Kraken Sign John Hayden To Two-Year Extension
The Seattle Kraken have signed forward John Hayden to a two-year, one-way contract extension. The deal will carry a league-minimum, $775K salary. This is notably Hayden’s first one-way contract since the 2020-21 season, which he spent on a one-year, one-way deal with the Arizona Coyotes.
Hayden will re-up for a fourth season with the Kraken with this move. That will mark the longest Hayden has spent with one organization throughout his nine-year professional career. He’s spent time with five organizations over that tenure, kicked off with three years with the Chicago Blackhawks, who originally drafted Hayden in the 2013 third-round. He joined the Hawks lineup at the end of the 2016-17 season and managed one goal and four points in his first 12 NHL games. He then made the Blackhawks’ roster out of training camp in the 2017-18 season, but was assigned to the minor leagues in March after recording just 13 points and 54 penalty minutes in 47 NHL games. Hayden finished the AHL season strong, with 17 points in 24 regular season games and three goals in 13 playoff games. That boost earned him a return to the NHL in 2018-19, though his renewed opportunity came with an added focus on a bruising role.
Hayden traveled around the NHL from 2018 to 2022 – appearing in games with Chicago, New Jersey, Arizona, and Buffalo. He never once returned to the minor leagues, even despite averaging just over four points and 56 penalty minutes each season. It wasn’t until Hayden moved on to the Kraken organization that he was finally returned to the minor leagues, where his veteran presence was quickly felt. He scored a career-high 33 points in 47 games of his first season with Coachella Valley, but managed just two points in 10 playoff games as the team raced to the Calder Cup Finals. His scoring skid continued through the 2023-24 season – when he scored just 26 points in 65 games – but he made up for it with an electric nine goals and 13 points in 18 playoff games in the Firebirds’ second run to the AHL Finals. Hayden was brought back to the NHL for 20 games this season, and recorded two points and 31 penalty minutes. His appearances at the top flight were intercut with 27 points in 44 AHL games, and three points in six games of the Calder Cup Playoffs.
A one-way deal at this point in his career seems to be an acknowledgement of Hayden’s impact on the AHL roster, moreso than an indication that he could return to the NHL full-time next season. Either way, he’ll be playing in his 10th pro season in 2025-26, and will offer Seattle a hard-hitting forward to round out their depth chart.
Multiple Teams Showing Interest In Marco Rossi
The Blackhawks, Kraken, Flyers, Penguins, and Sabres are among the teams that have shown interest in acquiring Wild pending restricted free agent center Marco Rossi, according to RG’s James Murphy. While general manager Bill Guerin has refuted trade speculation surrounding the 2020 ninth overall pick in the past, there hasn’t been much noise around progress in contract talks so far this offseason, especially after he had his minutes slashed in the playoffs by head coach John Hynes.
For a team considering parting ways with a young player, it’s never a good sign when virtually every club with a need at the position with the assets to make an appealing trade work steps up to the plate. Minnesota’s deployment of Rossi, particularly this season, has been puzzling. The Austrian pivot finished sixth in Calder Trophy voting in 2023-24 and took strides in 2024-25 to prove his floor as a second-line center, notching a 24-36–60 scoring line in all 82 games despite missing star wingman Kirill Kaprizov for most of the campaign. He averaged north of 18 minutes per game in the regular season but played just 11 minutes per night in the playoffs, although that didn’t stop him from still contributing a pair of goals and an assist in the Wild’s first-round elimination at the hands of the Golden Knights.
With Rossi posting those point totals on a bottom-10 offensive team, it’s easy to see why many clubs are optimistic about his ability to slot into their top-six immediately and, at worst, replicate his performance from last year. From Minnesota’s standpoint, assuming their internal projection of him is as pessimistic as his late-season role reduction indicates, it makes sense they wouldn’t want to commit to a long-term deal that will likely cost north of $7MM per season. For Rossi, it makes little sense for him to sign a bridge deal in Minnesota if he feels he won’t get the minutes there to maximize his earning potential a few years down the line.
