It's Early, But I'm Extremely Concerned About The Future Of Hockey in Seattle

When the Seattle Kraken first joined the NHL in 2021, there was genuine excitement not just from us on the West Coast but also throughout the entire hockey world. After watching the success the Vegas Golden Knights had right out of the gate as an expansion team, there was a lot of optimism about how this Seattle experiment would work. While they did not enjoy the immediate success of Las Vegas, who made the Stanley Cup Final in their first season in the NHL, the Kraken in 2023, just their second season in the NHL, did make the playoffs and even won a series where they knocked off the defending Stanley Cup champion Colorado Avalanche in a Game 7 on the road.

After the postseason appearance, it did appear that the Kraken were on the right trajectory; however, since then, things have not been great, to say the least. Over the last two years, the Kraken finished near the bottom of the standings in the NHL, and going into next season, they will have a new head coach for the third time in three years.

While that come instability isn't great for any franchise, what makes the situation in Seattle all the more confusing is nobody has a great idea of what exactly they are trying to do.

Is the goal to build a young roster around Matty Beniers and Shane Wright? Are they willing to go into a full rebuild? Are they trying to compete for playoff positioning?

The bottom line is the franchise doesn't have a clear identity at the moment, and because of that, you can already feel the fanbase not being as passionate or excited about the team as they once were, which does give me a lot of concern and makes me wonder, will hockey be successful in Seattle long-term?

Even if the Golden Knights had a similar start in the NHL to the Kraken, the luxury Vegas had was that their NHL team at the time was the only professional sports team in the city. What makes the dwindling fan interest in Seattle so concerning is that the Kraken are fighting for relevance in a city that typically backs their teams no matter what.

We know how much the town loves the Seahawks, and while they may not be Super Bowl contenders right now, they are always competitive, giving fans a reason to believe in the franchise. In the MLB, the Mariners are giving the city a reason to believe again with a young, talented roster built around 24-year-old star Julio Rodriguez, which could give the M's a real chance at postseason success in the very near future. But what I believe should make the Kraken and the NHL most nervous is the all but certain return of the NBA to the city in the very near future.

When the NBA returns to Seattle, and make no mistake, it's coming, the Kraken will no doubt be the fourth most popular franchise in the city and will be competing for attention in the suddenly very packed sports city.

In a city that will eventually have four professional teams that will all be competing for fan interest, they each need to be one of two things: really good or really compelling. Right now, the Kraken are neither.

That’s why I’m so concerned about the future of hockey in Seattle. The Kraken are still new, but the honeymoon phase is over. In a city that will soon have four major pro teams, the people of Seattle will not have interest in rooting for a team that's in no-man's land, and that's exactly where the Kraken are right now.

If you’re not winning, you need to be building something exciting, and right now, the Kraken aren’t doing either.

I want hockey to thrive in Seattle, but based on where I could see things going, my worst fear is that in about twentyish years, we'll have discussions about hockey in Seattle like we did for all those years about hockey in Arizona before they moved to Utah last year.

 If the Kraken don’t turn things around quickly, they could go from a feel-good story to a cautionary tale about what happens when a team loses its way in a market that won't have the patience to wait.