Kraken Draft
It’ll be fun, or maybe not depending on what happens, to keep an eye on the development of forward Jake O’Brien with the Seattle Kraken and big defenseman Radim Mrtka with the Buffalo Sabres.
That was the first thought that entered my mind when I saw the Kraken take the center ahead of the physical Seattle Thunderbirds D-man. O’Brien went 8th-overall in the 2025 NHL Draft, Mrtka went next.
Does Seattle think O’Brien can eventually solve the gap at the top center spot? If so, right on, although it’s not bloody likely.
Do the Kraken need help along the blueline moving forward? Absolutely, that’s why I would have selected the D-man. Seattle instead chose two defensemen of their liking in the 2nd-round and 3rd-round, in Blake Fiddler at 36th-overall and Will Reynolds at 68th.
Realizing the importance, Seattle actually traded up two spots to get Fiddler from the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League.
On the surface it’s a pretty good draft. Dig a little deeper and it makes one ponder.
Mrtka posted 35 points in 43 games in his rookie season with the T-Birds. That after a quick taste of Czechia’s top league during the previous two seasons. At 6-foot-6 and 208-pounds, Mrtka’s not exactly Zdeno Chara, but then again it would be tough to duplicate the 6-foot-9 former captain of the Boston Bruins and a 2025 Hockey Hall of Fame inductee.
Chara was a project when the Islanders drafted the Slovakian after one season in Prince George. He skated at times like a baby giraffe. His incredible work ethic earned him an NHL spot 2/3rds of the way through his first pro season, the first part of which he spent in the AHL.
Mrtka is more polished and had better offensive numbers in his first major junior year. Again, we’re not comparing the two men head-to-head. That wouldn’t be fair at all.
I’m also trying not to compare this Kraken draft to that of the Detroit Red Wings in 2018 when they took winger Filip Zadina 6th-overall, one spot ahead of elite D-man Quinn Hughes, four ahead of Evan Bouchard and six ahead of Noah Dobson.
Apparently the Red Wings have yet to recover.
Obviously Mrtka is a different body type and player than the three aforementioned NHL blueline stars, but he and Hughes have one major thing in common: Hughes played right in the Red Wings’ backyard at the University of Michigan.
By the way, when I asked Kraken GM Jason Botterill about the reason for taking O’Brien ahead of Mrtka, he gave me a long answer, one that didn’t address the question. So much so, there’s no point in printing the response. Czechia native Robert Kron, Kraken Director of Amateur Scouting, stood quietly next to him. I’m guessing there was a festive discussion during the proceedings in the Seattle draft room.
I’m no prospect expert and the NHL Draft is an inexact science to say the least. I just have a lot of history and knowledge to play with, and oh, the fun we’re having.
What’s next? Wait three to five years and see where the two players end up. I hope I’m wrong.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken’s Matt Murray Part Of The Competition