If the Wild can’t work out a trade for Rossi, an offer sheet threat looms. A long-term deal for Rossi will likely end up at seven years at around $7.4MM per season, AFP Analytics projects. That would require a team to surrender their 2026 first, second, and third-round pick as compensation if the Wild decline to match. As such, they’ll likely set their price around there in trade talks, at least in terms of comparable value. Considering their increased salary cap flexibility this summer and intact core, it makes sense they’d rather pursue trade options to land a more NHL-ready asset in place of a return largely centered around draft picks.
Of the five teams mentioned by Murphy as having interest in Rossi, all but the Sabres have the picks to acquire Rossi in the $7.02MM to $9.36MM range for an offer sheet. Buffalo would need to reacquire their 2026 second-rounder to do so. They sent it to the Senators in this year’s Dylan Cozens/Joshua Norris swap.
Talks Falter Between Kraken And Mitch Love
- The Kraken appeared to be getting close to hiring Washington assistant coach Mitch Love as their new head coach, according to Daily Faceoff’s Anthony Di Marco. However, those talks apparently stalled at the finish line. He relays that there may be a condition for the new bench boss to retain assistant Jessica Campbell which could be a deterrent to potential candidates who might want to bring in their own preferred group of assistants. Love is a speculative finalist for both the Pittsburgh and Boston openings as well so things falling apart late could also be a sign that a better offer came from one of the other teams.
Kraken Sign Tyson Jugnauth To Entry-Level Contract
The Seattle Kraken have signed 2022 fourth-round pick Tyson Jugnauth to a three-year, entry-level contract. Jugnauth recently concluded his second season with the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks. He was expected to move to Michigan State University this summer, but will instead turn pro in the Kraken organization with this deal.
Jugnauth took home the BCHL’s ‘Top Defender’ award in his draft year of 2021-22, after posting 41 assists and 50 points in 52 games with the West Kelowna Warriors. He showed plenty of talent as a 200-foot playmaker, and carried his talents to the University of Wisconsin following his #100th-overall selection in the draft. The Badgers awarded Jugnauth with third-pairing minutes as a freshman and the dwindle in role seemed to impact him. He recorded a measly 15 points and minus-20 through 32 games. Those underclass struggles continued through 13 games of his sophomore season, marked by just two points in his first 13 games. That decrease sparked Jugnauth to make a rare mid-season move from college to the WHL.
That decision paid off almost instantly – as Jugnauth quickly rediscovered his two-way impact and won out a premier lineup role in the return to juniors. He recorded 41 points and a plus-40 through 41 games of his first WHL season, while backing lineup stars like Nate Danielson and Luca Cagnoni. Jugnauth took on a heap of responsibility when both players opted to turn pro last summer – and he matched the bill well. He scored 13 goals and 89 points in 65 games this season, good for second on Portland in scoring and enough to earn Jugnauth the WHL’s ‘Defenseman of the Year’ award.
Jugnauth will now try to use the momentum of an award-winning year to ramp his jump to the pro flight. He’s a nimble, speedy, and deceptive defender with the awareness to make smart plays on both sides of the puck. But a 5-foot-11, 170-pound frame could be a bit frail for the AHL – and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Jugnauth take a bit before he’s fully adjusted to pros. Current NCAA bylaws would restrict his ability to continue on to college this summer – though his eligibility will be worth monitoring as the NHL continues to flesh out a budding relationship between the CHL and college hockey.
Lane Lambert Emerging As Frontrunner For Kraken Coaching Vacancy
The Kraken are one of three teams yet to complete a head coaching change this offseason, alongside the Bruins and Penguins. They might be getting closer to a decision, though. Former Islanders bench boss Lane Lambert has emerged as Seattle’s preferred candidate after his recent interview with the team “went well,” Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on Monday’s 32 Thoughts podcast.
