The Seattle Kraken are just in their second year of existence in the NHL, but they are already on pace to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time ever. And if the Kraken want to further increase their potential to make the postseason cut and, hopefully, go deep in the playoffs, there is still time for them to make a move or two ahead of the NHL trade deadline. That seems to be what they are trying to do, per Emily Kaplan of ESPN.

I asked an assistant general manager to tell me the surprise team that could be the main character of trade deadline day. “The Seattle Kraken,” the assistant GM told me. “I think they've been sniffing around on a lot of possibilities to add to their roster. They still have the big picture in mind to build the right way, but I think they see an opportunity this year and may go for it.”

The Kraken are third in the Pacific Division, as of this writing, with 70 points, but have a clear shot still at topping the group, with the Vegas Golden Knights, Los Angeles Kings, and the Edmonton Oilers as the other teams in a tight race to the top over there.

Seattle's offense has been a strength of the team, as it is fifth in the NHL so far this season with 3.46 goals per game. The Kraken's defense, on the other hand, is just 17th with 3.07 goals allowed per contest.

At the same time, the Kraken have a number of pending free agents, so unloading some of them for some assets could a route they'd probably also be more willing to take.