Waiver Wire: 10/1/24

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28 players hit the waiver wire Tuesday, per PuckPedia. It’s a sharp increase from yesterday’s 12 names as more veterans are assigned to the minors later in camp. All of yesterday’s waived players cleared, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports. Today’s waiver placements are as follows:

Anaheim Ducks

F Carson Meyer

Buffalo Sabres

F Joshua Dunne
F Mason Jobst
F Brett Murray
D Colton Poolman
D Jack Rathbone
G Felix Sandström

Calgary Flames

D Ilya Solovyov

Edmonton Oilers

G Collin Delia
D Ben Gleason
D Philip Kemp
F Lane Pederson

Los Angeles Kings

D Jacob Moverare

Minnesota Wild

F Reese Johnson

New York Rangers

F Anton Blidh
G Louis Domingue
D Casey Fitzgerald
D Brandon Scanlin

Seattle Kraken

F Brandon Biro
F Max McCormick
F Ben Meyers
D Gustav Olofsson
F Mitchell Stephens
G Ales Stezka

Vancouver Canucks

F Phillip Di Giuseppe
G Jiří Patera
F Nathan Smith
D Christian Wolanin

Seattle Kraken Sign Goaltender Niklas Kokko To ELC

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The Seattle Kraken have announced that they have signed goaltender Niklas Kokko to a three year entry-level contract. Kokko was on the roster of Finland’s 2023 IIHF World Junior team but did not see any game action.

The 19-year-old spent the bulk of this past season with Hermes of the Mestis league where he put up fairly pedestrian numbers. Kokko had a 4-6-4 record with a .901 save percentage and a 2.95 goals-against average. Although Kokko didn’t see any game action in the recent World Juniors tournament he did backstop Finland’s U18 squad to a bronze medal at the 2022 U18 IIHF World Juniors.

Kokko was Seattle’s second round pick in the 2022 NHL entry draft and has good size for a young goaltender standing 6’3” tall and weighing around 185 pounds. He will likely fill out a bit more as he gets older, which should help him improve on his numbers. Given what Seattle is doing they must be happy with his development thus far.

It will be interesting to see where Kokko fits into Seattle’s plans. He is a long way from the NHL, but Seattle will be looking to develop him over the next few years to likely be the heir apparent to Philipp Grubauer. Grubauer is signed for another four seasons while Chris Driedger is signed for just one more. The Kraken still have Joey Daccord in the AHL but may let him walk when he becomes a restricted free agent this summer. The only other goaltender of note in the Kraken system is Ales Stezka. He continues to play in Czechia and at the age of 26 it appears that he will likely not be an NHL option for Seattle. With Grubauer signed long term it appears as though Kokko will have ample time to develop in Seattle’s system and could have a golden opportunity in the very near future.

Seattle Kraken Sign Ales Stezka

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The Seattle Kraken have signed Ales Stezka to a one-year entry-level contract, according to a team release. The 26-year-old goaltender has been playing pro in Czechia and is coming off a stellar playoff run with HC Vitkovice where he has played for the past two seasons. His cap hit for next season will be $950K before he becomes a restricted free agent next offseason.

Stezka was originally drafted in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Minnesota Wild, but has not played an NHL game in his career. He has not played in North America at all since playing two seasons in the USHL with the Sioux Falls Stampede and the Chicago Steel from 2015-17.

The 6-foot-4 and 201 pound goalie had a 2.14 GAA and a .924 SV% last season in Czech Extraliga, the top pro circuit in that country. He was sensational in the postseason where he had a 1.24 GAA and a .960 SV% in 12 games, where his team remarkably only had a record of 6-6.

The Kraken will begin their second round playoff series tonight against the Dallas Stars, but this signing is for future depth at the position. With backup Martin Jones a free agent, the organization has only Philipp Grubauer and Chris Driedger signed in goal for next season.

Seattle will hope for a similar landing like Karel Vejmelka had in Arizona where he came over from Czechia in 2021 and surprisingly took over as their starting goaltender while posting respectable numbers on one of the weakest teams in the league.

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