Lambert was part of a recent round of interviews in the state of Washington that also included Capitals assistant Mitch Love and Penguins assistant David Quinn. They were previously linked to Rick Tocchet before he accepted a five-year offer from the Flyers. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period added that they completed an interview with Jeff Blashill before he was named the Blackhawks’ new head coach last week.
A name with previous head coaching experience is presumably desirable for the Kraken. They’re looking for more structured play from their entire skater group after the club’s possession numbers nosedived under Dan Bylsma last season, leading to his firing after one year behind the Seattle bench.
While Quinn fits that criteria too, Lambert’s year-and-a-half stint in New York as the lead man carries a more impressive resume in the areas they’re looking at. In his only full season behind the Islanders bench in 2022-23, Lambert elevated a club that missed the playoffs the year prior in the final season of Barry Trotz’s tenure by nine points in the standings, enough to get them back in the postseason. They did so with improved two-way play, still below-average defensively but boosting their scoring chance production enough to remain above water at 5-on-5.
Of course, the Islanders fired Lambert and replaced him with Patrick Roy midway through the 2023-24 season after a 19-15-11 start to the campaign. He spent last year in Toronto as Maple Leafs head coach Craig Berube‘s associate coach, managing the forward group that helped produce the league’s seventh-ranked offense.
Lambert would be the third head coach in the Kraken’s five-year franchise history if hired. Dave Hakstol served behind the bench for their first three seasons in the league before being fired and replaced with Bylsma last summer.
Image courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images.
Kraken Linked To Lane Lambert, Mitch Love, David Quinn For Head Coach Opening
Outside of Rick Tocchet, who landed with the Flyers, there haven’t been many names firmly connected to the Kraken’s head coach vacancy. That changed today when TSN’s Darren Dreger reported they’ve received permission from the Maple Leafs to interview assistant coach Lane Lambert for their head coach role. They’ve also displayed interest in Capitals assistant Mitch Love and Penguins assistant David Quinn, Dreger adds.
It won’t be Lambert’s first go-around as a head coach if he wins the race. The 60-year-old was tabbed as the Isles’ bench boss ahead of the 2022-23 season after four years there as an associate coach. He lasted less than two full seasons there and was replaced by Patrick Roy near the midpoint of the 2023-24 campaign. After finishing the year without a job, he served as Craig Berube‘s associate coach in Toronto this year.
Love and Quinn have both been tied to Pittsburgh’s head coach opening as well, with the former as the favorite by all indications. Love has spent the last two years in Washington under 2025 Jack Adams Award nominee Spencer Carbery, his first job on an NHL bench. The 40-year-old has made quick work of his jump up from the junior ranks to the NHL. In his brief two-year stop in the AHL as head coach of Calgary’s affiliate, he won Coach of the Year honors in both seasons.
Quinn is the most known commodity of the trio, something that may work against him in the end for a Seattle club looking to vault upward out of a pair of slightly sub-.500 finishes. Across stops with the Rangers and Sharks over the past six years, the 58-year-old had just a 137-185-50 (.435) record. He’s spent just one year with Pittsburgh, his lone campaign as an assistant in the NHL.
Seattle’s on the hunt for the third head coach in franchise history after they fired Dan Bylsma in April following just one season behind the bench. They’re one of the four active vacancies remaining, although that list is expected to drop to three soon with the Blackhawks on the verge of hiring Lightning assistant and former Red Wings head coach Jeff Blashill. Alongside Pittsburgh, the Bruins are also looking for a new coach.
Latest On Rick Tocchet
May 13th: According to TSN’s Darren Dreger, Tocchet won’t have to wait much longer for a new head coaching role. Dreger indicates that Tocchet will land a new gig this week, and the Bruins, Flyers, and Kraken have been the most interested suitors, similarly to Friedman.
