If you are a hockey fan, then you know that there is a new team coming to the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 21-22 season. This team, who is based out of Seattle, Washington, is known to the world as the Seattle Kraken. “I honestly like having an even amount of teams now in the NHL. I’m excited that there’s a new team for the others to play, it just makes the whole sport happy and excited.” said Wisdom Middle High School student Ashley Stevens ‘22.

Adding a new team to the NHL isn’t simple. The Seattle Kraken has been in the works since December 4, 2018, only a year and a half after the last expansion draft took place.

In order for the new team to acquire players, what’s called an expansion draft takes place. It is a complex process, but to sum it up, the Seattle Kraken picked one player from each current NHL team, minus the Vegas Golden Knights, as they have only been in the league for a few years. NHL teams were able to protect seven forwards, three defensemen, and one goalie, OR eight skaters, forwards and defensemen, and one goalie, according to NHL.com. The list of what players each team protected can be found here. There are many other rules, considerations, and special circumstances that go along with the expansion draft, which can also be found at NHL.com

The expansion draft, although exciting for many, can become disappointing. “My favorite team is the Florida Panthers, and I was very disappointed that the Kraken took Chris Driedger. I think the system of building an expansion team is fair but it still is annoying to lose a player like that,” said HollisBrookline student Kaden Mcquilkin ‘22.

Opposingly, for Keene State college-junior Conner Laurendeau ‘23, he felt that the player Seattle took from the Boston Bruins was a good choice. “I feel like Jeremy Lauzon was a right fit for the Kraken,” said Laurendeau, “A young defenseman like Lauzon is important to help a team’s development early on as it provides them with youth, and someone who is more susceptible to mold around the play style of the team and his teammates.”

The last time there was an expansion in the league was 2017 to add the Vegas Golden Knights. In their first full season, the Golden Knights played 75 games. They won 51 and only lost 24 games. They finished first in the Pacific Conference and made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals, where they lost to the Washington Capitals.

So far, as of October 26, after playing six regular-season games, the Seattle Kraken have lost five. “I’m not surprised about the fact they’ve lost five games so far. The players are still getting used to playing with each other and that will take time and so will winning,” said Mcquilkin ‘22.

It is still very new in the season and their record has plenty of time to improve. Not every team can win every game. “I think we were bound to see it happen. Like I stated before it often takes a little bit for a new team and new roster to click and build chemistry, and I think as the season goes we will see that chemistry form,” said Laurendeau.

The Kraken’s inaugural season is definitely comparable to the Golden Knights. The two teams had two very different first seasons, so far. “I think that the Golden Knights had a little more fire under them. Being the first expansion team since 2000, the Golden Knights may have felt like they had something to prove as there were a lot of doubts going into their first season. In regards to the Kraken, I think that they wanted to have a start to their first season like the Golden Knights did, however they’re just was not enough hype and attention revolved around them as there was the Golden Knights when they first started,” said Laurendeau.

Laurendeau looked at the differences between the two teams and the way their first games went. Mquilkin found the two teams to have similar talent, “I see a lot of similarities between the Kraken and the Golden Knights during the first seasons in the NHL. The Golden Knights had a lot of talent their first year and so do the Kraken this year. The Kraken’s potential is also very high which is something that was very evident in the Golden Knights in their first season. I can’t say however, that Kraken will be as successful in their first year as the Golden Knights were but they still have a lot of similarities.”

The Seattle Kraken’s next home game is going to be on Wednesday, November 17 at 10:00 PM. It will be streamed on TNT.