Kraken Contract Decisions Loom
To paraphrase Kenny Rogers‘ “The Gambler,”
Every G.M. knows that the secret to survivin’
Is knowin’ what to throw away, and knowing what to keep
Seven players in the Kraken organization become restricted free agents (RFAs) this summer. Part of general manager Jason Botterill’s to-do list is figuring out which of those seven should be offered new contracts, and coming to an agreement with those he wants to keep.
As a refresher, RFAs are players whose contracts have expired, but who can only negotiate with the team that holds their rights. To retain those rights, a team must make a “qualifying offer” by June 29. There’s plenty more RFA fine print, which you can bone up on here.
Kraken’s Seven
Only two of the seven Kraken RFAs, Jacob Melanson (#63 in above image) and Victor Ostman, actually skated for Seattle last season. Melanson split time between the Kraken (36 games) and AHL Coachella Valley (28 games, plus 11 playoff games). Despite playing less than half the season with the Kraken, and averaging under 10 minutes of ice time, Melanson led the team with 188 hits. (More about Melanson below.)
Goalie Ostman was recalled from the Firebirds at the tail end of last season. He started the final Kraken regular season game, allowing just two goals in a loss to the Colorado Avalanche.
Four other RFAs played exclusively in 2025-26 for the Firebirds: forwards J.R. Avon, Logan Morrison, and Lleyton Roed, and defenseman Ville Ottavainen. (Peetro Seppala, a 25-year old undrafted Finnish defenseman, has played the last two seasons in Sweden.)
Three of the RFAs spoke to the media after the conclusion of the Firebirds season.
Jacob Melanson (Age 23, 2021 5th Round Draft Pick; Firebirds Statistics)
“The success we had has been tremendous. All the newcomers and even the guys like me, Logan Morrison, I feel like a lot of us have grown this year. There’s just a lot of caring for each other and working with each other to make each other better each day.
“It’s obviously a dream come true to live out my dream in the NHL. It’s gonna be nice here the next couple weeks to look back on it, but also knowing how much work I have to put in this summer to hopefully sustain that and be up there full time.
“To see Ryan Winterton in the NHL, Ryker Evans, a lot of guys that I played with down here, now everyone’s making that jump. It’s awesome to see, and it just makes it even better when you’re up there playing with them.
“Being able to play (on a line in Seattle) with Benny (Ben Meyers) and Wintz (Winterton) was incredible. Playing simple, me bringing my physicality and their skill.”
Lleyton Roed (Age 23, Undrafted; Firebirds Statistics)
Roed was asked about Coachella Valley “playing with house money,” because of having the AHL’s youngest roster.
“It’s funny because that’s what Lax (coach Derek Laxdal) was saying, ‘Play with house money.’ Being a young team, the narrative was, ‘Yeah, they’re gonna fizzle out and not do anything.’
“But we had an internal belief, let’s play our game and see where this thing goes. There was that internal belief for sure.
“Hockey’s a crazy game. Half of sports in general is managing your emotions. I mean, you’re gonna go through highs and lows, but never get too high, never get too low is kind of what we say. It’s a mental battle. With a young group, it may be a bit of a challenge, but you learn as you go.”
Ville Ottavainen (Age 23, 2021 4th Round Draft Pick; Firebirds Statistics)
“My goal is every year to be better than the year before. I think I accomplished that. The goal is to make the NHL. I did get a call up early, but didn’t get (in) a game. That was frustrating at times personally, but I’m just gonna keep working.”
On what? “Agility and moving your feet quicker. Breakout plays, that’s always an area to work on, passing. I think I came in great shape last year. I’ll try to even take a notch further from that.
“Speed’s always part of my game. Unfortunately, I broke my hand in training camp, so it took me a little bit to get going. My second half of the year, I really found my stride. We had some injuries, so I thought I did a good job stepping up and producing.
“We grew a lot throughout the year. In the playoffs, backs against the wall, and we’re like 4-0 the first two rounds. That says something about the group and the culture. Those were definitely the most fun and nerve-wracking games at the same time. That was cool to be a part of. We’re gonna cherish those times.”
(Player quotes from The Desert Sun’s Fire & Ice Podcast.)
Earlier Kraken:
— Coach Said Last Year’s Kraken A Little “Fragile”
