The Seattle Kraken inked depth forward Tye Kartye to a two-year contract on Saturday worth $1.25-million per season. The 24-year-old former American Hockey League rookie-of-the-year with the Coachella Valley Firebirds in 2022-23 has seen some ups and downs since joining the Kraken fulltime.
Last season wasn’t his best. He was less noticeable playing under Dan Bylsma than he had been under head coach Dave Hakstol in 2023-’24. Part of that was for the simple reason his ice time was down an average of more than two minutes per game (to 9:41) last season compared to the previous one.
Remember when that AHL best-rookie burst on to the scene for the Kraken in the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs. He rifled home a goal in his first playoff game, beating Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev midway through the 2nd period of Game-5 in the opening round, giving Seattle a 2-1 lead in a hockey game they’d go on to win 3-2 at Ball Arena in Denver. He was an energy catalyst and ended up playing in every game the rest of the way.
Kartye would scored twice more in the playoffs, both times against the Dallas Stars in round-2. He tallied in the 4-to-2 Game-2 loss on the road on May 4th and then again in Game-6 at home in a 6-3 victory that forced the deciding match back in Texas.
His shot was impressive and his physicality was second to none; literally. In his rookie year that followed that playoff run, he set the team record for hits in a season with 229.
He’d like to get back to that. There’s a bit of upside with Kartye. Like any hockey player, he needs to take steps to get his confidence back under new head coach Lane Lambert. 4th-lines are hugely important for teams that win. The Kraken had an excellent one the year they zoomed into the playoffs. Kartye might be a key factor in determining whether they get back there again sooner than later.
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