Some of those touted defensemen come with NCAA and European pro pedigrees, meaning they’re seen as having played against older, more physical opponents closer to a North American pro style game. Those defensive standouts include Keaton Verhoeff from the University of North Dakota and Alberts Smits from Finland’s top pro league, as well as major junior stars Carson Carels, Daxon Rudolph and Chase Reid.
Beyond defensemen, Ontario Hockey League forward Caleb Malhotra – the son of former NHL player and current Vancouver Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra – is also a possibility if he’s still around by the time the Kraken pick. Malhotra, also the nephew of former NBA star Steve Nash, spent last season tearing it up offensively with the Kraken’s No. 8 overall pick from a year ago, Jake O’Brien, as teammates with the Brantford Bulldogs.
Other potential forward picks include Swedish pro Viggo Bjorck, junior prospect Ethan Belchetz from the Windsor Spitfires and Wyatt Cullen from the U.S. National Team Development Program.
The Kraken from their inception have drafted forwards with their first-round picks, including centermen Matty Beniers at No. 2 overll in 2021, Shane Wright at No. 4 in 2022 and Berkly Catton and O’Brien, both at No. 8 in 2024 and 2025. A lone deviation was winger Eduard Sale from Czechia at No. 20 overall in 2023.
But the highest defenseman ever selected by the Kraken remains Ryker Evans, taken rather surprisingly in the second round, 35th overall in 2021 after he’d been projected to go at least a round or two after that. Evans has since appeared in 176 games for the Kraken, making him the team’s only drafted defenseman to play for them thus far other than Ville Ottavainen, a fourth rounder from 2021 with a lone NHL contest to his credit.
Without a first round blue-liner in the system, the Kraken used free agency to fill some of their defensive needs, including a seven-year deal signed in 2024 with Brandon Montour and a four-year pact last summer with Ryan Lindgren.