Yesterday, the Seattle Kraken partnered with The Sportsology Group to perform an audit of their Hockey Operations team. The firm is tasked with analyzing Kraken’s organizational structure and decision-making processes across player development, scouting, and analytics. Recently, the work published on this site, including the three articles below, has, in a way, been HFFA’s own “audits” of the New York Islanders, New Jersey Devils, and Toronto Maple Leafs.

• Mathieu Darche Has the Islanders Headed in the Right Direction — Why They Can Make the Playoffs Next Season – hockey free for all.com (HOME OF THE ADVANCED BRACTON)
• Analyzing Sunny Mehta’s Offseason Checklist For the New Jersey Devils- What Changes Need to Be Made? – hockey free for all.com (HOME OF THE ADVANCED BRACTON)
• John Chayka Is Going To Work In Toronto- How the Leafs’ Contention Window Stays Open – hockey free for all.com (HOME OF THE ADVANCED BRACTON)

That said, given the circumstances, the Seattle Kraken moved to the top of the list for analysis in our non-playoff team study series. The Seattle Kraken are approaching a critical offseason, as the club still has not firmly established itself as a consistent Western Conference playoff contender. In the team’s five years of existence, the Kraken have finished above sixth place in the Pacific Division only once, during the 2022-2023 season, when they won their first playoff series before falling to the Dallas Stars in seven games in round two. Outside of this run, the Kraken have remained largely in the basement of the division due to a lack of offensive consistency and star-level production.

The 2025-2026 season feels like a missed opportunity for the Kraken, as they finished with a 34-37-11 record and missed the final Western Conference playoff spot by 12 points despite several flawed teams hovering around that position for large portions of the season. Seattle even bought at the trade deadline, acquiring Bobby McMann from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the buzzer on deadline day (more on that later). The offensive output of this team was extremely concerning, as team captain Jordan Eberle led the club with only 55 points.

General Manager Jason Botterill was promoted to his position on April 12^th, 2025, succeeding Ron Francis, who recently stepped down as the Kraken’s President of Hockey Operations and the architect of the original expansion team. Outside of the McMann trade, selecting Jake O’Brien 8^th overall in the 2025 NHL draft two months after his hiring, and the extensions of Kaapo Kakko (3×4.5 million) and Jordan Eberle (2×5.5 million), his stamp on the team has yet to truly be made. Botterill enters the summer with over $28 million in cap space, as well as the 7^th overall pick in the upcoming NHL draft.

This article will examine the current state of the Seattle Kraken roster through the lens of the AB model (for more information visit this article The Intersection of Data Analytics and Managerial Philosophy in Professional Hockey – hockey free for all.com (HOME OF THE ADVANCED BRACTON)), evaluate Botterill’s hiring of Lane Lambert as head coach, analyze Seattle’s salary cap structure and organizational flexibility, and finally discuss several key roster decisions the front office will need to make this summer, including the futures of trade deadline acquisition Bobby McMann and former 4th-overall pick Shane Wright.  

Lane Lambert- Why He’s Not the Problem

Unlike two of the organizations discussed thus far in this series, the Seattle Kraken do not appear to be entering the 2026 offseason with uncertainty behind the bench. Typically, when new management groups take over, there’s external pressure from the media or fanbase to remove the previous administration’s Head Coach to properly implement the new vision and align leadership timelines. However, in Seattle’s case, this is not applicable, as Head Coach Lane Lambert was hired directly by GM Jason Botterill. This immediately places Lambert in a different category than many coaches on non-playoff-qualifying teams facing decisions about their futures, as he is likely safe despite a disappointing season.

By the AB Coaching metric standards, it appears Lambert is one of the more underrated Coaches in the sport, even with a smaller sample size than the few that have been studied since the inception of the research in 2007-2008. Lambert has a 0.797 Coaching AB Score, slightly above the top 10 average of 0.78 and well above the study average of 0.466. He actually ranked 6^th among 115 coaches in the evaluation, indicating an extremely encouraging development for the Kraken as they approach major roster decisions.

Outside of the physical ranking, Lambert also dramatically outperformed the underlying metrics of Return IMP% (the percentage of players with improved AB Scores when playing under Lambert in consecutive years) and Advantage% (how many players improved their AB Scores under Lambert as opposed to their prior coach) relative to the other coaches in the study, with a whopping 76.92% and 73.08%, respectively. These insights are particularly important because they measure a coaching staff’s effectiveness in extracting value from the roster they are given relative to their peers.

While Lambert’s Average IMP (how much an individual AB Score improves under Lambert each season) of 1.32 and his Average Player AB of 1.23 did not quite exceed the Top 10 Coaching averages of the study, both were comfortably above the overall study averages of -0.5 and 0.95, respectively. This again indicates that Lambert is able to produce strong coaching results despite the team having glaring roster construction questions that need to be addressed.

The data suggest that Seattle’s biggest issue isn’t a coaching one, but rather a lack of elite offensive talent capable of elevating the entire roster over an 82-game season. There were some positives on the AB side under Lambert, as the next section will discuss in greater detail, and the underlying coaching metrics show that Lambert can do more with less. Moving forward, it’s evident that GM Jason Botterill should focus this offseason on allocating that $28 million and use the assets available to him to bring in some offensive upside rather than starting fresh with what would be the franchise’s 4^th different Head Coach in its 6^th year of existence.

