Kraken GM Jason Botterill Breaks Down McMann Acquisition, State of Team After Trade Deadline
Striking at close to midnight - at least proverbially - the Seattle Kraken acquired Bobby McMann from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for a 2027 second-round pick and a 2026 fourth-round pick right before the NHL Trade Deadline on Friday.
McMann, 29, is a forward on the final season of a two-year contract with a $1.35 million AAV. He has 19 goals and 32 points through 60 games this season, which ranks second-most on Seattle behind captain Jordan Eberle (42 points).
Of course, that production came with superstar Auston Matthews at center. According to Natural Stat Trick, McMann had 238:09 of 5-on-5 ice time on a line with Matthews and Max Domi, the most of any single line combination in Toronto this season.
Jordan Eberle Signs Two-Year Extension With Kraken
The captain is staying aboard.
Just a couple of hours before the NHL Trade Deadline on Friday, the Seattle Kraken agreed to re-sign Jordan Eberle to a two-year, $11 million extension, locking him up through the 2027-28 season.
Seahawks Reward Drake Thomas With New Two-Year Deal
Making their first signing to retain one of their own free agents before the start of the new league year next week, Drake Thomas looks to be part of the Seattle Seahawks long-term plans.
Per a team source, the Seahawks have agreed to terms with Thomas on a new two-year deal, locking up the restricted free agent through the 2027 season. The contract, which was negotiated by agent Jay Courie of MGC Sports, features $8 million in base salary with incentives that could push the value to $9 million. The average of $4 million per year comes in at less than a second-round restricted free agent tender, which would have cost the team north of $5 million for 2026.
Seawolves Players, Coaches Discuss American Rugby at Preseason Town Hall
SEATTLE, Wash. - One of rugby's most enduring traditions is that, when all is said and done and the 80 minutes are played, the sides mingle with each other over beer and pizza. The Seawolves' usual post-match stomping ground is Watershed FC, a pizza bar within the Starfire Sports complex where players can be found after a match, win or loss, chatting with each other and with the fans.
That same kind of environment existed in the Hall on Occidental on Wednesday evening as the Seawolves hosted their season ticket member town hall. Doors opened at 6:00 pm and it was not long before the fans began to stream through into bench seats beside wooden tables. The chats were cordial as always between the Seawolves and their fans to begin the evening as they waited for the main festivities to begin - those being, of course, a series of Q&A sessions emceed by Seawolves chief operating officer Drew Dambreville and some surrounding announcements.
Among all the festivities ran a through-line: that of developing the game of rugby in the United States.
Lauren Whittaker Wins Two WCC Awards, Gonzaga WBB's Turner and Haile Also Honored
For just the second time in league history, a player has won both the WCC Player and Freshman of the Year awards. After an outstanding season, Gonzaga women’s basketball forward Lauren Whittaker collected the accolades in her first year coming off a torn ACL. Coincidentally, the New Zealand native was named to the conference’s first team as well as the all-freshman squad.
Joining her on the All-WCC First Team was sophomore guard Allie Turner, who won the West Coast’s Freshman of the Year last year and stacked another strong season for the Bulldogs. And also standing out in her first season of collegiate basketball with the Zags was forward Jaiden Haile, who picked up hardware as the league’s Sixth Woman of the Year and was selected to the conference’s all-freshman team as well.
What did each of these players do individually that contributed to GU finishing second in the WCC?
Malonga, Quinn Fall Short of Unrivaled Championship in Loss to Mist
Dominique Malonga and Noelle Quinn’s Breeze lost to the Mist in the Unrivaled semifinals on Monday, March 2, but the 20-year-old Seattle Storm star once again proved why she will soon be one of the best players in the WNBA, possibly as soon as next season.
The Breeze lost 73-69, falling one win short of the Unrivaled championship. Malonga finished with a team-high 18 points (9 of 14 shooting), 14 rebounds, two assists and two blocks. It was Malonga’s third-straight double-double, second in the playoffs and ninth of the season.
Graham Ike Wins Player of the Year, Gonzaga Freshmen Honored in WCC Postseason Awards
Three different Zags received recognition in the WCC’s annual postseason awards, with forward Graham Ike taking home the WCC Player of the Year while guards Davis Fogle and Mario Saint-Supéry were each named to the conference’s All-Freshman Team.
Ike was also selected to the All-WCC First Team, but he was the lone Bulldog to be on the West Coast’s First or Second Team, or even an Honorable Mention.
Breaking down the hardware campaigns for Gonzaga’s three campaigns, how did each of them contribute to the team’s strong season?
