Kraken Have Opportunity to Make Statement on First Big Road Trip

The Seattle Kraken have barely had time to get their sea legs, and already they're being asked to navigate some choppy waters.

After opening the 2026-27 season with a mix of encouraging wins and stumbles against Vegas and Edmonton, there is a lot we still don’t know about this Kraken squad. Seattle is heading out on a five-game road trip that will test its depth, resilience, and ability to compete when the comforts of Climate Pledge Arena are nowhere to be found. It’s hard for fans to gauge just how good (or bad) Seattle is at this point.

CBS’ recent NHL power rankings had the Kraken at No. 27. They have a pair of 6-1 wins over Calgary, but that team came into this season with a similarly poor outlook. If you're looking for an early measuring stick for this team, look no further than the schedule staring them in the face.

Detroit. Washington. Philadelphia. Tampa Bay. Florida.

The Kraken have five games spread across nine days, with little room to catch their breath and even less opportunity to hide their weaknesses.

Or is this Kraken team better than we thought? Lane Lambert’s squad can show us during this east coast swing. Granted, just two of these five opponents made the playoffs last year and one of them (Flyers) is yet to win this season, but Seattle still has a chance to make a statement on the road.

Not only that, but they have already dealt with injuries. Ryan Lindgren is out four-to-six weeks. Jacob Melanson is on IR and is week-to-week.

The trip begins Friday night in Detroit against a Red Wings team looking to make noise in the Eastern Conference. From there, Seattle heads to Washington to join in the Alex Ovechkin farewell tour on Sunday before continuing east to face Philadelphia on Tuesday.

Then comes the Florida swing, with games against the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday and the Florida Panthers on Saturday. Tampa Bay is perhaps the best team in the Eastern Conference and once again looks like a Stanley Cup contender, and while the Panthers are retooling after missing the playoffs last season, their physical style still presents a challenge for Seattle.

That's a lot of hockey, a lot of travel, and a lot of opportunities for things to go sideways - or plenty of chances to prove that they are better than we thought.

It's tempting to draw sweeping conclusions from the first handful of games. That's what hockey fans do. After the Kraken’s mostly mediocre run of opening seasons, the outlook in the Emerald City tends to have a dose of pessimism, a skepticism that this team can compete for a playoff spot.

What should be the goal for this Kraken squad over these five road games? Seattle doesn’t have to come home from this trip undefeated, but if this team wants to prove they are better than what we all saw down the stretch last season, they need to bag some points. Out of 10 possible points over these five games, coming away with at least five points seems like the baseline for a respectable showing. Towards the end of last year, Seattle embarked on a six-game Odyssey and only came away with a measly two points on that trip.

That can’t happen this time.