2025-2026 Seattle Kraken AB Outlook

Despite the lack of offensive production, the graph below shows that Seattle had roughly the same number of players finishing above replacement as the New Jersey Devils (8 Seattle to 10 New Jersey), who finished 8 points higher than them in the standings. However, unlike the New Jersey Devils or New York Islanders, the Seattle Kraken roster isn’t built around elite offensive stars that are capable of masking glaring depth issues. Seattle does not have a true, high-end offensive driver despite many solid individual AB Scores. As mentioned before, 35-year-old Jordan Eberle led the team in scoring with 55 points, followed by former 2^nd overall pick Matty Beniers at 50. Outside of those two, no other player on the roster finished above that threshold.

The encouraging insight from the graph above is that the Seattle Kraken have a respectable middle-tier foundation of above-replacement-level players already in place. Jordan Eberle, Matty Beniers, Kaapo Kakko, Jared McCann, Bibby McMann, Chandler Stephenson, and Vince Dunn all finished comfortably above the threshold, while Shane Wright was exactly at the 1.17 number. That gives Seattle a solid mix of players to work with, as their task should be, like all the teams mentioned in the recent articles of this site, to retool their bottom half of the roster and prioritize the continued development of the younger talent finally beginning to reach the professional levels from the previous draft classes.

The graph depicts a substantial drop off after the slight replacement-level misses of Freddy Gaudreay, Jaden Schwartz, and Ryan Winterton. Several veterans making significant salaries finished well below the threshold, such as Brandon Montour, who’s signed for the next five seasons at $7.14 million AAV. It’s also clear that the Kraken did try to insert several of their recent draft picks into the team this season,  as 2021 3^rd round pick Ryan Winterton, 2021 5^th round pick Jacob Melanson, 2022 2^nd round pick Jani Nyman, and 2023 2^nd round pick Oscar Fisker-Molgaard all played in several games for the club. In addition, 2024 8^th overall pick Berkly Catton and 2021 2nd-round pick Ryker Evans each played over 65 games for the Kraken, showing some promise despite finishing under replacement-level. It’s a positive sign that the Kraken enabled their young prospects to display their skills. Unlike other NHL teams that hindered their youth’s progression by keeping older veterans on the roster, the Kraken used this year, in which the playoffs were out of reach, to assess their talent.

That said, some prospects could still move up to the NHL next season, and their evaluations are similar to those of the prospects mentioned earlier. The Kraken have the 7^th overall pick in the upcoming NHL draft and could challenge for a roster spot, especially on the defensive end. Meanwhile, Jake O’Brien has rapidly elevated his prospect status after finishing this year’s OHL season as one of the five finalists for the league’s Outstanding Player Award. Considering the lack of high-end offensive production on the Kraken’s current roster, it’s realistic to think that after back-to-back 90+ point seasons with the Brantford Bulldogs, he could be ready to contribute to the big club sooner rather than later. In addition, despite consecutive disappointing seasons with Coachella Valley in the AHL, the team needs to determine whether 2023 first-round pick Eduard Sale can play at the NHL level. He’s now 21 years old and hasn’t made his NHL debut yet. His prospect pedigree still exists, and the Kraken are approaching an organizational point where upside may take precedence over maintaining replacement-level veteran depth.  

The graphic ultimately reinforces the Kraken’s current standing as an organization. They are not devoid of NHL talent, nor do they need to completely rebuild and start from scratch. However, a common theme of this article is that the club needs to prioritize acquiring elite offensive players through creative trades or free agency. Perhaps a trade for Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson is an example, as he has a 102-point season, and multiple thirty-goal campaigns on his resume at 27-years of age, and is due for a change of scenery. Again, money isn’t an issue for the Kraken, as their $28 million in salary cap space is among the most in the league. Time will tell what the Kraken decide to do in revamping their roster, but the continued prioritization of evaluating internal options, coupled with additional smart drafting under Jason Botterill, could see the Kraken shift out of the basement of the Western Conference as early as next season.

Seattle Kraken Salary Cap Analysis

Another positive development for the Seattle Kraken is that the organization’s salary structure is in a far healthier position than many NHL teams, including those in the playoff picture in both conferences. The graph below clearly shows that the vast majority of the roster, including their recently called-up prospects, are either meeting or exceeding their projected market value relative to current cap hit.

Several of Seattle’s core players are providing strong value relative to their current deals. In fact, only Ryan Lindgren, Brandon Montour, and Jaden Schwartz (whose contract expires at the end of the league year) are performing below their current salaries. Kaapo Kakko, Bobby McMann, and Jordan Eberle project to be cost-effective contributors, while the club appears to be getting solid value from multiple players’ entry-level contracts. Even their higher-cap-hit players like Matty Beniers, Vince Dunn, and Chandler Stepehensen are aligned with their projected market values. This graphic is significant because it demonstrates that Seattle’s issue is not a lack of financial flexibility. Since its inception, Kraken ownership has consistently provided management with resources to spend up to the salary cap.

