Think of it as CSI-Seattle Kraken.
Each in their own way, Kraken players, coaches, and front office are performing forensic examinations of the failures of the 2025-26 season. At the Olympics break in February, Seattle sat in 3rd place in the Pacific Division. By season’s end, they’d missed the playoffs by 11 points.
Metaphorically donning their lab coats, scanning x-rays, studying crime scene (game) videos, members of the organization are diagnosing what went wrong and developing future treatment plans.
While we await conclusions from the ongoing franchise-wide audit, team leaders volunteered their early analysis right after the season. Our experts are Kraken captain Jordan Eberle, veteran defenseman Brandon Montour, and head coach Lane Lambert.
Jordan Eberle, Kraken Captain
“There’s a sense of frustration and disappointment. I remember going to the break after the L.A. game and winning and feeling pretty confident that we were going to get in, and not just get in, but have a chance to make some damage in the playoffs.
“You can take the positive of, we showed that we could do it for 75% of the year. The next step is trying to figure out how to get over that hurdle.
“For me, it’s trusting your game in tight situations, playing aggressively and having support. Trusting that you’re a five-man unit playing together, going to get the job done.
“Especially the last ten games we were dinged pretty good with goals on odd-man rushes and breakaways. That trust factor blew up and our gaps got worse. We gave teams time and space, and they took advantage. When you’re playing as a five-man unit, you trust that the next guy is doing his job in front of you.”
Brandon Montour, Kraken Defenseman
“(Opposing) teams got to know that this group is going to fight until the end and make it tough. Be a little bit more tenacious on pucks, harder to play against and more physical. Guys like Mel (Jacob Melanson) impressed (us). Such a short little stint with us (36 games), but the way he plays and what he brought, that’s important.
“We need each and every guy from top to bottom, myself included, to bring that every night. When every team is trying its best (down the stretch), that’s when you got to bring your best hockey. We didn’t do that. Mental mistakes, inconsistency. That happened quite a bit at the end.
“We’ve got to play a playoff mentality. 2-1, 3-2, hard (one-goal) games. We get down two or three (goals), sometimes we can claw back. But it’s tough, we’re chasing the game. Mentally, we’ve got to be in every single game from the puck drop to the end.”
Lane Lambert, Kraken Coach
“It hurts, it stings, and it wasn’t good enough. Not trusting a guy would be in a certain position when he should have been in a certain position. A little (lacking) of trust, with maybe not getting the job done. That’s probably the most disappointing part.
“We can’t be making mistakes like we’ve been making. Our team has to be more consistent. That’s probably the biggest surprise for me, having coached in this league for many years, was some of our inconsistencies and inability to get out of funks.
“I thought our team was a little fragile at times. We run on confidence, as do most teams. But this team really runs on confidence, and when we lack it, struggles happen.
“There were positives. Our 5-on-5 goals-against improved; that was one of the goals coming into the season. We did a really good job of giving our goaltenders a better environment.
“We’ve missed the playoffs three years here under three different coaches. Everyone has to take a look in the mirror, see where we can improve. That process will continue throughout the summer.”
Earlier Kraken:
— Seattle Revival Requires A Series of Transactions
