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# AHL Forward Justin Janicke’s Draft Rights With Seattle Kraken Expire
- URL: https://www.emeraldcityspectrum.com/justin-janicke-draft-rights-seattle-kraken-expire/
- Published: 2025-08-15T20:07:44.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-08T05:58:45.000Z
- Author: Corbin Smith
- Tags: News, Kraken, Justin Janicke, Shane Wright, Jeff Tambellini, Coachella Valley Firebirds

\[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="1080"\]

![  Forward Justin Janicke starred at Notre Dame after originally being drafted by the Seattle Kraken in 2021. Credit: Justin Janicke/Instagram  ](https://storage.ghost.io/c/1d/f2/1df2f77b-83dd-4bc0-a6d2-6d1bb5df89a3/content/images/2026/10/491453397_18497755006020911_9098420444321954654_n-format-original-1.jpg)

Forward Justin Janicke starred at Notre Dame after originally being drafted by the Seattle Kraken in 2021\. Credit: Justin Janicke/Instagram \[/caption\]

The Seattle Kraken did not sign Justin Janicke prior to the August 15 deadline for NCAA prospects. The 22-year old forward is under contract with Seattle’s AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds, for the 2025-26 season, but he became an unrestricted free agent at the NHL level. 

Janicke is free to sign an NHL contract with any team now that his draft rights with Seattle have expired. However, it’s rare for players on AHL-only deals to sign with different NHL clubs, and given the fact Janicke signed with Coachella Valley on March 30, the intention has long been for him to spend the upcoming season with the Firebirds. In other words, the draft rights expiration deadline is more of a formality in his case.

“I think we like all our guys to go through Coachella Valley,” then-Kraken Director of Player Development Jeff Tambellini said during Development Camp on July 1, less than a week before the Tampa Bay Lightning hired him as an assistant general manager on July 7\. “Shane Wright spent a full year and a full two seasons of playoff hockey in Coachella \[Valley\], so we believe every guy should go through there.”

Of course, Janicke would have to sign an NHL deal with the Kraken in order to ascend to the parent club, if that were to ever happen.

Seattle selected Janicke in the seventh round (195th overall) of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft. The Maple Grove, Minn. native joined Notre Dame out of the U.S. National Team Development Program (NTDP) that fall, where he spent the next four years of his career.

As a senior this past season, Janicke more than doubled his previous year’s production (16 points) with 15 goals and 34 points in 38 games. He signed an AHL contract with Coachella Valley for 2025-26 in March, and appeared in one game during the 2024-25 season on an [Amateur Tryout Agreement (ATO)](https://fightingirish.com/janicke-signs-ato-with-coachella-valley/?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com). In his [lone appearance on April 19](https://theahl.com/stats/game-center/1027619?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com), Janicke tallied an assist in a 5-4 overtime loss to the San Diego Gulls.

NHL teams have four years to sign prospects drafted from the NCAA, as opposed to a two-year window for CHL players. That rule is set to be standardized to let teams retain the rights for all draft picks until June 1 following a prospect’s 22nd birthday, once the next Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) kicks in for the 2026-27 season.

Janicke is one of [more than two dozen other former draft picks](https://puckpedia.com/news/nhl-draft-pick-rights-set-expire-aug-15?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com) across the league to reach Friday’s deadline unsigned by their NHL team. However, like Janicke, the majority are signed to AHL contracts. 

Even at the time of his selection in 2021, Janicke’s chances of reaching the NHL were slim, purely based on the track record of seventh-round picks. Among active players, 35 former seventh-round picks have played at least one NHL game, [according to QuantHockey](https://www.quanthockey.com/nhl-draft/en/round/7-round-draft-picks-active-players-all-time-games-played-leaders.html?ref=emeraldcityspectrum.com). Only 18 have played more than 100 games, including Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord (199th overall in 2015).

That said, the Buffalo Sabres selected forward Tyson Kozak just two picks before Janicke, and Kozak appeared in 21 games for Buffalo last season. After Janicke’s jump in production at Notre Dame, a strong 2025-26 campaign in Coachella Valley could open the door for future opportunities at the NHL level. But given the other young forwards the Kraken have in the pipeline, it would take quite a season for Janicke to overtake them.