This summer is particularly important for the Kraken. Several teams are likely to use their new cap space on older free agents, signing them to significant long-term contracts. We saw this with the Columbus Blue Jackets extending 34-year-old Charlie Coyle to a 6-year, $6 million AAV contract. This is a perfect example of something a team like the Kraken should not do, as they need true star-level players who fit their organizational timeline. Despite teams gaining extra salary cap space from rising hockey-related revenue and the league’s improved financial situation, management groups across the league should still adopt the frugal approach of the flat-cap era after COVID. This strategy helps avoid jeopardizing the long-term advantages of salary cap flexibility, and teams still need to be smart with asset management, even with the increased resources.

Bobby McMann Deserves An Extension

One of the best examples of the type of value the Kraken should continue prioritizing moving forward is the trade-deadline acquisition of Bobby McMann. This is arguably the biggest move of the Jason Botterill regime, as McMann instantly became one of the organization’s most cost-effective players. The salary structure graphic indicated that his $1.35 million cap hit projects to a market value closer to $5 million, making him one of the best-value contracts on the roster. The graphic below depicts McMann’s value relative to AB comparable players, both from the 2025-2026 season, and throughout his four-year career.

What makes Bobby McMann interesting is that his trajectory continues moving upward despite being a late bloomer by NHL standards. The graph shows a consistent year-over-year increase in AB Score and offensive production, as his goal total climbed from 0 to 15 to 20 and now to 29 this past season. This progression is valuable to a team like the Seattle Kraken because players entering their late twenties typically are not expected to continue making developmental jumps; however, McMann may be an exception to the rule. The Kraken are still looking for reliable middle-six scoring, and if McMann’s new deal comes at or around that $5 million mark, he has the potential to continue to be a solid piece for the team.

The comparables in the graph also reinforce the value Toronto and now Seattle have extracted from McMann’s current contract. Players with similar offensive and AB profiles like Detroit’s Andrew Copp and Boston’s Elias Lindholm make significantly more money, while McMann essentially matched their production while making under $2 million. For an organization aiming to maximize roster flexibility while adding more scoring threats to their lineup, a reasonable contract extension for a player GM Jason Botterill clearly believes in could be a smart move for the Kraken in this important offseason.

Don’t Write Off Shane Wright

The most difficult organizational decision facing the Seattle Kraken this summer centers on their former top prospect and 2022 4th Overall pick, Shane Wright. Ever since his unexpected tumble in the 2022 NHL Draft in Montreal, Shane Wright has had to carry the expectations of becoming the face of the franchise and an important part of Seattle’s middle-of-the-ice for the foreseeable future. While his NHL development thus far has not indicated he will ascend to superstar status as he was projected to during his draft year, there’s still underlying data that suggest there is reason for patience.

The graph above, although it appears discouraging, reinforces a central part regarding Wright’s potential reclamation. Despite averaging under 13 minutes of ice time per game, Wright still finished above league replacement with a 1.27 AB Score. On a roster that consistently struggled to generate offense or solid statistical output, this number relative to his deployment shouldn’t be overlooked. Albeit with 27 points, Wright finished 9^th on the team in total scoring.

Context also matters when discussing Wright’s development path. He had 94 points in his draft year with the Kingston Frontenacs, including back-to-back 30-goal seasons in the OHL prior to his selection by the Kraken. Following this, he was then traded to the Windsor Spitfires, where he again dominated, scoring 37 points in 20 games before making the jump to the AHL in 2023-24. With the Coachella Valley Firebirds, in 59 games, he had 22 goals and 47 points, including 13 playoff points in 12 games, en route to a Calder Cup Finals appearance. He continued to impress as a full-time NHLer in 2024-2025, recording 44 points in 79 games with 19 goals. He also finished well above replacement last season with a 2.02 AB Score as a 21-year-old, indicating that his 2025-2026 could be his breakout. His progression ultimately stalled, regressing to 27 points in 74 games and a 1.27 AB (still above replacement).

Shane Wright has been a popular trade candidate amongst speculative fan bases and media members, but despite his regression, this is a move the Seattle Kraken should in no way consider. Wright remains a young, inexpensive, and still above-replacement NHL player with a tremendous pedigree and upside. As mentioned several times in this work, the Kraken needs greater offensive capability, not less. It might be more logical to increase Wright’s role offensively rather than sell him for what could be the lowest value of his career.  

Conclusion

Ultimately, bringing in an external perspective through The Sportsology Group could be beneficial for a Seattle Kraken team that needs to establish a true organizational identity. The Kraken have over $28 million in cap space, a growing youth movement, and a Head Coach, Lane Lambert, whose underlying metrics indicate his ability to maximize roster value. In addition, players like Bobby McMann and Shane Wright could be intriguing long-term options for the club moving forward. This offseason is the first real opportunity for GM Jason Botterill to fully place his stamp on the organization and begin leading Seattle towards legitimate, sustainable playoff contention. It will certainly be interesting to see the corresponding decisions made as a result of the audit, as well as the influx of cap space and draft picks the Kraken have at their disposal this summer.