May 12th: Former Canucks bench boss Rick Tocchet is the most recent entrant to the market after unproductive extension talks led Vancouver not to pick up his contract option for 2025-26. While there’s been some expected interest in his services already – the Bruins are believed to want to interview him – the market for his services isn’t as strong as some would have anticipated, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman told CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal today.
Weeks before it was clear Tocchet wouldn’t be back with the Canucks, he was being linked to the Flyers, where he spent a good portion of his playing career. Philly remains on the hunt for a permanent bench boss after firing John Tortorella late in the season. While Tocchet was reported as a favorite a few weeks ago, there’s yet to be confirmation he’s been interviewed by the Flyers. Friedman told Dhaliwal that Tocchet remains “high on their radar,” but they’ve expanded their search to other names enough (like Pat Ferschweiler and Jay McKee) that Tocchet is no longer a clear-cut frontrunner for the job.
As for other landing spots, Friedman believes Tocchet will ultimately end up commanding too much money for Boston to go his direction. Vancouver’s extension offer to Tocchet was in the $4MM range annually, Friedman said. While money wasn’t the primary reason Tocchet opted not to extend, it stands to reason he won’t take much less, if at all, than that figure after receiving a firm offer.
Another team demonstrating interest in Tocchet during this offseason’s hiring cycle is the Kraken, Friedman relays. It doesn’t appear the interest is mutual at this stage, though. There’s a legitimate possibility he goes unhired and returns to a familiar television job on TNT’s intermission panel, where he served between being let go by the Coyotes at the end of the 2020-21 season and being picked up by the Canucks midway through 2022-23.
There are other jobs out there – the Blackhawks and Penguins. It stands to reason he wouldn’t prefer the former if he’s not interested in another Western Conference non-contending team in Seattle. Pittsburgh remains an intriguing option – he won a combined four Stanley Cups there as a player and assistant coach – but it’ll be a while before they make a decision, Josh Yohe of The Athletic wrote earlier this month.
Kraken Expected To Sign Tyson Jugnauth
It appears that one of Seattle’s prospects has changed his development plan. After previously committing to Michigan State, Nathaniel Bott of the Lansing State Journal and Daily Faceoff’s Jeff Marek report (Twitter links) that defenseman Tyson Jugnauth won’t return to college and will instead sign with the Kraken.
The 21-year-old actually spent parts of two seasons at the University of Wisconsin but elected to move to the WHL early in the 2023-24 season, joining Portland. After notching just two assists in 13 games with the Badgers, he was a point-per-game player with the Winterhawks in 41 outings while adding 16 points in 18 postseason contests.
As it turned out, Jugnauth had a new level to get to offensively. He potted 13 goals and 76 assists in 65 games, finishing 13th in WHL scoring while leading all blueliners. He found yet another gear in the playoffs, picking up four goals and 29 assists in just 18 games, good for a share of fourth in WHL postseason scoring while once again leading all defenders.
Not surprisingly, that performance earned him WHL Defenseman of the Year honors. With how things went, it’s not surprising that Jugnauth will now be seeking a new challenge by turning pro rather than returning to college to finish up his eligibility. Assuming he ultimately puts pen to paper on a contract, he’ll likely begin next season with AHL Coachella Valley.
Offseason Checklist: Seattle Kraken
The offseason has arrived for half of the league’s teams that aren’t taking part in the playoffs plus those eliminated in the first round. Accordingly, it’s time to examine what they will need to accomplish over the coming months. Next up is a look at Seattle.
Expectations were high for the Kraken heading into 2023-24, perhaps a bit too lofty after an impressive second season. The team struggled, resulting in a new coach and some big free agent splashes. That didn’t move the needle, however, as the struggles continued, leading to another coaching search while the front office has been shaken up. Accordingly, new GM Jason Botterill has plenty on his checklist in the weeks and months ahead.