‘We Were Committed’: Kraken Stick to Game Plan, Earn Massive 2-1 Win vs. Hurricanes
The Seattle Kraken knew exactly what they needed to do when the Carolina Hurricanes rolled into Climate Pledge Arena on Monday.
Entering the game with the second-best record in the NHL, Carolina averaged the second-most shots on goal per game (32) and had totaled the most combined shots on goal plus shot attempts (2,347 Fenwick For).
So it wasn’t a surprise when the Hurricanes outshot Seattle 36-15 by the end of the night. What was a surprise was that the Kraken put more of theirs into the back of the net.
Seawolves Announce Full 2026 Roster; How Does Depth Chart Look Going Into Season?
The Seattle Seawolves announced their full roster on Monday, March 2, with a total of 31 players set to compete in 10 matches across the 2026 Major League Rugby season. Of these 31 players, 12 are returners from the 2025 roster while 19 are newcomers from elsewhere in the rugby-playing world, both from other MLR teams and clubs around the world.
Some of these players figured out a deal with Seattle soon after the offseason started, while others were reportedly more last-minute. But with the number of sides and games reduced from 2025, so too is the number of players reduced, down from 38 to begin the 2025 season and 39 once the mid-season signing of Nick Boyer is taken into account. This new sizing is consistent with other rosters around the MLR this year, and these players have the benefit of greater protections thanks to the MLR’s first collective bargaining agreement being signed earlier this offseason between the MLR Player’s Association and the MLR.
With all that in mind, who are all the players that will don green and blue in Starfire Sports this season, and how might the Seawolves be looking at utilizing them?
Dominique Malonga, Former Storm Coach 1 Win Away From Unrivaled Championship Appearance
Seattle Storm star Dominique Malonga and former franchise head coach Noelle Quinn are one win away from reaching the Unrivaled championship.
Malonga and Quinn’s Breeze handily beat the Rose 69-50 on Saturday, Feb. 28, to advance to the semifinals. The duo of Malonga, the 2025 WNBA No. 2 overall pick, and Paige Bueckers, the first pick, have been dominant in Unrivaled this season.
Sounders Continue to Struggle in Sandy, Suffer First Loss of 2026 vs. RSL
The Seattle Sounders ran into a familiar wall in Real Salt Lake on Saturday night, losing 2-1 against a short-handed young squad in Sandy.
Standing out for RSL was 18-year-old Zavier Gozo, who had a definitive hand in each goal, and keeper Rafael Cabral, whose six saves placed the 35-year-old firmly atop man-of-the-match conversations.
Cristian Roldan opened his 2026 scoring account with a header off a corner from Albert Rusnak, but his score started what turned out to be a doomed comeback attempt. By the end of the night, the Sounders extended arguably the most notorious current club streak — Seattle is now 0-13-3 at America First Field since 2011.
Kraken Struggle to Shake Bad Habits in 5-1 Loss to Blues
It wasn’t pretty, but it was exactly what the Seattle Kraken wanted.
After allowing three tip-in goals in a 4-1 loss to the Dallas Stars the night before, the Kraken expressed a desire, a necessity, to throw more pucks on net to create scoring chances for themselves.
“We just need to get pucks towards the net, and get a greasy one,” defenseman Ryker Evans told reporters in Dallas after Wednesday’s game. “We were just trying to make a fancy play or just pass it, and we just need to get it to the net.”
So after Seattle allowed two goals in the first 95 seconds of the second period against the St. Louis Blues to go down 3-1 on Thursday, it appeared Evans followed through when the Kraken needed someone to cut the deficit.
Recapping Reign's Offseason So Far: Productive Coachella Trip Wraps Up
The Seattle Reign are about as short-handed as a team can be right now. With players like forward Maddie Dahlien, keeper Claudia Dickey, defender Jordyn Bugg, forward Jordyn Huitema and others away on international duty, the Reign had assistant coaches playing keeper at times in Thursday's practice at Starfire Sports in Tukwila.
With the current international break looming, Seattle used the last two weeks to travel to California for the Coachella Valley Invitational for the second straight season. The team played two closed-door scrimmages against San Diego and Utah and one televised friendly against Angel City, a 1-0 win.
Kraken Stumble Out of Olympic Break With 4-1 Loss to Stars
Coming off the extended Olympic break, the Seattle Kraken managed to put together the kind of start they wanted against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday.
Playing physical from the jump, Seattle did not allow a shot on goal from Dallas between 5:21 and 12:40 in the first period, and put together a productive power-play opportunity in that span, albeit without scoring.
