After Sunday night’s thrilling Game Seven between the victorious Montreal Canadiens and the Tampa Bay Lightning officially closed out the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the second round is finally upon us. The Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers actually began their series on Saturday night, but let’s forget about the NHL’s odd scheduling quirks for now and instead turn our attention to the future.
The NHL’s annual draft lottery provided its usual level of drama Tuesday night, with the Toronto Maple Leafs and the San Jose Sharks winning the right to select first- and second-overall, respectively, on June 26 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
Both teams jumped four or more spots in the pre-lottery order, pushing several teams down a spot or two. The Seattle Kraken are now slated to pick seventh overall in the first round of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft after entering the lottery with the sixth-best odds of winning the right to select first overall (7.5%). The Kraken’s odds of winning the first pick were as high as 18% after two of the four balls were drawn, but it could not secure the combination necessary to leapfrog the rest of the field.
General manager Jason Botterill has under two months to prepare the Kraken’s strategy and draft board, with the top 10 pick representing a great opportunity to add elite talent by either using the pick themselves or trading it for a top-line forward or first-pair defenseman. With that, let’s dive into which option the Kraken should choose in June.
Kraken Prospect Pool Loaded with Forwards
While the Kraken’s season didn’t go as planned, the franchise’s future is brighter than expected, given the doom and gloom permeating Seattle these days.
According to Scott Wheeler’s most recent NHL prospect pool ranking, the Kraken have the seventh-best collection of young talent in the league. Four of the team’s five best prospects (and seven of the top 10) are forwards, a group that doesn’t include the now-graduated Shane Wright. Instead, it is headlined by Berkly Catton, Jake O’Brien, Jagger Firkus, Oscar Fisker Mølgaard, and Ty Nelson.
There is an argument to be made that Seattle desperately needs a star forward (and they do), but that type of player will be hard to find at pick number seven. The team should be able to mine plenty of top-six or top-nine caliber forwards from their current pool, but what continues to be absent from the Kraken’s farm system is a bona fide top-pair defender.
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Seattle’s blue line is solid, but lacks an anchoring presence. Vince Dunn and Brandon Montour are the team’s two best defenders and bear the brunt of the puck-moving workload. 24-year-old Ryker Evans has graduated to a full-time role in the NHL, while Adam Larsson and Ryan Lindgren bring physicality and defense-first mentalities.
Counting only the defensemen with a contract next season, the Kraken have a dependable foundation but lack the north star of a Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, or a Zach Werenski, all-star defensemen drafted between fourth- and eighth-overall. That should give them hope of finding a gem outside the top five.
Elsewhere in the system, the Kraken’s future on defense rests on the shoulders of Nelson (fifth), Blake Fiddler (ninth), and Tyson Jugnauth (10th), the only rearguards listed in the top-15 of Wheeler’s rankings. All three should be NHL regulars, but none have the upside of a future NHL All-Star.
Kraken Can Grab Top Talent at Seventh Overall
With the Kraken’s first-round draft position now set in stone barring a trade, Botterill and his scouting staff can settle into the range of players who will likely be available at seventh overall. Here are the latest publicly available prospect rankings and mock drafts from the biggest names in the public scouting industry:
- Sportsnet – Sam Cosentino
- TSN – Craig Button
- EliteProspects
Based on those rankings, here are five defensemen who are projected to be picked within the top 10 and would immediately become the top blueliner in Seattle’s pool:
- Chase Reid, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (45 GP – 18 G – 30 A – 48 PTS)
- Keaton Verhoeff, University of North Dakota (36 GP – 6 G – 14 A – 20 PTS)
- Carson Carels, Prince George Cougars (58 GP – 20 G – 53 A – 73 PTS)
- Daxon Rudolph, Prince Albert Raiders (68 GP – 28 G – 50 A – 78 PTS)
- Alberts Smits, Jukurit (38 GP – 6 G – 7 A – 13 PTS)
While a lot can change over the next two months, expect one of these five players to become a member of the Kraken organization come June.
Kraken Have Flexibility Going Into 2026 Offseason and Beyond
The Kraken currently own 11 picks over the first three rounds of the next three drafts (including five firsts) and should significantly bolster their top 10 prospect pool with those selections.
While picking within the top five would be preferable, the Kraken can count on several high-end talents being available at their current spot. It will likely address their biggest organizational weakness, aside from securing a true star forward.
Check back closer to draft time, where I will do a deeper dive into the 2026 draft’s top prospects. For now, enjoy the rest of the playoffs.
Data courtesy of EliteProspects.
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