Find A New Coach
After Dave Hakstol was let go last year, the Kraken promoted from within, naming veteran Dan Bylsma as their new head coach. Considering that he had some NHL success in the past with Pittsburgh and had fared quite well with AHL Coachella Valley, it was a reasonable decision. But now, they’re on the lookout for a new bench boss again following the decision to move on from him quite quickly.
It would be a bit surprising to see recent history repeat itself with another promotion from the Firebirds. Derek Laxdal took over from Bylsma this season in the minors and while he has a decent track record as a head coach there (and in the OHL where he was Coach of the Year last season), it feels like this is a situation where they’re going to be looking for someone more experienced that can get them back to the playoffs next season.
Rick Tocchet’s name has surfaced as a strong candidate. He’s more than familiar with the division having been with Vancouver the last couple of years and he also has some familiarity with Botterill dating back to their days in Pittsburgh. Last year’s Jack Adams Award winner, Tocchet is also a strong candidate for several other openings. On the other side of the front office, Ron Francis has worked with Peter Laviolette before from their days in Carolina which could help his cause when it comes to being considered.
One under the radar option that has some ties to Seattle is Jay Leach. He was one of the finalists for the top job last year and was an assistant with them until this season. It would be a little surprising to see a first-time head coach get the job but Leach having worked with a lot of the team before could give him a leg up in discussions. If management wants to go with a younger coach with some experience, Jay Woodcroft could be a fit as well.
With several openings around the league, the potential exists for this to drag out a bit, especially if teams have their eyes on assistants who are currently still working which could slow the market down. But if Botterill and company have their eyes on someone who’s available now, they could move relatively quickly to get this hire done.
Decide Grubauer’s Fate
When Seattle signed Philipp Grubauer to a six-year, $35.4MM contract back in 2021, it looked like they might have their goalie situation settled for a while. While there was some risk in signing someone coming off a career year with Colorado (one that made him a Vezina finalist), his overall track record was still pretty solid with a 2.30 GAA and a .920 SV% in 214 games up to that point.
Let’s just say things have not gone as planned for Grubauer since then. Over the first half of the deal, he failed to post a save percentage above .899 and ultimately lost the starting job to Joey Daccord. This season, it got even worse. His GAA jumped to a career-high 3.49 while his SV% dropped to a career-low .875, numbers that were significantly worse than the league average. By MoneyPuck’s Goals Saved Above Expected mark, he failed to crack the top-100 league-wide which also says a lot. Unsurprisingly, he cleared waivers in late January and played in seven games with Coachella Valley where his numbers were a bit better but still below average.
With Daccord beginning his five-year, $25MM contract next season, Seattle is now primed to be one of the top-spending teams in goal. Given their cap situation (they have over $21MM in space per PuckPedia), they can afford it. On the other hand, that’s a lot of money to pay a goalie they don’t have much faith in, making a buyout a potential option.
Should Seattle buy Grubauer out this summer, they would take on dead cap charges of $1.983MM in 2025-26, $3.083MM in 2026-27, and $1.683MM in 2027-28 and 2028-29. Still, that would free up nearly $4MM in space next season and $3MM the year after that before adding on extra money the following two seasons. Meanwhile, unless he’s being moved as salary ballast to offset a pricey contract coming back the other way, a trade is probably an unrealistic outcome.
Could the Kraken find a better goaltender for the savings from a Grubauer buyout? Even with a thin UFA market, there’s a good chance they could do so and potentially even free up a bit of space to put toward filling another spot on the roster. Is that improvement enough to justify adding dead cap money in 2027-28 and 2028-29? That’s what management will need to decide over the next six-plus weeks.
Re-Sign Key RFAs
A decent chunk of Seattle’s current cap space is going to be required to keep their RFA class intact. Tye Kartye has earned a small raise off his entry-level deal which is pretty straightforward but their other two restricted free agents of note have a bit more complicated cases.
