The Seattle Kraken wrapped up a Calgary Flames-filled month of the 2026-2027 NHL season at 8-5-1 . Seattle’s 17 points after one month are good for third in the Pacific Division and sixth in the Western Conference.
With the Kraken off until Wednesday, when they’ll once again play the Calgary Flames, here is a look at the first month of the season.
Wright Off To Nashville, Wood Heading To Seattle
Of note, any future success the Seattle Kraken have will not include Shane Wright. The Kraken dealt Wright to the Nashville Predators for Matthew Wood. The often-discussed future of Shane Wright and the Seattle Kraken has finally been decided. The move, like anything else in sports, will ultimately be judged on the performance of the team.
Wood, 21, was the Predators’ first-round pick in 2023 (15th overall) and scored 17 goals in his rookie season last year, but this season he has just three points (1 goal, 2 assists) in 14 games.
Offensive Production
What has stood out most over the first month of the season for the Seattle Kraken has been their offensive production. At its core, the game is about putting the puck in the net, and the Kraken have been more than competent at doing just that.
Seattle’s fifty goals put them at eighth in the NHL.
This is of particular note for two reasons. First, the Kraken find themselves surrounded by heavy hitters above and below themselves on that list. That shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but take a moment and consider the company the Kraken are keeping.
They have just thirteen fewer goals than the Carolina Hurricanes. They have just nine fewer goals than the Edmonton Oilers. Take a step back and consider that the Seattle Kraken have nine fewer goals than a team with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.
The second reason the statistic is of particular note is this year compared to last year. The Kraken were twenty-eighth in the NHL last season in total goals for. The 2025-2026 campaign saw the Kraken score a total of 224 goals. As a reminder, after one month of this season, they’ve amassed a total of fifty goals.
Seattle’s 3.57 goals per game have them at ninth in the NHL, compared to last season, when their 2.73 goals per game had them near the bottom of the NHL.
Goaltending
Success in the NHL is about more than just scoring goals, of course. Taking a look at the Seattle Kraken’s goaltending after the first month tells a bit of a different story than the offense.
The Kraken sit tied for 28th in the NHL with an average of 3.71 goals against. Interestingly, the team they’ve played quite often this season, the Calgary Flames, also average 3.71 goals against.
When compared to the 2025-2026 season, the Kraken have some work to do. Last season, they were 23rd in the NHL with an average of 3.13 goals against.
The topic of goaltending is of particular importance after Seattle’s most recent game with the Flames. In their 6-2 loss to Calgary, the Kraken were forced to make a goalie change early in the contest.
The team pulled starting goalie Philipp Grubauer after just 14 shots on goal, of which Grubauer allowed four goals.
Aside from simply needing solid play in net like any team, solidifying the goalie position is of particular importance to the Kraken right now. Like in any sport, there are going to be ups and downs, and that goes for Seattle’s offense, too.
Maybe the Kraken will spend the rest of the 2026-2027 NHL season atop the league in scoring, or maybe they’ll level out just a bit. Maybe, like anything in sports, there are going to be ups and downs with the Kraken offense.
The Kraken are twentieth in the NHL in average age, with a roster of players averaging 27.36 years of age.
Couple this with the fact that a decent amount of their production is coming from young players, and it’s clear why solidifying the goaltending position is of utmost importance for the Kraken.
The Young Guns
One of the more interesting points from the first month of the season has been the production of the Kraken’s young players.
There is perhaps no better example of this than Berkly Catton. The twenty-year-old center is off to a tremendous start to the season.
In sixty-six games played last season, Catton amassed seventeen points. After one month this season, Catton has been responsible for eleven points in the form of four goals and seven assists.
Catton’s impressive play isn’t just about numbers. Head Coach Lane Lambert had some poignant comments about Catton.
Per Seattle Kraken Vice President Geoff Baker, Lambert suggested Catton’s practice time and “challenging” 66 games last season helped show Catton what he needed to do to prepare during the summer to be a better asset as an NHL player.
This is important for several reasons. First, it shows Lane Lambert’s ability to help a player grow.
Second, it shows Catton used what Lambert called a challenging season last year and put it to work for himself. He turned the challenge into an asset.
At just twenty years old, Berkly Catton will surely face challenges on the ice as his career progresses. It’s encouraging to see signs that he is already capable of turning those challenges into opportunities for growth.
Expectations
No look back at the first month of the season is complete without comparing a team’s success to expectations.
As mentioned, the Kraken sit at 8-5-1. How does that compare to expectations?
In his 2026-2027 NHL predictions, ESPN’s Greg Wyshynski’s bold prediction for the Kraken was that they’d win the draft lottery.
Austin Nivinson of CBS did not have the Kraken in the playoffs.
Lyle Fitzsimmons of Bleacher Report ranked the Kraken the 30th-best team heading into the 2026-2027 season.
Now, ESPN, CBS, and Bleacher Report’s predictions could all still be accurate. Bleacher Report’s ranking looks a bit off, in particular, but they all could end up right. We’ve played just one month of a long season.
But that’s the fun of this. We’ve played one month, and the Kraken’s strong performance warrants stopping for a moment and taking in that first month for what it’s worth. Both the successes and the growth opportunities.
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