You've probably seen the "banger" tweet that resonates among the Vegas Golden Knights faithful. You know, the one that boldly proclaims that the Seattle Kraken are a "greater expansion story" than the Golden Knights, despite one playoff appearance. Well, it seems that the Kraken are trying to fulfill that promise with a productive offseason.
First, they gave Bobby McMann a six-year contract extension worth $5.75 million AAV. Remember his name? He was formerly with the Toronto Maple Leafs before joining Seattle for their playoff push. But that's not the only move that the Kraken tried to pull off.
They've also made an aggressive push for Original Misfit, Alex Tuch. Nick Kypreos of Sportsnet reported that the Kraken are considering an offer pitch north of $10 million AAV, which would fit near Tuch's asking price of $10.5 million.
"The Seattle Kraken have intentions of being very aggressive this summer, so could that be a factor holding up Alex Tuch from re-signing with Buffalo before he becomes a free agent on July 1? There is a lot of pressure on Seattle GM Jason Botterill to shake up the roster and, especially, to find more scoring."Nick Kypreos
The Kraken also acquired Mackie Samoskevich from the Florida Panthers for the 25th pick in this year's NHL Draft and a conditional second-round pick in next season's NHL Draft on Sunday.
Does a busy offseason matter for the Seattle Kraken if they want to compete with the Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division?
Realistically, no. One thing stands out with the Kraken that will keep them from competing with the Golden Knights, the Edmonton Oilers, or the Anaheim Ducks. That happens to be a game-changing center, which would catapult them into the Pacific Division conversation.
Look at what all three teams offer in the divisional race. For Vegas, you have Jack Eichel, who just notched 90 points this past season. Edmonton has Connor McHolywater and the Ducks have a young, budding Leo Carlsson. These three will be the building blocks for their respective squads in the upcoming years, making it tough for Seattle to do anything in the division. No disrespect to Matty Beniers, but he's not getting the job done.
To make matters worse, the San Jose Sharks have Macklin Celebrini, who's already emerging as an elite NHL talent. If anyone deserves to have bragging rights in the Pacific Division over podcasters in Louisiana, it's all the frisky 20-year-old #hockeytwt girls and Pleasanton bellhops.
You must also look at the top team's overall depth as a shining example of why Seattle won't do too much. The hockey world saw the Golden Knights come two games shy of their second Stanley Cup with overwhelming depth. The same can be said for the Oilers, who made two straight Stanley Cup Final appearances before the 2025-26 season.
Regardless, the busy offseason shouldn't matter too much for the Kraken, nor should it worry Golden Knights fans too much. The Pacific Division is in the infant stages of becoming extremely competitive, with teams like Anaheim and San Jose emerging. That will leave the Kraken lagging, ultimately to be the second-fiddle expansion story to Vegas.
Womp womp.
Add us as a preferred source on Google