The NHL season is exactly six games old for the Seattle Kraken. It’s far too early to put any season-long conclusions in stone. Still, the Kraken have started the season in a way that has given the fans reason for hope. More importantly, their own roster has a dose of confidence to begin the year.
And it’s all started on the offensive end.
Any reasonable fan or pundit would have to admit they’re more than pleased with the offensive effort from the Kraken so far this year. The goals have come in bunches, and it’s made the team fun to watch and competitive most nights. In furtherance of the idea of their competitiveness, aside from a lopsided loss to the Golden Knights, Seattle’s only other loss was by two goals.
But it’s been the offense that has been the story in Seattle, and the first two games of the Kraken’s five-game Eastern road trip are a perfect example of this.
Motor City
To kick off their five-game Eastern road trip, Seattle was victorious over the Red Wings in Detroit on Friday night. Coming out of the gate strong on such a long-distance road trip is important, and it was the Kraken’s offense that ensured that was exactly what happened.
The Kraken won the contest 6-3, with goals coming off the sticks of five different players. Catton opened the scoring in the first period, and Samoskevich and Meyers each added a goal in the second. The second was also where Freddy Graudreau contributed two goals of his own in an effort to earn the first star of the game.
Vince Dunn added a power play goal in the third to ice the victory for Seattle.
The scoring on the night came from the center, wing and defensive spots, showing contributions across the board. And for those counting at home, the game with Detroit marked the third time in five games that the Kraken scored six goals.
The victories are, of course, the most important stat–but the entertainment value of the Kraken isn’t lost on the NHL as a whole:
Nation’s Capital
Understandably, the biggest hockey story in Washington, DC– and the NHL at large–is the retirement announcement by Alexander Ovechkin. For anyone living under a Washington Monument-sized rock, Ovechkin, one of the greatest players to ever lace up a pair of skates, announced that the 2026–2027 NHL season will be his last.
With the Ovi story as the backdrop, Seattle gave the NHL something else to talk about on Sunday night by beating the Washington Capitals in DC by a score of 5-3.
Another impressive offensive output by the Kraken isn’t going to put the Ovi story on the back burner, nor should it, but it’s certainly worth taking a look at.
Kaapo Kakko started the scoring early by putting his second of the season in the net in the first period. Team captain Jordan Eberle closed the scoring in the first with his third on the year, putting Seattle and the Capitals in a 2-2 tie to close the period.
Notably, one of the goals from Washington came from Ovechkin, which was his first on the year.
The second period saw a single goal scored, and it was one worth talking about. To give his team the 3-2 lead, Frédérick Gaudreau put the puck in the net for the fourth time this season.
The reason this is worth taking some extra time to talk about is that Gaudreau had seven goals in all of the 2025-2026 season, in 68 games played. The offensive surge to start the season is a major reason why the Kraken are one of the more surprising–and entertaining–teams in the NHL thus far.
The third period saw two more goals for the Kraken, coming off the sticks of Jared McCann and Ryan Winterton for their second and first of the season, respectively.
Philly and the Sunshine State
If the Kraken haven’t gotten used to the Eastern time zone yet, three more chances to do so will happen this week before they head back to the Pacific Northwest.
The Kraken will travel to Philadelphia to play the Flyers on Tuesday and to Tampa Bay to play the Lightning on Thursday. The final stop on the five-game Eastern road trip will see the Kraken stay in Florida, playing the Panthers on Saturday.
First up, Philly. The Flyers are still trying to find themselves, but they’ll no doubt be anxious to give their home fans something to cheer for. A motivated opponent is a dangerous one and the Kraken will have to contend with a Flyers team looking to get things on track.
Then it’s on to Tampa Bay. Through five games, the Tampa Bay Lightning have started the season 4-1, including a home victory against the Minnesota Wild on Thursday and a road victory over the New York Islanders on Saturday.
Brandon Hagel leads the Lightning in goals with four, while Nikita Kucherov leads the team in assists with seven.
If the Kraken want to continue their early-season offensive surge, they’ll have to do so against a Tampa Bay team that has only given up more than four goals once, to the Rangers, who scored five in Tampa Bay’s season opener.
Last stop, Sunrise. The Florida Panthers have started the season 2-1-2, and the fact that the game will be the Kraken’s fifth and final stop on the road trip makes it a potentially difficult spot to be in.
Matthew Tkachuk leads the Panthers in points with four and goals with three. If the Kraken want to end their road trip with a win, they’ll have to limit Tkachuk’s output.
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