However, the Stars picked up the pressure in the final minutes of the first, scoring just 1:19 before the intermission before taking a 2-0 lead 1:43 into the second. Before the second period was half over, the Kraken trailed 4-0 en route to a 4-1 loss.
Kraken Re-Sign Ben Meyers, Ryan Winterton to Extensions
Ben Meyers and Ryan Winterton are sticking around. Coming out of the Olympic break, the Seattle Kraken announced contract extensions for both forwards, each of whom has impressed in bottom-six roles in their first full-time stints with the club this season, in a press release on Tuesday.
Meyers, 27, agreed to a two-year, $2 million contract ($1 million AAV), lasting through the 2027-28 season. After starting the season in the AHL with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Meyers was called up to Seattle for a nine-game stint from Oct. 21-Nov. 13, tallying three assists before being sent back down to Coachella Valley. Following the reassignment, Meyers authored an eight-game point streak (seven goals and four assists) before returning to Seattle on Dec. 10, where he’s played since.
In 31 NHL games this season, Meyers has five goals and 11 points. Since his last recall in December, the Delano, Minn. native has carved out a key role on Seattle’s fourth line, displaying good chemistry and production with Winterton, Tye Kartye and Jacob Melanson.
WNBA Sets CBA Deadline to Avoid Impacts on 2026 Season
The clock is ticking on a new collective bargaining agreement between the WNBA and WNBPA after the league notified its teams that a new deal must be struck by March 10 to not impact the 2026 season, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou.
That deadline was delivered in a Monday morning meeting between league staff, the league’s labor relations committee, team owners and 50 players, per Philippou — the second meeting this month between all parties involved.
Sounders Overcome Tough Calls, Injuries in 2-0 Season-Opening Win
In one of the clunkier games of soccer ever played under the lights of Lumen Field, the hometown Sounders emerged with a 2-0 win over the Colorado Rapids to open the 2026 season.
Paul Rothrock took over early for an injured Jordan Morris, picking up a hustle-driven assist and a second-half goal to add to his local legend. Keeper Andrew Thomas wasn't tested much, but logged a clean sheet in his first game after being named the starter.
All in all, the Sounders were in another weight class from a younger Colorado squad, winning practically every moment of the game.
Washington Huskies to Make Abrupt Change at Offensive Coordinator
The Washington Huskies will have a new offensive coordinator for the 2026 season.
The UW football team and Jimmie Dougherty have parted ways, according to reports early on Tuesday, while NFL veteran offensive coordinator Matt Cavanaugh emerged as a potential replacement. Dougherty confirmed his departure from the Washington football program with a social media post later on Tuesday.
Sounders Transfer Reed Baker-Whiting to Nashville for $800,000
The Seattle Sounders handled business in Renton against USL side Louisville City FC on Sunday. But while Osaze De Rosario put up his second straight preseason friendly brace, general manager Craig Waibel and company moved on from another young player in the program.
Niko Moreno of Sounder at Heart first reported the transfer of 20-year-old defender Reed Baker-Whiting to fellow MLS side Nashville S.C. for $800,000, later confirmed by multiple reports. The move puts an end to speculation of where the uber-talented player would find minutes, as he notched just 544 in 2025, primarily in the backline.
He heads to a contending Nashville team needing more creators and will likely get a chance to play a more attacking role as the former Defiance prospect, who once drew European attention, gets a fresh start.
Mariners Add Josh Simpson as Southpaw Groundballer Depth, Hope Homer Stays Behind
For all their strengths, the 2025 Seattle Mariners had little in the way of lefties on the mound. There was Gabe Speier … and that was about it for the top line, given that a deadline trade for Caleb Ferguson did little but wash out. Though Speier did well early on in the ALDS, the Tigers (and later, Blue Jays) got to see him time and time again, allowing them to adjust to his style on the mound.
The M’s have already addressed this issue at the top level, bringing in Jose A. Ferrer from the Washington Nationals, but more depth is never a bad thing. Robinson Ortiz, another winter acquisition, has zero MLB experience despite some clear potential upside. Mariners brass, therefore, brought in southpaw Josh Simpson from the Marlins in exchange for cash considerations.
Simpson is clearly a reclamation project for the Mariners, coming off a 7.34 ERA, 5.35 FIP, and 1.826 WHIP in 31 appearances in his rookie season last year. His fastballs are below average, but he does have good movement on his sweeper and curveball, with his curve mostly being used against righties and the sweeper against lefties. Control was a big issue for Simpson in 2025, with a 14.6% walk rate and 92 Location+ according to FanGraphs (where 100 is league average), but the real killer was the home run ball.
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