Last offseason, both the Rangers and Kaapo Kakko opted to kick the can down the road, so to speak, with the winger preemptively accepting what would have been his qualifying offer. It was a chance for more evaluation time for both sides. That evaluation eventually led to the 24-year-old getting a fresh start with Seattle, one that did him a lot of good. After notching just 14 points in 30 games to start the season, Kakko was more productive following the swap, tallying 10 goals and 20 assists in 49 outings with the Kraken.
Notably, this is his final RFA-eligible year. Kakko could simply opt to file for arbitration, go to a hearing, and probably get a $1MM or so raise from his $2.4MM qualifying offer while setting himself up to hit the open market next summer at the age of 25, an outcome we rarely see. But if both sides are happy with how things went following the swap, a multi-year agreement could be worked out. With Kakko’s inconsistency, a long-term deal feels unlikely for both sides but effectively another bridge contract that buys up a UFA year or two might make sense for both player and team. In that case, the price tag could jump closer to the $4MM per year range.
Then there’s Ryker Evans. The defenseman played his first full NHL campaign this season and fared quite well, notching 25 points while logging over 19 minutes per game while seeing a bit of action on both special teams units. Already basically a top-four piece, he’s the type of player Seattle would likely want to sign to a long-term agreement. A max-term deal could push the AAV past the $6MM range while a six-year pact that only buys out a couple of UFA seasons could start with a five. Alternatively, if one side wants a bridge agreement, the price tag would probably land in the $3MM territory which would give them a bit more cap flexibility to add pieces this summer although they’d be paying a higher price tag for Evans down the road. They’ll have to decide which is the better option over the coming weeks.
Look Into Moving A Forward
Considering that it appears the goal for next season is to make the playoffs, this might seem a little odd. However, there aren’t many open roster spots (once Kakko and Kartye sign, they’ll have 10 forwards locked up) and it seems likely that management will once again try to add a piece or two on the open market. On top of that, they have some forwards including Jani Nyman and 2024 first-rounder Berkly Catton who are close to being NHL-ready. Integrating them into the lineup will also require some spots to be opened up.
The way to open up a spot or two will likely have to come through a trade. Forward Jaden Schwartz is about to enter the final year of his contract and while he’s extension-eligible, it doesn’t feel like the Kraken would want to do an early extension. He stayed healthy this season and finished third in team scoring with 49 points in 81 games but injuries plagued his first three years with the team. Given that he has dabbled at center a bit in the past and is on a manageable $5.5MM cap charge, there could be some trade interest in him from a team looking just for a short-term addition up front that doesn’t want to commit to a longer-term deal on the open market.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see Botterill look into moving Andre Burakovsky as well. He has two years left at $5.5MM and like Schwartz, injuries have been an issue since signing that deal as he missed 33 games in each of his first two seasons. However, he had a 37-point effort this year and had 39 points in 49 games in 2022-23 with them so there is still some offensive upside to work with. Similar to Schwartz, a team looking for a shorter-term addition might be more interested in flipping something to get Burakovsky on a short-term deal.
Jordan Eberle and Eeli Tolvanen are on expiring deals but Eberle being their captain probably takes him out of consideration at this point while Tolvanen is someone that they may try to keep around.
Moving out a forward isn’t something they necessarily have to do but with two straight disappointing seasons now, it wouldn’t be surprising to see them try to shake up their forward group while simultaneously making room for some new free agents and a prospect or two.
Photo courtesy of Walter Tychnowicz-Imagn Images.
Julius Miettinen Signs ATO With Firebirds
- Seattle Kraken prospect Julius Miettinen has signed an amateur try-out with the Coachella Valley Firebirds for the remainder of the season per the AHL Transactions Log. Miettinen sustained a lower-body injury at the World Junior Championship that held him out of a handful of games. Even through the injury, he managed a strong 11 goals and 39 points in 36 WHL game this season – a 0.06 point-per-game increase over his 67 points in 66 games last season. The six-foot-three Finn will bring a boost of heft and instinctive offense to the Firebirds lineup as they prepare for a series against the Calgary Wranglers.