The Seattle Kraken are beginning to follow a bit of a pattern with their roster. During the trade deadline, Seattle was involved in discussions that didn't amount to anything, but they did make a bit of a splash on the big day. Instead of trading captain Jordan Eberle, they signed him to a contract extension, and it looks like they could be on the way to doing the same with veteran forward Eeli Tolvanen, according to The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta.
“Seattle tried to go big game hunting, again, and will try (again) this summer,” Pagnotta reported. “In the meantime, they'll start contract negotiations with pending UFA forward Eeli Tolvanen this coming week.”
The Kraken are in the middle of some interesting internal discussions. The team doesn't have enough scoring to consider them a contender, but they are holding down a playoff spot with less than 20 games remaining in the season. They have some reasons for optimism, but it feels like they are a few steps behind the rest of the Western Conference playoff teams.
One of the biggest rumors leading up to the trade deadline was whether the Kraken would trade Shane Wright. None of those trades came to fruition, but that doesn't mean the talks won't pick up again in the offseason. Despite everything pointing to Seattle needing to get younger and more skilled, it seems they're sticking with their veterans.
The 26-year-old Tolvanen is flirting with a career year. His previous high was 41 points in 81 games, and he now has 32 in 62. There's a chance he passes the 41-point mark in 2025-26, but it's difficult to see his ceiling getting much higher than that.
