Kraken Lament Collapse, Missed Opportunities at Year-End Exit Interviews

SEATTLE — One month ago, the Seattle Kraken sat in a playoff spot, and after making an addition at the trade deadline on March 6, felt confident about their chances to compete in April.

“I think we have good depth throughout our lineup,” general manager Jason Botterill said following the deadline. “And this is a team that went through a tough stretch in December. The fact that they’ve been able to rebound from that and really take it, I like how we played at the end leading into the Olympic break. … Coming out of the break, I think there’s still another level we can get to.”

However, rather than taking a step forward, the Kraken took several steps back. From March 17 to April 16, the Kraken went 3-11-2 with just one regulation win against the Calgary Flames on April 11. After entering the stretch in the second wild card spot, Seattle finishes the year with the sixth-best odds to win the top pick in the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery.

Coach Lane Lambert and his staff had run out of answers as the team continued to crumble down the stretch, and after conducting the team exit meeting at Kraken Community Iceplex on Friday following Thursday’s 2-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche, the players are still looking for them.

“The way that we were playing was extremely positive,” Kraken captain Jordan Eberle said. “I remember going into [the Olympic break] after the LA game and winning [4-2 on February 4] and feeling pretty confident that we were going to get in, and not just get in but have a chance to make some damage in the playoffs.

“So we have to figure out what went wrong and fix it from that, but it’s kind of fresh today, just based on coming back from a back-to-back and the season just ended yesterday.”

The feeling of things being too fresh to fully assess what went wrong was the overall sentiment among the players who spoke to the media on Friday, but a couple specifics were thrown out.

Adam Larsson pointed to the penalty kill, which finished second-worst in the NHL at a 72.22% success rate.

“PK was horrendous early on in the season, and that cost us some games,” Larsson said. “So that part needs to improve. … But I mean, there’s certain things within the game that definitely have to be better for us to be a better team, and I mean, it’s hard to pinpoint just one thing.”

For Brandon Montour, the issues went deeper. As a member of a Florida Panthers team that reached back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals, winning the second time before he signed in Seattle ahead of the 2024-25 season, Montour admitted it was difficult to go from experiencing deep playoff runs to missing out entirely over the past two years with the Kraken.

The 32-year-old defenseman expressed that he’s in it for the long haul – after all, he has five years left with a no-trade clause – and that in order to get to a point where the franchise can be competitive, the players have to commit to a harder play style that the group lacked down the stretch.

“We got to be a tough team to play against each and every night,” Montour said. “Regardless of if the score is 2-1, 3-2. We’re struggling scoring. [Opposing] teams got to know that this group is going to fight until the end, and make it tough.”

In Lambert’s eyes, the team lacked confidence down the stretch, which led to mistakes and inconsistencies that ultimately did them in. 

“Our team has to be more consistent,” Lambert said. “That’s probably the biggest surprise for me, having coached in this league for many, many years, was some of our inconsistencies and some of our inabilities to get out of funks, so to speak. …

“I thought our team was a little fragile at times. We run on confidence, as do most teams. But this team here really runs high in confidence, and when we lack it, struggles happen.”

Lambert said he has not been explicitly told that he will be back behind the bench for next season, but that he expects to. In between, the Kraken and Botterill will have some soul-searching to do in order to determine the next steps for a team that dug itself out of a hole in December, only to fall back into it going into April.