Rave reviews keep coming for Seattle Kraken 2026 1st-round draft pick Chase Reid. If Reid, a defenseman, were a movie, he’d have a 100% “Fresh” rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
We’ve shared previous five-star reviews here and here and here. But wait, praise keeps pouring in. “Elite defender,” says Hannah Stuart of Bleacher Report, “whose dynamic skating and elite hockey sense create a separating factor that puts him light-years ahead of most opponents when it comes to processing the game.”
Should the 6-foot-2, 190 pound blueliner live up to the hype, he might one day be considered the best Kraken player yet.
Kraken Draft Choice Likely Headed To World Juniors
Reid easily withstood Team USA roster cuts after July’s four-nation Summer Showcase in Windsor, Ont. (Two other Kraken prospects, defenseman Blake Fiddler and forward Casey Mutryn, didn’t.) Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff expects Reid to star for Team USA at this winter’s IIHF World Junior Championship.
“I love the way (Reid) runs the power play, because he commands so much attention that no opponent seems to know how to handle. He’s very deceptive with the puck, and he can get into scoring lanes quickly.
“He’s also an outstanding skater – maybe the best of any top defender in the class. Reid has a remarkable shot, and he seems to think the game at such an advanced level. He rarely makes a bad pass, and he’s so elusive when he’s skating around with the puck at speed.”
Reid Keeps Family Front Of Mind
Reid is headed to Michigan State in the fall. “Chase is the busiest human being you will ever meet on the planet,” his mom, Magyn Reid, told the Sault Star. “He was always the hardest worker.”
Every time Reid steps on the ice, he honors a family member. Written on his sticks is the name of his late grandfather, once both a police chief and firefighter. “He’s the guy I want to play for and I want to make him proud out there,” Reid said in a CHL social media video.
Mom Magyn adds, “He’s a people pleaser. He doesn’t want to let people down. Ever.”
The only people he might disappoint are the ones who didn’t select him in June.
The Chicago Sun-Times fretted that the Blackhawks would come to regret trading the #4 pick to Buffalo for defenseman Bowen Byram. “The Hawks might look foolish in retrospect. Reid’s upside is likely higher than Byram’s. Reid’s ceiling could be something like Zach Werenski, whom he named as his player model at the combine.”
Ellis put a bow on the praise for Reid. “He’s just so good, some teams are going to wish they didn’t pass him up at the draft.”
Earlier Kraken:
— Simmer’s 9 – Cherry For HHOF?, Obituaries, Kraken-Canucks Clash
