Obviously, Tye Kartye wasn’t one of the Kraken’s most talented forwards. He had limited skill, rarely finished, and it seemed only a matter of time before someone came along to bump him out of the line-up.
With the emergence of the Berkly Cattons and Jacob Melansons of the world, among others, Seattle waived the 24-year-old winger last week. Kartye was picked up by the New York Rangers on February 27th.
Despite his limits, Kartye was pretty much a constant for Seattle Kraken fans ever since he burst on the scene during the club’s one playoff appearance back in 2023. Then 21-years-of-age, the hard working lefty showed up as a rookie for that postseason, notching three goals over the course of ten hockey games. He played in three games against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round and then all seven against the Dallas Stars in round two.
Clearly his biggest NHL moment came on April 26th, when in his first NHL game of any sort after playing his first pro regular season in the American Hockey League, he ripped home the 2-1 go ahead goal for Seattle midway through the second period against the Avalanche’s Alexander Georgiev. For his overall efforts, Kartye was named first star of the game, a 3-2 victory that gave the Kraken a 3-2 lead in the series.
That, with just 8:41 in ice time.
Seattle would go on to win the series in seven games.
Against the Stars in Dallas, Kartye scored in game two, again midway through the second period, in a 4-2 loss on May 4th that tied up the series at 1-1.
Nine days later at home, he scored what turned out to be the game winner at the 4:23 mark of the second period in a 6-3 Seattle victory that evened the series again and forced game seven.
The Stars won that game on home ice 2-1.
Quite an emergence; quite an indoctrination for Kartye. Yet for all of the excitement and confidence building, the diminutive left wing never quite reached that level again. Then again, neither has the franchise.
Gritty, relentless, tough; all good qualities, but not enough for a team needing more skill as it tries to improve on its five year build.
A good guy. Thank you Tye for the overall effort and for contributing to the Kraken’s one magical season.
Earlier Kraken:
— Kraken Survive Hurricanes; Win 2-1
